Author Archives: DaBoss

Public Lecture: “I don´t want to speak in tongues – I speak human rights”

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BA Religion and Society International Annual Lecture
by Prof. Peter Nynäs, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.

“I don´t want to speak in tongues – I speak human rights”- Some observations from a global study on heteronormativity and religion among young adults”

March 12th 2019 at 6-8pm
Richard Hoggart Building (Main Building), RHB 256
Goldsmiths, University of London
Followed by Q&A & wine reception

Religion, sexuality and gender intertwine in a range of different ways. During the last decades, global movements have increasingly affected our perceptions of and attentiveness to this, and the contradictory signals emerging in a post-secular situation. Many young people today express well-articulated openness to variations in terms of gender and sexualities and also actively take part in making change, whereas neoconservative voices also seem to gain more and more public space and influence – and revitalize heteronormativity as an ideal.

In this talk I will initially look at some basic findings from a study on young adults and religion that I implemented in 13 countries worldwide. This project was primarily not about gender and sexuality, but the extensive data we have collected has allowed me to explore issues around forms of heteronormativity, and in particular in relation to religion and values. In addition, both the mixed method approach in this study and the global scope allow me to raise some methodological and conceptual questions. To what extent and how do young adults today express heteronormativity?
Biography

Dr Peter Nynäs is Professor of Comparative Religion at Åbo Akademi University and director of the Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research Young adults and religion in a global perspective (2015–2018), a cross-cultural, comparative, and mixed-method study of religious subjectivities and values in ten countries around the world. He previously led the Centre of Excellence in Research Post-Secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape in Finland (2010–2014). He has edited volumes such as On the Outskirts of “the Church”: Diversities, Fluidities and New Spaces of Religion in Finland (with R. Illman & T. Martikainen, LIT-Verlag, 2015), Religion, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life (with A. Yip, Ashgate 2012), and Transforming Otherness (with J. Finch, Transaction 2011). The volume Sensitizing ‘religious’ variety in a global perspective: between universalism and particularism, is scheduled for 2019 (with R. Illman, N. Novis & R. Fernandez, Equinox)

FREE, RSVP via eventbrite here<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ba-religion-and-society-international-annual-lecture-tickets-56029619099>

Call for Papers: The Future of British Muslim Studies: Cardiff, 24 April

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We are very pleased to accounce the Call for Papers for the next MBRN conference at Cardiff. Details can be found below and at the following link:
http://www.mbrn.org.uk/call-for-papers-the-future-of-british-muslim-studies/

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Call for Papers: The Future of British Muslim Studies
A one-day Muslims in Britain Research Network conference organised in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University
Date: 24 April 2019

Since the Muslims in Britain Research Network was established over 25 years ago, British Muslim studies has grown exponentially. Yet despite this, the field faces significant challenges and uncertainty about its future direction. With so much of the focus on British Muslims being driven – both in academia and in wider society – by instrumental concerns about security and terrorism, much needed debates about the field’s core goals and purpose have often been obscured. The near constant use of research reports and polls on British Muslims in service of political agendas has meant that not only do those researching British Muslims often struggle to get their voices heard, but they are also forced to face difficult questions about their positioning and politics.

This one day event will bring together those from within and outside of academia who have an interest in shaping the study of Muslim Britain in order to discuss and debate the challenges facing the field and where it should go from here. What should British Muslim studies do, and who should it be for? Should it be seen as part of a project of improving Muslims’ rights and representation, as with the case of comparable fields like Black studies, or remain at a critical distance from Muslim politics? Is the field itself sufficiently inclusive of the diversity of Muslim and non-Muslim voices, and is sufficient recognition given to those outside the academy producing research into Muslims? When, and how, should academics partner with Muslim and community and activist groups? With researchers in the field scattered across disciplines, and with religion increasingly marginalised in the academy, how can the field cohere and have a positive impact?

