What is exceptional about religion? major debates in International Relations, Islamism Studies and Peace and Conflict Research

This chapter reviews selected debates that speak to the question of whether religion is or requires something exceptional for it to be properly accounted for in analysis. We pinpoint different dimensions of what we here label the ‘exceptionalism-debate’ across three academic fields by carving out relevant discussions and questions raised in the field of International Relations, the field of Islamism Studies and the Peace and Conflict Research on Islamism and jihadism. The selected literature that we have reviewed are occupied with different ‘main’ concepts: In International Relations the debates drawn out are conceptual and analytical regarding religion as such. In Islamism Studies, religion is central in the form of a specific ideology, and hence we zoom in on the particular debates that this prompt regarding, e.g. the significance of Islam vis-á-vis other factors. The examined Peace and Conflict Research literature has ‘jihadist conflicts’ at the center of attention; hence, it examines the violent manifestations of a particular religious interpretation of religious warfare (jihad) which has triggered debates about, e.g. in what sense jihadist conflicts should be seen as a particular conflict constellation, and why. Most of the examples we draw out deal with Islam, Islamism and jihadism, but this focus does not mean that we disregard the relevance of other religions and religiously inspired ideologies.