Building harmony in diverse society: insights from practical wisdom

Abstract

Purpose Increasing diversity leads to local, national and transnational challenges requiring a novel and explicit problem-solving approach. Practical wisdom, which emerges from an integration knowledge and ability through religious awareness, can promote peaceful coexistence in diverse societies with adequate theological and educational infrastructures. This paper aims to critically examine practical wisdom as the religious awareness to underlying building harmony in the diverse society. Design/methodology/approach Literature from refereed and peer-reviewed journals and articles was reviewed using thematic topic analysis to propose a model of the practical wisdom as a foundation for building harmony in a diverse society. Findings This result shows that there are several discussions with specific objectives of practical wisdom as the result of core understanding of religious awareness underlying the potential solutions in the diverse society; the significant essence of practical wisdom as the core element for building harmony; exploring how practical wisdom should be a wide particular element in building integrity and harmony in the diverse society. Originality/value Practical wisdom can establish peaceful and respectful relations amongst diverse segments of the population. It is, therefore, crucial for scholars and practitioners to explore practical wisdom in depth and devise ways of promoting this important characteristic at a social level through the exchange of common ideas and goals.