Abstracts are invited for papers that address any of the conference themes:
  *   Emerging research agendas in, and challenges for, the field of British Muslim studies
  *   The politics of producing knowledge about Muslims in the West
  *   The relationship between academic scholarship and Muslims’ presence, voice and activism
  *   Partnerships between academic and Muslim community groups in the UK
  *   ‘Insider’ and ‘outsider’ dynamics in the study of British Muslims
  *   Complementarities and tensions between disciplinary approaches to the study of Muslims and Islam
  *   Securing the study of Muslims and Islam within and beyond UK higher education

Participants will be asked to present their research in a short format as part of a panel. To participate please send a 250 word abstract to the email address below by 1st March along with a biographical note of no more than 50 words.

Abstract submissions and any general questions should be sent to the conference organisers at MuslimsinBritainRN@gmail.com<mailto:MuslimsinBritainRN@gmail.com>.

Call for papers: Special journal issue on ‘Leadership, Authority and Representation in British Muslim Communities’

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Special Issue of the journal ‘Religions’

Following our very successful one-day conference on ‘Leadership, Authority and Representation in British Muslim Communities’ at Cardiff University last month, we are now actively seeking articles for a Special Issue of the international peer-review journal Religions<https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/bmc> on the same conference theme. This edition of the journal is being co-edited by Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray and Dr Riyaz Timol.
We are inviting articles of 5,000-8,000 words (including all references and footnotes) by 25th April, though there may be scope to extend that deadline by a few weeks (only) if this makes the difference in terms of potential contributions.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like further information. We very much hope you will consider the submission of a paper. Please do circulate to your networks.

With thanks
Sophie Gilliat-Ray and Riyaz Timol

Call for Sessions: 4th Forum of Sociology, Porto Alegre, Brazil — July 14-18, 2020

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RESEARCH COMMITTEE 22: SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Call for Session Proposals
4th ISA Forum of Sociology
July 15-18, 2020
(Session proposals due March 15, 2019)

 “Challenges of the 21st Century for Sociology of Religion“

Program Coordinators:
Eloísa Martín, United Arab Emirates University, UAE
Juan Cruz Esquivel, University of Buenos Aires/ CONICET, Argentina
Roberta Bivar Carneiro, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil

The debate on religion, its role, its development, and its future has been intense, extensive and sophisticated during the last few decades. Religion is both a central phenomenon itself and a key variable that can be used to explain economic, social, and political phenomena.  Both facets require continuous in-depth research. In recent years, many sociologists have begun to identify limits to the current approach to religious phenomena, and especially to the definitions of religion developed in the West. A number of authors have extended this critique to the ways sociologists currently explain and interpret “religion” in the 21st Century. Though still emerging, such accounts have opened new paths by which sociologists of religion can face both the empirical and theoretical challenges of our era.

We invite proposals for sessions that focus both on the discussion and analysis of current religious phenomena, and especially on how – theoretically and methodologically – the sociology of religion has been dealing and should deal with these issues in the 21st Century. While proposals may focus on single perspectives or phenomena, we encourage those  that explore the nexus between different theoretical and methodological approaches. We welcome session proposals that examine the relationship between religion and democracy, ecology, inequality, diversity, intersectionality, human rights, social movements, digital activism, and migration, among others.

The ISA CONFEX website will be open for session proposals from February 4 – March 15, 2019 24:00 GMT. Sessions may only be submitted through the CONFEX site.  Programme coordinators cannot include sessions sent by email or include sessions submitted after the CONFEX system is closed.  Surf to http://bit.ly/2Gj9N0N to enter the CONFEX site.

Please, note that you must be an RC-22 member to submit a session proposal. You may also not chair a session in which you present a paper. In such cases, we suggest that you identify someone else to chair the session.

We welcome both pre-organized sessions (with pre-chosen panellists) and topical sessions that are open to paper proposals by others. You may propose regular paper sessions, Author-meets-critics sessions, and Roundtable sessions. Sessions should be designed to have 4-5 participants, plus several standby participants.  We wish to include as many scholars as possible, particularly from the global South.

