Aninvestigationofwhatconsolidatingreligionasatechnologyofpeacebuildinganddevelopmentdoestopeople’saccountsoftheirreligiousandculturaltraditionsandwhyinterreligiouspeacebuildingentrenchescoloniallegaciesinthepresent.Throughouttheglobalsouth,localandinternationalorganizationsarefrequentparticipantsinpeacebuildingprojectsthatfocusoninterreligiousdialogue.YetasAtaliaOmerarguesinDecolonizingReligionandPeacebuilding,theeffectsoftheireffortsareoftenperverse,reinforcingneocolonialpracticesanddisempoweringlocalreligiousactors.Basedonempiricalresearchofinterandintra-religiouspeacebuildingpracticesinKenyaandthePhilippines,Omeridentifiestwoparadoxicalfindings:first,religiouspeacebuildingpracticesarebothempoweringanddepoliticizingand,second,moredoingofreligiondoesnotnecessarilydenotedeeperormorecriticalreligiousliteracy.Further,sheshowsthatthesereligiousactorsgeneratedecolonialopeningsregardlessofhowclosedoropentheirreligiouscommunitiesare.Hence,religion’soccasionalusefulnessinpeacebuildingdoesnotnecessarilymeanjustice-orientedoutcomes.ThebooknotonlyusesdecolonialandintersectionalprismstoexposetheentrenchedandongoingcolonialdynamicsoperativeinreligionandthepracticesofpeacebuildinganddevelopmentintheglobalSouth,butitalsospeakstodecolonialtheorythroughstoriesoftransformationandsurvival.
