Description
Promoting Cultures of Peace: Reflections on Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhism’s Contributions to Peacebuilding
Alex Otieno (Assistant Professor at Arcadia University, USA)
This paper arises out of and reports on an ongoing exploration of and reflections on the contributions of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) to peacebuilding discursive practice.
Focus is on existing literature, engagements with activities of its constituent organisations and their chapters (SGI-USA and SGI-Kenya), SGI sponsored organisations (Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue, Toda Peace Institute, Soka University of America and SGI Office for UN Affairs), annual peace proposals and dialogues of SGI president Daisaku Ikeda and information from the archives of SGI Quarterly.
By drawing on a lived experience approach, the paper discusses the SGI’s Buddhist inspired activities promoting ‘culture of peace’ and peacebuilding through internal transformation, dialogue and global citizenship as a case of Buddhist new religious movement with potential to serve as a resource for inquiry and reflection on religious peacebuilding discursive practice as a contribution to cultivating cultures of peace.