In late March, the Program Coordinators will choose which sessions will appear on our program.  Once the sessions are chosen, individual paper proposals can be submitted through the CONFEX website from April 25 – September 30, 2019 24:00 GMT.  We will circulate another announcement with details of how to submit paper proposals before then.

Please address your questions to any of the Program Coordinators:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS CALL FOR SESSIONS

International Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society, Annual Conference

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Thursday 4th July – Saturday 6th July 2019

Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham, UK.

Please note: support for attendance is available.

Organised by the Science and Belief in Society Research Group at the University of Birmingham, UK this is the first conference launching the new, International Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society.

In the last decade there has been significant growth in social scientific scholarship on science and religion, complementing the more established historical research into the subject. Greater attention is being paid to the varied ways in which perceptions of science are influenced by religious and non-religious belief, identity, community and conflict in different geographical, cultural and historical contexts. The purpose of this international conference is to bring together researchers with backgrounds in sociology, science and technology studies, psychology, political science, history, social anthropology, and related humanities or social science disciplines to discuss perspectives on the overarching topic of science and belief in society.

Abstracts are invited for the conference relating to the following themes:

  • · The social scientific and historical study of the relationship between science and religious and/or non-religious belief and identity;
  • · Public perceptions of the relationship between science, religion and non-religion and their respective roles in society;
  • · National and international comparative perspectives on the study of science, religion and belief in society;
  • · Past and present media or popular representations of science, religion and belief in society;
  • · The past or present roles of science, rationalism, religion and belief in national, social or cultural identity and related geopolitical narratives;
  • · Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of science, religion and non-religion in society;
  • · Methodological approaches to, and issues in, the study of science, religion and belief in society;
  • · Avenues for future research and developments within the social scientific and historical study of science, religion and belief in society;
  • · Public policy research relating to any aspect of public policy that intersects with issues connected to science, religion and belief in society. Including studies on theimpact of publics’ views on science and religion on policy making, and provision for religious, spiritual or non-religious communities across a range of geographies and issues (e.g. healthcare provision, educational policy, science policy, environmental policy or development);
  • · International studies of religious or spiritual communities’ perspectives on the intersection, and possible relationships, between science and religion over time.

We are interested in papers that relate to any aspect of STEMM in society (science, technology, engineering, medicine, and mathematics) and that discuss any religious, spiritual or non-religious tradition, position or worldview, including unbelief.

Keynote papers will be given by historian Professor Peter Harrison, Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland (Australia), and psychologist Professor Cristine Legare, associate professor of psychology and the director of the Evolution, Variation, and Ontogeny of Learning Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (USA).

Individual paper submissions:

To submit a paper proposal, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words, alongside a biographical note of no more than 200 words including name, institutional affiliation, email address and if possible a web-link to your institutional bio page.

Biographies of successful applicants will be added to the International Network’s Research Directory when our new website launches in the spring. Please indicate on your application if you would like to opt out of being added to the Research Directory.

Panel session proposals:

We will also be accepting a limited number of panel proposals with a maximum of four speakers. To submit a panel proposal, please send a session summary of no more than 250 words alongside abstracts of no more than 300 words for each paper and biographical notes of no more than 200 words for each contributor (please include institutional affiliation(s), e-mail contact details, and other info as above).

Individual or panel session submissions may cross over several of the themes listed above, and those intending to submit papers are encouraged to consider the relevance of their work to other academic disciplines.

Please send all individual paper and session proposals to Dr Harris Wiseman (h.wiseman@bham.ac.uk) for the attention of the conference organisers, Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker (University of Birmingham), and Dr Alexander Hall (University of Birmingham).

All abstracts must be submitted by 1st March 2019.

Conference Costs and Bursaries:

Please note that for all successful applicants, accommodation and registration costs will be covered by the International Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society as part of a 1 year grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.

