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This volume describes the religious diversity of twenty-seven nations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. These nations are a living laboratory of various religious blends, thus providing a wealth of case studies on diversity management.

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Religious diversity is now a social fact in most countries of the world. While reports of the impact of religious diversity on Europe and North America are reasonably well-known, the ways in which Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific are religiously diverse and the ways this diversity has been managed are not. This book addresses this lack of information about one of the largest and most diverse regions of the world. It describes the religious diversity of 27 nations, as large and complex as Indonesia and as small as Tuvalu, outlining the current issues and the basic policy approaches to religious diversity. Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands are portrayed as a living laboratory of various religious blends, with a wide variance of histories and many different approaches to managing religious diversity. While interesting in their own right, a study of these nations provides a wealth of case studies of diversity management - most of them stories of success and inclusion.

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The Antipodes and Japan.- Australia.- Japan.- New Zealand.- Island Nations of South East Asia.- Brunei Darussalam.- Timor Leste.- Indonesia.- Malaysia.- Papua New Guinea.- Philippines.- Singapore.- Sri Lanka.- Thailand.- Pacific Island Nations.- Cook Islands.- Fiji.- French Polynesia.- Kiribati.- Marshall Islands.- Federated States of Micronesia.- Nauru.- New Caledonia.- Northern Marianas.- Palau.- Samoa.- Solomon Islands.- Tonga.- Tuvalu.- Vanuatu.- Integrative Chapters.- Minority Religious Groups and the State.- Religious Competition.- Women and Religious Diversity.- Regional Interfaith Dialogue.

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Gary D Bouma is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations - Asia Pacific at Monash University in Victoria, Australia, and Chair of Board of Directors for The Parliament of the World´s Religions 2009. He is Associate Priest in the Anglican Parish of St John´s East Malvern, Melbourne.

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