Mona Kanwal Sheikh
Biographic Data
| ID | 4462135 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mona Kanwal Sheikh |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mona Kanwal |
| FAMILY NAME | Sheikh |
| SIGNATURE | SHEIKH M K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Danish Institute for International Studies |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4171-0741 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Sacrificing the sacred? Failure and success in negotiations with Islamists
Based on existing case studies of negotiation processes involving Islamist actors, this article discusses explanations for failure and the role religion plays in them, extracting and discussing three recurrent reasons: first, the transnationalisation and transnationality of Islamist conflicts; second, the polycentric characteristics of Islamist movements and organisational fragmentation linked to differences in religious interpretation, which may…
Worldviews and Conflict Analysis
This article lays out an argument for relocating worldview analysis from the margins of conflict analysis to its center. While we may understand worldviews as an integral part of most escalated conflicts—which may seem to be about something else as well (e.g., energy, borders, economic grievances)—worldviews conflict can also be described as a particular form of conflict. This duality is important to recognize for the further development of the f…
År i Afghanistan
Artiklen ser nærmere på de forhold, som er blevet beskrevet i analyser af interventionen i Afghanistan, der kan forklare den udvikling, som den amerikanske præsiden, Joe Biden, forsikrede ikke ville finde sted i 2021. Tre forhold står frem i tidligere analyser af årene, der gik, i Afghanistan. For det første, at der var løbende udfordringer med kapacitetsopbygningen. Udfordringer, der ligeledes løbende var blevet påpeget internationalt af analyti…
Transnational Jihad as a Bundled Conflict-Constellation
Explaining the Rise of Global Jihad
Reviving “Religious Wars” but Thinking about Them Differently
Article Commentary| July 21 2020 Reviving “Religious Wars” but Thinking about Them Differently Collections: Section: Politics, Governance, and the Law Mona Kanwal Sheikh Mona Kanwal Sheikh 1Global Security and Worldviews, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen Denmark, [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar [email protected] Global Perspectives (2020) 1 (1): 13337. https://doi.org/10.15…
What Do Islamists Bring to the Negotiation Table? Religion and the Case of the Pakistani Taliban
Is religion the main reason why negotiations with Islamists fail? Contemporary international relations literature views compromise over religious claims as being particularly difficult compared to other types of claims. Religious conflicts are understood as unique phenomena. Do religious factors explain why successful conflict resolution attempts with Islamists are more difficult to achieve than with other insurgent groups who pursue non-religiou…
Entering Religious Minds
Led by Mona Kanwal Sheikh and Mark Juergensmeyer, nine authors journey into the worlds of unusual, sometimes violent religious groups. Together, these original first-person contributions provide an integrated, problem-solving approach to field research in religious extremism, illustrating ground-breaking methods in gaining access to their subjects' worldviews. In a narrative style that is at once both conversational and rigorous, the book demonst…
Entering Religious Minds
Worldview Analysis
In a global era, the challenge for worldview analysis is to embrace both a context-sensitive and a culturally sensitive approach to concepts and ideas. This chapter identifies solid methods to analyze and comprehend the vertical dynamics between worldviews and action and also the horizontal dynamics between the precepts, imageries, and grievances that stem from transnational views of religion, politics, and society. The chapter reviews the most d…
Securitization analysis beyond its power-critique
This is a reply to:Kapur, S. 2018. “From Copenhagen to Uri and across the Line of Control: India's 'surgical strikes' as a case of securitisation in two acts”, Global Discourse 8 (1): 62–79. https
Recursion or rejection? Securitization theory faces Islamist violence and foreign religions
This article contributes to the larger debate on how to increase the cultural sensitivity in IR analyses, and particularly how the securitization theory can face some of the criticism relating to its embedded-ness in the West. The article shows that the expanding empirical application of securitization theory by scholars around the world, as well as the theoretical expansion (the opening of the religion sector) raise two important, but different …
Appointing evil in international relations
The Religious Challenge to Securitisation Theory
This article deals with the definition of the religion sector of securitisation theory, and seeks to strengthen the contribution of securitisation theory to the study of religious violence and doctrinal conflicts. It is argued that the original elaboration of the security sector leans too heavily on a West-centric notion of religion as apolitical and of faith as a distinction between the sacred and the profane. These leanings limit the theory’s g…
Introduction
From Islamist insurgencies to the role of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the interconnectedness of religion and violence has become a phenomenon to consider in international relations. After more than ten years of fierce debate about the role played by religion, we do however still lack clarity about how to understand, conceptualize and study the relationship between religion and violence. This special section of the journal Millenium critically…
A Sociotheological Approach to Understanding Religious Violence
This chapter tries to illustrate that there has been a “sociotheological turn” in contemporary scholarship which encourages social scientists to take stock of the religious justifications for social action, and theologians and scholars of religious studies to be more aware of the social significance of spiritual ideas and practices. Sociotheology takes religious thinking and social context seriously. The approximation of the fields of psychology …
Sacred Pillars of Violence
In what ways does religion matter as justification for violence? Based on a larger study of the Pakistani Taliban and their communication and recruitment materials, this article presents some of its main findings in a condensed form. It summarizes the lessons learned about the various roles religion plays in providing justification for taking up arms, namely: as an object to be defended; as a threat; as the purpose of armed struggle; as a (blurre…
How does religion matter? Pathways to religion in International Relations
This article contributes to the growing subfield of research on religion and International Relations (IR) by discussing ways to take substantial and sui generis aspects of religion into account. It is argued that IR scholars need more critical methodological and conceptual reflection on how to integrate religion in order to navigate between two typical analytical positions: either focusing on the instrumental relevance of religion only or treatin…
How does religion matter? Pathways to religion in International Relations
This article contributes to the growing subfield of research on religion and International Relations (IR) by discussing ways to take substantial and sui generis aspects of religion into account. It is argued that IR scholars need more critical methodological and conceptual reflection on how to integrate religion in order to navigate between two typical analytical positions: either focusing on the instrumental relevance of religion only or treatin…
The Religious Challenge to Securitisation Theory
This article deals with the definition of the religion sector of securitisation theory, and seeks to strengthen the contribution of securitisation theory to the study of religious violence and doctrinal conflicts. It is argued that the original elaboration of the security sector leans too heavily on a West-centric notion of religion as apolitical and of faith as a distinction between the sacred and the profane. These leanings limit the theory’s g…
Transnational Jihad as a Bundled Conflict-Constellation
What Do Islamists Bring to the Negotiation Table? Religion and the Case of the Pakistani Taliban
Is religion the main reason why negotiations with Islamists fail? Contemporary international relations literature views compromise over religious claims as being particularly difficult compared to other types of claims. Religious conflicts are understood as unique phenomena. Do religious factors explain why successful conflict resolution attempts with Islamists are more difficult to achieve than with other insurgent groups who pursue non-religiou…
Recursion or rejection? Securitization theory faces Islamist violence and foreign religions
This article contributes to the larger debate on how to increase the cultural sensitivity in IR analyses, and particularly how the securitization theory can face some of the criticism relating to its embedded-ness in the West. The article shows that the expanding empirical application of securitization theory by scholars around the world, as well as the theoretical expansion (the opening of the religion sector) raise two important, but different …
Introduction
From Islamist insurgencies to the role of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the interconnectedness of religion and violence has become a phenomenon to consider in international relations. After more than ten years of fierce debate about the role played by religion, we do however still lack clarity about how to understand, conceptualize and study the relationship between religion and violence. This special section of the journal Millenium critically…
Sacred Pillars of Violence
In what ways does religion matter as justification for violence? Based on a larger study of the Pakistani Taliban and their communication and recruitment materials, this article presents some of its main findings in a condensed form. It summarizes the lessons learned about the various roles religion plays in providing justification for taking up arms, namely: as an object to be defended; as a threat; as the purpose of armed struggle; as a (blurre…
Sacred Pillars of Violence
In what ways does religion matter as justification for violence? Based on a larger study of the Pakistani Taliban and their communication and recruitment materials, this article presents some of its main findings in a condensed form. It summarizes the lessons learned about the various roles religion plays in providing justification for taking up arms, namely: as an object to be defended; as a threat; as the purpose of armed struggle; as a (blurre…
How does religion matter? Pathways to religion in International Relations
This article contributes to the growing subfield of research on religion and International Relations (IR) by discussing ways to take substantial and sui generis aspects of religion into account. It is argued that IR scholars need more critical methodological and conceptual reflection on how to integrate religion in order to navigate between two typical analytical positions: either focusing on the instrumental relevance of religion only or treatin…
A Sociotheological Approach to Understanding Religious Violence
