Author Archives: Janaki

AHRC / British Academy digital resources on the Hajj and British Muslims

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While sadly the Hajj of 2015 will be remembered for recent tragic
events, list members may be interested to know that during the
pilgrimage this year the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
has been featuring a gallery of 15 images drawn from my research on the
Hajj and British Muslims.

The gallery, which will be of interest to university teachers and
researchers across Islamic, Religious and Diaspora Studies, was one of
those selected to mark the AHRC’s tenth anniversary. It offers a ‘thick’
visual description of British Muslims’ connections to sacred place in
the context of transnational circulations of pilgrims, capital, objects
and ideas. While currently one of the banners on the AHRC’s front page,
the gallery can be permanently viewed at:
http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/research/readwatchlisten/imagegallery/hajjethnographybritish/

The Hajj, Ethnography and British Muslims – Arts and Humanities Research
Council

Up to 25,000 British Muslims travel annually to Makkah to perform Hajj.
The great pilgrimage returns Muslims to the birthplace of their faith
and is a religious duty once in their lifetime.

Read more:
http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/research/readwatchlisten/imagegallery/hajjethnographybritish/

Such images are elaborated on further in a British Academy funded web
resource and online exhibition at http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/. This
includes 30 x 2-3 minute, themed digital audio-clips drawn from in-depth
interviews collected among pilgrims, tour operators, community
organisations and others. My work began as part of AHRC-funded research
for the British Museum’s exhibition, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/hajj/narratives/modern.aspx.

Finally, as well as an online exhibition, the website includes research
papers on the Cultural and Political Economy of Hajj-Going and
Pilgrimage and Performativity, as well as an industry-facing report and
radio interviews including commentary on last week’s events. See, for
example, BBC Radio 5 Live Drive, 24/09/2015: http://goo.gl/x6zyfj. To
find out more you can also follow me on Twitter @LeedsUniHajjRes

Thanks and best wishes,

Dr Seán McLoughlin

Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Muslim Cultures, Politics & Societies

School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science
University of Leeds, LS2 9JT

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XVIII Jornadas sobre Alternativas Religiosas en América Latina

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Programa definitivo de las XVIII Jornadas

En el siguiente enlace, podrán acceder al Programa definitivo de las XVIII Jornadas: Mesas Redondas, Grupos de Trabajo, actividades complementarias e información útil sobre la ciudad de Mendoza.

https://www.academia.edu/16190606/Programa_Definitivo

The post XVIII Jornadas sobre Alternativas Religiosas en América Latina appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

CFP: “Shia Minorities in the Contemporary World: Migration, Transnationalism and Multilocality” (20-21 May, 2016, Chester)

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Call for Papers

Conference on

“Shia Minorities in the Contemporary World: Migration, Transnationalism and Multilocality”

 

University of Chester, Chester (UK), 20-21 May 2016

Global migrations flows in the 20th century have seen the emergence of Muslim diaspora and minority communities in Europe, North America and Australia. In addition to these new Muslim presences in the global “West”, there have been, since the late 19th century, migration flows from the Middle East (Lebanon and Syria in particular) to South America and West Africa. Likewise, South Asian Muslims settled in East and South Africa in the 19th century. While there is a growing body of research on these Muslim minorities in various regional contexts, the particular experiences of Shia Muslim minorities across the globe has only received scant attention.

As “a minority within a minority”, Shia Muslims face the double-challenge of maintaining an Islamic as well as a particular Shia identity in terms of communal activities, practices, public perception and recognition. Often coming from minority contexts of marginalisation and discrimination, their experience of migration and settlement in other parts of the world, whether enforced or voluntary, is often different from those of other Muslim immigrants. The rich tradition of Shia ritual practices and the authority structures specific to different forms of Shia Islam likewise shape the post-migratory minority experience of Shia.

The conference will bring together researchers working on Shia minorities outside of the so-called “Muslim heartland” (North Africa, Middle East, Central and South Asia). The conference will focus on Shia minorities in Europe, North and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, the Pacific Rim and East Asia that emerged out of migration from the Middle East and South Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries, in particular. The papers presented at the conference will offer unique comparative insights into Shia minorities in a variety of contexts across the globe.

