ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on Christian Muslim violence and conciliation in Maluku or the Moluccas, particularly in Ambon city and generally in Maluku province. It examines the role of religious networks, organizations, discourses, and practices before, during, and after the collective conflict. The book investigates whether religiously based organizations and networks in the Moluccas became one contributing structural or ideological influences on actors engaged in the violence. It focuses on the social and cultural supports for and against the establishment of a post-violence peace and the framework for multireligious citizenship. The book examines the continuing challenge which exclusivist religious interpretations and practices pose for post-violence peacebuilding processes. Finally, it tries to look at whether religious identity played a central role during the communal conflict or only provided symbolism and ideological conviction for their campaign to achieve more worldly goals such as political-economic interests.
