Paper short abstract:

I will define the concept of 'intangibles' and how they apply to a study of peace and the role of local faith actors, challenge the limitations of methodological 'agnosticism' with preference for a stronger appreciation for transcendence in social change, and identify common 'intangible' elements.

Paper long abstract:

The concept of “intangibles” refers to the power of something transcendent. The term “intangible” is used to capture the fact that we can never fully know it, but we can seek to come closer to an understanding of that which is intangible. We acknowledge that there are forces at play that we cannot explicitly identify, understand or control. Such an approach requires a greater sensitivity to faith, religion and spirituality than we find in the work of most humanitarian agencies, governments and research institutions. Drawing the term “meta-physical stance” from Johnsen and Fitzpatrick (2022), we challenge the notion of methodological atheism proposed by Peter Berger and widely embraced in sociology, by arguing that belief in transcendence does not need to be “bracketed” (Porpora, 2006, p.69). This meta-physicial position openly acknowledges the existence of intangible elements but does not promote a specific value set or religious standpoint by which those intangibles must be understood or defined. There is, nonetheless, a reality that is beyond what can be empirically observed, and this reality holds some power of some form. This power is associated with a sense of ‘transcendence’, a concept associated in many religious traditions with “God”, but which may be experienced or understood in a variety of different ways.