THEME: “Celebrating SocRel at 45: Beyond Binaries in the Sociology of Religion”
The conference will be held at the University of York, 14-16 July 2020.
Keynote Speakers
- Dr Sarah Jane Page (Aston University)
- Professor Sam Perry (University of Oklahoma)
Special 45th Anniversary Panel
- Professor Eileen Barker (London School of Economics)
- Professor Jim Beckford (Warwick University)
- Professor Grace Davie (Exeter University)
- Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)
Sociological writing about religion is replete with binaries: secular/post-secular, sacred/profane, religion/non-religion, western/non-western, spiritual/religious, theistic/non-theistic, cognitive/corporeal and private/public, to name just a few. Theories that consider the relationship between these seemingly opposing concepts have shaped the evolution of the discipline, reflected changing social realities, and supported the production of new knowledge.
Although many of these binaries have become highly fashionable within the contemporary study of religion, does the use of these types of analytical frames limit our capacity for critical sociological engagement? Do our understanding of the lived realities for individuals across different communities support or reject the use of binary concepts? In this conference that celebrates 45 years of SocRel, we invite you to consider the possibilities for the sociology of religion ‘beyond binaries’. We encourage you to think about the relationships that you make in your own research with these, and other, binary frames, and the ways in which you find them both useful and limiting to think with.
Use this link to submit abstracts: http://bit.ly/32ZoFdk
Further details regarding registration will be uploaded in due course. Should you have any questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Dr Rachael Shillitoe
Research Associate
Conference and Events Officer for the British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Group (SocRel)
School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT