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Religions
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Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context
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Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 4851

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Kwangsuk Yoo

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Guest Editor
Institute for Religion and Civic Culture, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
Interests: religious market theory; religion and civic movement; religion and ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Andrew Eungi Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate School of International Studies, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Interests: sociology of religion; non-official religion; religious ethics and economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ongoing ecological crisis is forcing civil society to find new ways of coexisting with ecological civilization, which is still controversial in its definition and nature, and to move more broadly beyond a geographically or technologically limited conception of evolution and innovation. This Special Issue is designed to provide a more comprehensive and balanced discourse for scholars who are interested in the relationship between civil society and its ecological transition, especially considering that the role of religion has not been examined enough to be applied to both the East and West. Secularity, as an ideological basis of modern civil society, contributed to the rapid growth and expansion of industrial civilization; however, at the same time, secularism failed to control society’s self-destructive greed and profit-seeking. The combination of secularity and civil society has obviously, through the last hundred years, revealed itself unable to cope with climate changes or disasters through reciprocal cooperation and strict self-control for the last hundred years.

For this reason, this Issue focuses on finding the role for and significance of religious factors in forming and maintaining an ecological citizenship that involves a system of faith and practice strengthening ecological ethics and values in reality. Religion still functions as an inexhaustible source of new faith and conviction in civil society, including in terms of an ecological self-realization, education, and experience of citizens. Above all, this new combination of religion and civil society around recent ecological transition urges scholars to undertake a more profound examination from the variety of available perspectives. Although all authors interested in this problem are invited to this Issue, regardless of their methodological perspectives or hypotheses, priority will be given to articles reflecting political, social, and cultural specifications of each country in Asia. There is limited existing research describing or explaining an ecological citizenship and religious diversity in the Asian context. Ultimatley, this Issue eventually aims to discover an Asian type of the interaction between religion(s) and civil society in an ecologically transitional era.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors (Email: ksyooii@khu.ac.kr) or to the Religions Editorial Office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Prof. Kwangsuk Yoo
Prof. Dr. Andrew Eungi Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecological civilization
  • ecological citizenship
  • religious diversity in Asia
  • religion and civil society
  • religion and ecology

