Conference on Spirituality for Democracy and Social Cohesion

View the conference programme. 

The first roundtable on this theme was a huge success.  Diphaephae! What is this thing?  In iSinguni, ndiphethwe ngu moya, or in Sesotho, ke tshwerwe ke moya! Throughout the first roundtable, this concept, diphaephae, roughly translated as the ‘grasp[1]’ of the spirit or Spirit, to be spirit filled at it were, explained in iSinguni and Sesotho by those phrases, featured at different levels, moods, modes and metaphors used in various attempts at exploring what the meaning of the concept spirituality is for democracy and social cohesion in South Africa.  Indeed the constructs ‘democracy’ and ‘social cohesion’ were not left untainted in what proved to be one of the most inspiring roundtables the Centre for Public Theology has ever had, at least during my tenure as its Director. 

Similar questions that have already arisen and others that might further clarify the inherent question of spirituality for social cohesion and democracy are the subject of the Conference in November 2013.  The goal of this project is to identify spiritual resources or ‘assets’ in these areas or their development:

• Spirituality for citizen’s participation in public life;
• Spirituality for life-giving democracy and economics (political economy);
  
• Spirituality for radical democracy  AND
  
• Other themes, sub-themes, or case studies related to spiritual assets for life-giving and social cohesion.

• Methodology for Life-giving spirituality;
  
• Spirituality and Morality;
  
• African assets of Spirituality;
  
• Clashes and Wars of Spirituality;
  
• Spirituality and Intellectual Bankruptcy
• Spirituality for Democratic Debate
  
• Spirituality for learning in our Schools

Tel + 27 12 420 6518 
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