ABSTRACT
Interest in the religious dimensions of societal and political processes in general and in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in particular, is fairly recent. This is because for a long period, debate about secularisation dominated academic and political thought and debate. More recently, however, attention has focused on these issues. This chapter provides a brief overview of the rise of interest in the religious factor, before discussing key concepts in the field of conflict resolution. The chapter also examines the role of religious actors in conflict and conflict transformation, and a final section details the relationship of religion, conflict transformation and political parties. A focus on post-genocide Rwanda serves as a case study.
