Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media

In this review of Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media, the reviewer finds a rigorous, globally minded analysis valuable to readers interested in how media and faith intersect in conflict and reconciliation. The book is best for academics, students and practitioners seeking concrete case studies and theoretical framing; its strongest selling point is the breadth of media types examined, from posters and stained glass to film and new media, which together reveal how communication shapes both violent environments and paths to peace.

Key Features

• Comparative case studies: Draws on examples from Iran, Rwanda and South Africa to show how similar media practices produce different social effects.
• Wide media scope: Analyses everything from posters, cartoons and stained glass to websites, radio and film, giving readers a broad toolkit for understanding media influence.
• Thematic structure: Part One and Part Two separate mechanisms that promote violence from ways film and new media can bear witness and support reconciliation.
• Examines how memorialisation in media can perpetuate past hurts and contribute to ongoing tensions.
• Explores how new media become sites for non-violent responses to terrorism and government abuses, useful for practitioners seeking alternatives to violent rhetoric.

Who It's For

This book is aimed at scholars of media and religion, postgraduate students, policy analysts and journalists who need a thorough, example-rich account of how communication forms shape conflict dynamics. Those teaching courses on religion, conflict studies or media ethics will find the chapters useful as case study material.

Readers seeking a light or purely theoretical primer without empirical examples should look elsewhere; the book assumes interest in concrete media artefacts and comparative, historically grounded analysis rather than a simple overview.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Provides diverse, international case studies that make arguments tangible and comparable.
• Addresses many media formats, which clarifies how different forms contribute to violence or peacebuilding.
• Balances critique of violent media with constructive discussion of film and new media as tools for truth and reconciliation.

Cons

• The depth of case studies may require background knowledge of listed countries for full context.

Specifications

Our Verdict

Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence is a substantive, example-driven analysis that will repay readers looking to understand concrete links between religion, media and conflict. It is good value for academics and practitioners who want practical case studies and a balanced treatment of both violent rhetoric and media-based paths to reconciliation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this book include international examples?
Yes, it uses diverse cases from countries such as Iran, Rwanda and South Africa to ground its analysis.

Does the author discuss new media?
Yes, the book examines websites and new media as potential sites for non-violent responses to terrorism and government abuse.

Is the book primarily theoretical or empirical?
It blends theory with empirical case studies, emphasising concrete media artefacts alongside conceptual discussion.