In addition to this, a limited number of bursaries are available to support those who may not have institutional support to attend international conferences, including but not limited to: postgraduate, early career, retired, or low income or unwaged.  To request this additional support please e-mail Dr Harris Wiseman at h.wiseman@bham.ac.uk, including your contact details, a short biography (including a clear statement regarding your career stage), your abstract and a statement of interest to be considered for one of the bursaries. We also have a range of other bursaries for covering other needs (e.g. support with day care costs). The deadline for submission of bursary applications is 1st March 2019.

Please note that we will be running a fully funded early career workshop in the days prior to this conference, but this will be announced and advertised via a separate call.

Key Dates:

  • Abstract submission: Open now
  • Deadline for abstracts and conference bursary applications: 1st March 2019
  • Decision notification: 15th March 2019
  • Registration opens: 15th March 2019
  • Registration deadline for presenters: 29th March 2019

Call for Papers: "Religion in Political Contention:

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“Religion in Political Contention: Religious Dimensions in Social Movements, Rebellions, and Revolutions”

For a panel proposal to the Association for the Sociology of Religion 81st Annual Meeting, New York, NY, August 11-13, 2019

While religion is often recognized as a social force that maintains, if not legitimates, the socio-political order, religion has also played a role in rebellions, revolts, social movements, and revolutions. Religion, that is, can play a role in contentious politics. Karl Marx famously suggested that religion is the “opium of the people,” a phrase that is frequently taken out of context and misunderstood. In the same passage, he also wrote religion is “an expression of real suffering and a protest against” it, suggesting that religion is also a source and instrument of social change. Indeed, Marx’s collaborator, Friedrich Engels wrote on essay on the German Peasant Wars focusing on the revolutionary movement led by theologian Thomas Münzer, underscoring the latter point on social change dynamics. Similarly, Max Weber showed us how religion is both a source of domination (traditional or bureaucratic) and social transformation (charismatic, which is revolutionary, but also another type of domination). Even Emile Durkheim, who typically is associated with a status quo oriented theory of religion, makes a case for the transcendent power of religious rituals. Today, too many sociologists of religion continue very conventional modes of thinking – religion is either hegemonic or counter-hegemonic — ignoring how religion is both a hegemonic and counter-hegemonic force in past and contemporary political scenarios.

For this panel, we will invite papers that explore the relationship religion – as a shared cultural system, source of solidarity, and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting – has to social movements, rebellions and revolutions. We are interested in understanding how and under what conditions religion functions as a progressive and/or reactionary force that compels people to challenge or protect the order of things. We are particularly interested in prophetic and messianic movements, secular religions (e.g., The Cult of the Supreme Being and Science as Religion), and liberation theologies. While we welcome contemporary explorations (e.g., popular religion and evangelism in Latin America, the Arab Spring, and resistance to globalization), we also welcome the exploration of past events (e.g., the English, French, Iranian, and Nicaraguan revolutions; Taiping and Boxer Rebellions in China; and the German Peasant Wars of the 16th century). Special consideration will be given to theoretical treatments on the relationship religion has to progressive and/or reactionary politics. Papers that focus on contemporary and historical case studies in the U.S. are welcome. Priority will be given to papers that aim to make sense of the institutional, organizational, ritualistic, discursive (e.g., using the Bible or other sacred texts in discussions), ideological, and/or framing mechanisms that give religion its contentious structure.

Deadline for Paper Proposals: March 1st, 2019

Paper proposals should include name, affiliation, email address, title, and a 200-word abstract describing the paper’s research question, methodology, and preliminary results.

