Gary Donald Bouma (21 February 1942 – 19 August 2021) was an author and a professor of

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He was born in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and was a citizen of both the United States and Australia. His primary research interests were related to the topics of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

and

religious pluralism Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religion, religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following: * Recognizing and Religious tolerance, tolerating the religio ...

. He was also a priest in the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. Bouma worked to promote communication and respect between religious communities. He commenced with Monash University in 1979 and served in leadership roles in the

World Conference of Religions for Peace The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

and the

Christian Research Association The Christian Research Association (CRA) was founded in 1985 to study the Christian faith in Australia. Its work consists of major research projects which have focussed on overviews of research on spirituality and religion in relation to Austr ...

. In an interview in 2004 he said:

The situation in the Middle East won’t be resolved until there is a religious solution. And groups like Al Qaeda, which are puritanical Muslims with a religious agenda, will continue their efforts until stopped by those Muslims who disagree with the aims of Al Qaeda, just like Cromwell in England.

Bouma was the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural and Interreligious Relations – Asia Pacific, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Monash University, the Australian node of the Religion and Diversity Project at the University of Ottawa, Director of the Global Terrorism Research Centre, and Associate Priest in the Anglican Parish of St John's East Malvern. He was Past-President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions. He was Chair, Board of Directors for The Parliament of the World's Religions 2009. His research in the sociology of religion examined the management of religious diversity in plural multicultural societies, education about religions, postmodernity as a context for doing theology, religion and terror, religion and public policy. He is the author or co-author of over 30 books and 360 articles. In 2013 Bouma was invested as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to sociology, to interreligious relations and to the Anglican Church of Australia. Bouma devoted much energy to supporting moves to establish social justice and increase social cohesion through efforts to include diverse groups across divides. This includes early work in the civil rights movement, support for women's liberation and abortion reform, and has been a champion for marriage equality and greater acceptance of and respect for LGBTIQ people. Most notably he worked to reduce the barriers between religious groups through interactions designed to increase understanding and mutual respect. Bouma died on 19 August 2021, aged 79.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouma, Gary 1942 births 2021 deaths Australian sociologists Sociologists of religion Members of the Order of Australia Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan American emigrants to Australia Academic staff of Monash University Australian Anglican priests Cornell University alumni