This chapter tries to illustrate that there has been a “sociotheological turn” in contemporary scholarship which encourages social scientists to take stock of the religious justifications for social action, and theologians and scholars of religious studies to be more aware of the social significance of spiritual ideas and practices. Sociotheology takes religious thinking and social context seriously. The approximation of the fields of psychology …
Appointing evil in international relations
The Religious Challenge to Securitisation Theory
This article deals with the definition of the religion sector of securitisation theory, and seeks to strengthen the contribution of securitisation theory to the study of religious violence and doctrinal conflicts. It is argued that the original elaboration of the security sector leans too heavily on a West-centric notion of religion as apolitical and of faith as a distinction between the sacred and the profane. These leanings limit the theory’s g…
Introduction
From Islamist insurgencies to the role of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the interconnectedness of religion and violence has become a phenomenon to consider in international relations. After more than ten years of fierce debate about the role played by religion, we do however still lack clarity about how to understand, conceptualize and study the relationship between religion and violence. This special section of the journal Millenium critically…
Worldview Analysis
In a global era, the challenge for worldview analysis is to embrace both a context-sensitive and a culturally sensitive approach to concepts and ideas. This chapter identifies solid methods to analyze and comprehend the vertical dynamics between worldviews and action and also the horizontal dynamics between the precepts, imageries, and grievances that stem from transnational views of religion, politics, and society. The chapter reviews the most d…
Securitization analysis beyond its power-critique
This is a reply to:Kapur, S. 2018. “From Copenhagen to Uri and across the Line of Control: India's 'surgical strikes' as a case of securitisation in two acts”, Global Discourse 8 (1): 62–79. https
Recursion or rejection? Securitization theory faces Islamist violence and foreign religions
This article contributes to the larger debate on how to increase the cultural sensitivity in IR analyses, and particularly how the securitization theory can face some of the criticism relating to its embedded-ness in the West. The article shows that the expanding empirical application of securitization theory by scholars around the world, as well as the theoretical expansion (the opening of the religion sector) raise two important, but different …
Entering Religious Minds
Led by Mona Kanwal Sheikh and Mark Juergensmeyer, nine authors journey into the worlds of unusual, sometimes violent religious groups. Together, these original first-person contributions provide an integrated, problem-solving approach to field research in religious extremism, illustrating ground-breaking methods in gaining access to their subjects' worldviews. In a narrative style that is at once both conversational and rigorous, the book demonst…
Entering Religious Minds
Explaining the Rise of Global Jihad
Reviving “Religious Wars” but Thinking about Them Differently
Article Commentary| July 21 2020 Reviving “Religious Wars” but Thinking about Them Differently Collections: Section: Politics, Governance, and the Law Mona Kanwal Sheikh Mona Kanwal Sheikh 1Global Security and Worldviews, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen Denmark, [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar [email protected] Global Perspectives (2020) 1 (1): 13337. https://doi.org/10.15…
What Do Islamists Bring to the Negotiation Table? Religion and the Case of the Pakistani Taliban
Is religion the main reason why negotiations with Islamists fail? Contemporary international relations literature views compromise over religious claims as being particularly difficult compared to other types of claims. Religious conflicts are understood as unique phenomena. Do religious factors explain why successful conflict resolution attempts with Islamists are more difficult to achieve than with other insurgent groups who pursue non-religiou…
Worldviews and Conflict Analysis
This article lays out an argument for relocating worldview analysis from the margins of conflict analysis to its center. While we may understand worldviews as an integral part of most escalated conflicts—which may seem to be about something else as well (e.g., energy, borders, economic grievances)—worldviews conflict can also be described as a particular form of conflict. This duality is important to recognize for the further development of the f…
År i Afghanistan
Artiklen ser nærmere på de forhold, som er blevet beskrevet i analyser af interventionen i Afghanistan, der kan forklare den udvikling, som den amerikanske præsiden, Joe Biden, forsikrede ikke ville finde sted i 2021. Tre forhold står frem i tidligere analyser af årene, der gik, i Afghanistan. For det første, at der var løbende udfordringer med kapacitetsopbygningen. Udfordringer, der ligeledes løbende var blevet påpeget internationalt af analyti…
Transnational Jihad as a Bundled Conflict-Constellation
Sacrificing the sacred? Failure and success in negotiations with Islamists
Based on existing case studies of negotiation processes involving Islamist actors, this article discusses explanations for failure and the role religion plays in them, extracting and discussing three recurrent reasons: first, the transnationalisation and transnationality of Islamist conflicts; second, the polycentric characteristics of Islamist movements and organisational fragmentation linked to differences in religious interpretation, which may…
Political science (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (7 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (6 works)