Please send paper proposal in MS Word by e-mail to the panel organizers:

Jean-Pierre Reed, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, reedjp@siu.edu and

Warren S. Goldstein, Center for Critical Research on Religion,
goldstein@criticaltheoryofreligion.org

Call for Papers: American Academy of Religion, Nov 23-26, 2019

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Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
November 23-26, 2019

Sociology of Religion Unit
Call for Papers

https://papers.aarweb.org/content/sociology-religion-unit

Statement of Purpose:

The Sociology of Religion (SOR) Unit of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) serves as a bridge between religious studies and the subdiscipline of sociology of religion. It functions as a two-way conduit not only to import sociological research into religious studies but also to export the research of religious studies into both the subdiscipline and the broader field of sociology. Only through a cross-fertilization transgressing departmental boundaries can there be breakthroughs in research in both fields. The unit has a wide conception of sociology of religion. It is open to a multiplicity of paradigms and methodologies utilized in the subfield and sociology more broadly: theoretical as well as empirical, quantitative, qualitative, and comparative-historical. By liaising with other Program Units, the Sociology of Religion Unit is able to bring the rich diversity of critical and analytical perspectives that are housed in the American Academy of Religion into mainstream sociology of religion. Conversely, it aims to provide scholars of the study of religion with a deeper understanding of the landscape of sociology of religion.

Call for Papers:
The purpose of the Sociology of Religion program unit of the American Academy of Religion is to bridge the gap and generate cross-fertilization between the Sociology of Religion and Religious Studies. We are open to papers in all areas and therefore encourage submissions of any topic relevant to the sociology of religion. This year, we are particularly interested in the following topics:

  • Topics related to San Diego (Immigration/Latinx experiences, militarism, etc.) and public intellectuals (which is the theme of the conference)
  • Pedagogical panel: sociology of religion is taught in both sociology and religious studies departments. However, in religious studies departments, so as not to conflict with the turf of sociology departments, it is often called “religion and society.” For this panel, we are interested in comparing how sociology of religion is taught in sociology and religious studies departments
  • W.E.B. DuBois’s relevance to the sociology of religion
  • A return to Jane Addams and others whose work refutes an epistemic split between sociology and activism
  • Relevance/relationship of quantitative to qualitative research
  • Applied sociology as a form of pubic intellectual work

Publication:
The Sociology of Religion Unit of AAR regularly co-sponsors panels with the peer-reviewed print and online journal Critical Research on Religion (CRR) (http://crr.sagepub.com). Published by SAGE Publications, the journal has over 8000 subscriptions worldwide and is ranked by Scopus #16 out of 432 religion journals (https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=1212). Presenters of promising papers in SOR panels will be invited to turn their papers into articles and submit them for peer review to CRR.

Method:

Please submit paper and session proposals through the AAR SOR Unit Portal: https://papers.aarweb.org/content/sociology-religion-unit

Process:
Proposals are anonymous to chairs and steering committee members during review, but visible to chairs prior to final acceptance or rejection

For further information, please contact AAR SOR Unit Co-Chairs:
Rebekka King, rebekka.king@mtsu.edu

Warren S. Goldstein, goldstein@criticaltheoryofreligion.org

2 Funded Places: Issues in Anglicanism

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Issues in Anglicanism: 2 funded places

Two fully-funded places for Postgraduate Students/Early Career Scholars are available for a small Canterbury-based symposium:

Contemporary Issues in the Worldwide Anglican Communion: a research symposium

September 26 & 27 2013, Canterbury Lodge, UK

Twenty international scholars are gathering for two days to discuss current issues such as:

Gender, Aging, Youth, Sexuality, Economics, Welfare, Class, Growth/Decline, Power and authority shifts (global south/north, gender, age), Health, State/Church relations; Anglican/Vatican relations; Church and community, Social Action.

Applicants should include a brief CV, paper proposal and reasons for wanting to participate.

Application Deadline: August 1 2013 to Dr. Abby Day, University of Kent, Canterbury: a.f.day

The event forms part of Dr Abby Day’s ESRC-funded research into the nature and future of the Church’s most loyal cohort, older women, and is generously funded by the ESRC, the University of Kent, and Lambeth Palace.

Costs of UK travel, symposium accommodation and all meals are included.