Sacred Paths to Peace: How Religious Imagination Shapes Transitional Justice Today

This event explores the intersection of transitional justice and the religious imagination in addressing contemporary international challenges. By examining how faith-based narratives influence reconciliation, justice, and societal healing, it unveils ongoing challenges in transitional justice, and current transformative contributions of religious imaginaries as tools for bridging divides, fostering dialogue, and reimagining pathways to enduring peace. Three experiences will be revisited as cases-examples to be charted out: (1) peacebuilding work with communities of faith in Colombia, (2) academic and political approaches in the US to religion and peace, and (3) international contributions to transitional justice via inter-faith platforms in the UK.

After studying philosophy —BA (U. Sabana) and MA (U. Javeriana), Dr Eduardo Gutiérrez González worked in faculties of Philosophy and Political Science in Colombia and subsequently did an MSt in Science & Religion at Oriel College, Oxford, strongly engaging with J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary imagination and with interdisciplinary approaches to theology. He recently earned his doctorate at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, with a thesis focusing on the role of imagination in belief formation and transformation, and its use for peacebuilding in Colombia. He is currently a JRF in Humanities and Social Sciences at Blackfriars Hall, and is also Consultant for Peace and Religion with the United States Institute of Peace in Colombia.

Dr Gabriel Rojas-Andrade holds a doctorate in law  from Los Andes University in Bogotá and a master’s degree in political theory from LSE, along with undergraduate and master’s degrees in philosophy and literature. He is Adjunct Professor of International Law at Los Andes University and an expert in transitional justice with a focus on restorative justice, macro-criminality, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Dr Rojas-Andrade is currently the Director of Restorative Justice for the United States Institute of Peace in Colombia and works closely with the Institute’s peace processes team.

Free and open to all. Registration is required.

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Venue: Blackfriars Hall - St Giles Oxford, OX1 3LY United Kingdom Array ( [lat] => 51.756248 [lng] => -1.259881 )

Contact:
Las Casas Institute
lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk