Hefner Speaks at Annual World Peace Forum in Jakarta
Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, attended the Seventh Annual World Peace Forum hosted from August 14-16, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia by the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation Among Civilizations in Singapore and the office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia’s Special Envoy for “Interfaith and Intercivilizatinal Dialogue and Cooperation.”
The theme of the conference this year is, “The Middle Path for the New World Civilization,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivered the keynote and opener for the forum, which focused on the theme of “The Middle Path for the New World Civilization,”.
The conference features Muslim and non-Muslim scholars from Indonesia, the broader Southeast Asian World, and the Middle East. Hefner was asked to speak on Muslim responses to modern global capitalism. His talk was entitled, “Muslims, Markets, and the Middle Way for Economic Development: Morality not Just Self Interest.”
According to Hefner, the event is intended as a response to what is seen as a global world order buffeted by the rise of radical populism and retreat in some countries from democracy and dialogue across nations.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he has directed the program on Islam and civil society since 1991; coordinated interdisciplinary research and public policy programs on religion, pluralism, and world affairs; and is currently involved in two research projects: “The New Western Plurality and Civic Coexistence: Muslims, Catholics, and Secularists in North America and Western Europe”; and “Sharia Transitions: Islamic Law and Ethical Plurality in the Contemporary World.” You can read more about him here.