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1404 KiB  
Article
Discussion and Proposal of Alternatives for the Ecological Environment from a Daoist Perspective
by Dugsam Kim, Taesoo Kim and Kyung Ja Lee
Religions 2024, 15(2), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020142 - 23 Jan 2024
Viewed by 722
Abstract
Ecological thought and practice have a longstanding presence in the Daoist tradition, yet these principles are not adequately upheld in contemporary times. This can be attributed to two primary factors: firstly, adverse environmental conditions due to economic reasons have hindered the maintenance of [...] Read more.
Ecological thought and practice have a longstanding presence in the Daoist tradition, yet these principles are not adequately upheld in contemporary times. This can be attributed to two primary factors: firstly, adverse environmental conditions due to economic reasons have hindered the maintenance of a viable interconnection between humans and nature. Secondly, intense competition has impeded the preservation of human-to-human interconnections. In this regard, it is inappropriate to place the blame for ecological threats solely on the Daoist cultural sphere. Prior research has predominantly focused on Daoist ecological thought, often neglecting the real problems concerning ecological responsibilities and potential solutions. To address this, two theoretical bases were proposed. First, attention was given to the Daoist concept of “connection”, which emphasizes the relationship between humans and nature, and among humans themselves. As “connection” is a universal human concept, it carries significant weight even when discussed from a Daoist perspective. Second, through a critical reflection on “the myth of meritocracy” prevalent in Western discourse and the application of a “social model of disability”, understanding and assistance from developed countries were solicited. These theoretical underpinnings form the basis for advocating improvements within the fragile ecology of the Daoist sphere. Before criticizing the Daoist cultural sphere—often perceived as a global factory—it is crucial to confront the realities faced by both developed and developing countries and the disparities between corporate headquarters and impoverished factories. This study suggests that a portion of excessive profits should be invested in ecological improvement initiatives. This would enable entities within the Daoist cultural sphere to uphold its ecological thoughts and practices independently—an ethos deeply rooted in their long-standing practice of being one with nature. This philosophy is increasingly vital given our interconnected existence on Earth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context)
18 pages, 832 KiB  
Article
Minjung Theology of Korea and Ecological Thinking: Focusing on the Theological Imagination of Ahn Byung-Mu
by Jongman Kim and Andrew Eungi Kim
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1533; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121533 - 13 Dec 2023
Viewed by 802
Abstract
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, currently used as a set of standards by socially conscious investors to evaluate a company’s operations before investing, are becoming an important global trend today. In particular, environmental and ecological crises are increasingly being seen as issues [...] Read more.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, currently used as a set of standards by socially conscious investors to evaluate a company’s operations before investing, are becoming an important global trend today. In particular, environmental and ecological crises are increasingly being seen as issues that will determine the sustainability of human civilization. Scholars of religion have been paying more attention to the issue as well. In fact, religion and environmentalism have emerged as sub-disciplines in, among others, religious ethics, religious studies, the sociology of religion, and theology. In view of this development, this paper aims to reexamine Minjung theology, literally meaning “the people’s theology”, which arose as a form of liberation theology in South Korea in the 1970s, from an ecological perspective, particularly focusing on the former’s view on the relationship and interrelationship between the individual and the environment. The paper pays special attention to the work of Ahn Byung-Mu, a founding scholar of Minjung theology, shedding light on the connection between his concept of gong, literally meaning “publicness”, and ecology, the characteristics of his ecological thoughts and their relevance to his view of god, and his views on bapsanggongdongche, literally meaning “the table community”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context)
9 pages, 752 KiB  
Article
Understanding Faith-Based Ecological Citizenship: A Case Study of Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI)
by Kwang Suk Yoo and Hyun Woo Kim
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1402; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111402 - 9 Nov 2023
Viewed by 805
Abstract
This paper tries to examine how ecological aspects of religiosity are associated with the ecological citizenship necessary for coping with a global ecological crisis. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the notion of ecological citizenship has been paid serious attention to by numerous scholars [...] Read more.
This paper tries to examine how ecological aspects of religiosity are associated with the ecological citizenship necessary for coping with a global ecological crisis. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the notion of ecological citizenship has been paid serious attention to by numerous scholars from different research fields. Here, we measure how religiosity can work on the sustainability of ecological citizenship, focusing on Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI) which has been actively engaged in the environmental–ecological movement since the 1980s. First, they show a distinct tendency to religiously reinterpret the COVID-19 pandemic, an understanding of the pandemic as an ecological issue, and worldly optimism that human efforts can prevent the current or upcoming ecological crisis. Second, KSGI members with a high level of ecological religiosity tend to support ecological citizenship, independent of secular ecologism such as ecological politicization or deep ecology. In conclusion, this study is the first empirical research exploring how people of faith belonging to a minority religious tradition such as KSGI develop their ecological religiosity into ecological citizenship, namely a faith-based ecological citizenship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context)
17 pages, 1126 KiB  
Article
Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning
by Rohmatulloh Rohmatulloh, Aan Hasanah, Lalan Sahlani and M. Tajudin Zuhri
Religions 2023, 14(10), 1284; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101284 - 11 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1996
Abstract
This study focused on integrating energy-saving education within the realms of natural science and religious, aligning with Islamic environmental values. Specifically, the aim was to create a teaching framework for instilling energy-saving values in Islamic secondary schools, integrating with the boarding school system [...] Read more.
This study focused on integrating energy-saving education within the realms of natural science and religious, aligning with Islamic environmental values. Specifically, the aim was to create a teaching framework for instilling energy-saving values in Islamic secondary schools, integrating with the boarding school system (pesantren) guided by Islamic ethical principles. This research employed a descriptive case study approach in two Islamic school locations within Bandung Regency. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed using NVivo 12. Initially, a rich picture was used to depict the program’s setting, identify issues, and assimilate energy-saving Islamic values. The result was the synthesis of a triangular model, illustrating the internalization of Islamic ethical values related to energy conservation across science, religious subjects, and daily school activities. This model serves as a viable solution, particularly for Asian countries such as Indonesia, where the education system intertwines religious and scientific education in their curriculum, fostering students’ ecological awareness. The findings emphasize the need for competent educational stakeholders capable of innovatively integrating religion and science, possessing a solid understanding of energy conservation, to effectively implement these programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Ecological Citizenship in the Asian Context)
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