Discursive strategies for navigating the terrain between the sacred and the profane

Abstract

Tensions between communities of identity that are framed by a hermeneutics of religion are a significant and growing element in contemporary societies, sometimes leading to violent confrontations. Butler [2009. Frames of War: When Life is Grievable. London: Verso] suggests that the discursive frames we use to influence our understanding of the ‘other’ significantly affect whether that other is deemed worthy of protection or is made vulnerable to violence. Therefore, following Butler, this article investigates the discursive strategies manifested by organizational actors in response to these tensions, and how they ‘work’ to construct alternative ways of framing the ‘other’. Six voluntary organizations situated geographically in three different areas of inter-communal violence; India, Israel/Palestine and Ireland were chosen for the study. Four discursive strategies are identified; erasing religion, ethnicizing religion, accommodating religion and finally, that of re-sacralizing the public sphere. Each is analysed in terms of their different possibilities for recognition and rejection.