Introduction: Interreligious Dialogue and Social Capital

Abstract

Previous research by the same group investigating interreligious dialogue and interreligious activities demonstrated that many participants had established friendships across religious and worldview lines of division without erasing their commitment to their own group. It suggested that being engaged in interreligious dialogue could enhance the possibility of achieving individual and collective aims related to the local community and beyond. On the other hand, there were also data suggesting that a certain amount of mutual trust in the diverse communities needed to be in place in order for interreligious dialogue to take place. This introduction explains the background, theoretical concepts and methodology behind the central research question: Are interreligious activities contributing to social capital among the participants, or is the social capital of the participants a condition for the development of interreligious activities? This question is addressed through four case studies from different contexts, linked by a strong comparative element helped by a theoretical framework drawn from social capital theory and the use of similar methods of qualitative fieldwork and interviews.