Paper proposal can address but are not limited to the following topics:

–          dynamics between centre and periphery in global Shia Islam

–          multilocality and transnationalism of global Shia networks

–          transnational impact of events in the Middle East on post-migratory Shia minority communities

–          institutionalisation and organisation of post-migratory Shia minorities

–          public representation and perception of post-migratory Shia minorities and their interaction with state and majority-societies

–          sectarianism and Sunni-Shia relations in minority contexts

–          gender and generational dynamics within post-migratory Shia minorities

–          ritual practices and their adaptation in post-migratory minority contexts

–          adaptation of legal practices and legal reforms in minority contexts

–          role of clerical authority and leadership (whether transnational or local) in Shia minority contexts

Key note speakers:

Prof Liyakat Takim, McMasters University, Canada

Dr Sabrina Mervin, L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris / Centre Jacques Berque, Rabat

Dr Mara Leichtman (Michigan State University) will launch her book Shi‘i Cosmopolitanisms in Africa: Lebanese Migration and Religious Conversion in Senegal (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2015) at the conference.

The conference is organised by the new Chester Centre for Islamic Studies and held in conjunction with a research project on transnational Shia networks that operate between Britain and the Middle East, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. A limited number of travel bursaries is available for PhD students and early career researchers whose paper proposals are accepted. The publication of a selection of papers in an edited volume is also planned.

The deadline for abstract submission is 15 December 2015. Abstracts of up to 300 words and a short bio of (up to 200 words) should be sent in MS Word format as an email attachment to ccis@chester.ac.uk. Notifications of acceptance of papers will be sent out by 20 January 2016. Early career researchers should indicate whether they would like to receive a travel bursary when submitting the abstract.

Presentations of papers should be 15 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussions. Full papers should not exceed 8,000 words, including references and footnotes, and should be submitted, in full, prior to the conference by 1 May 2016.

For general enquiries, email Prof Oliver Scharbrodt, Director of Chester Centre for Islamic Studies, o.scharbrodt@chester.ac.uk.

Timeline:

Abstract submission:                      15 December 2015

Notification of acceptance:          20 January 2016

Full paper submission:                   1 May 2016

Conference:                                       20-21 May 2016

The post CFP: “Shia Minorities in the Contemporary World: Migration, Transnationalism and Multilocality” (20-21 May, 2016, Chester) appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

CFP: Religion and Non-Religion in Contemporary Societies

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CALL FOR PAPERS

12th ISORECEA conference & ESA RN34 mid-term conference

RELIGION AND NON-RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES

Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Challenges for Research in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond

Zadar, Croatia, April 21-24, 2016

The interplay between historical, cultural and political factors and events has contributed to processes where both religion and non-religion are features of contemporary societies. At the same time, religion and non-religion are integral to theories of secularisation and religious change. Faced with different empirical data around the world, secularisation theses have been debated for decades, while theoretical debates about religious change have occupied sociologists of religion. They have sought to better and more accurately understand and explain religious changes in different parts of the globe. Their points of view differ and include: privatization thesis, de-privatization thesis, religious economies thesis, religious bricolage, multiple secularities thesis. One angle, non-religion as religious counterpart, has been neglected in sociological research.  Indeed, until the end of the 20th century, it was only Campbell (1971) who gave a comprehensive insight into the sociology of non-religion, while many scholars wrote and published within the strand of the sociology of religion.

Non-religion has started to occupy the attention of sociologists since the beginning of this century, especially in the UK and USA. Its prominence has been influenced by its different appearances in the Western world: the rise of declared non-religious people, the appearance of a so-called New Atheism movement (inspired by books by R. Dawkins, S. Harris, D. Dennett, and C. Hitchens), numerous organizations and associations of non-religious people and their enhanced activities as an alternative to religious conservativism, the growing influence of religion in the public sphere and fundamentalist expressions of religion connected to terrorism. Researchers mostly based their work on theories of subcultural identities, identity politics and new social movements; yet, some authors also drew on the theory of religious economies. In spite of these strands, non-religion remains theoretically underdeveloped and under-researched. Interestingly, this refers particularly to former communist countries where atheism was enforced as part of the official ideology; more research would have been expected on non-religiosity and atheism there. Independently of the exact geopolitical context, non-religion and in particular the interplay between religion and non-religion in different dimensions seem to be a key for understanding contemporary religious changes.

This international conference would like to encourage scholars from various parts of the world to share their theoretical, empirical and methodological considerations on religion and non-religion and take part in discussion on different related topics, like:

  • Social theory of religion and non-religion
  • Comparative empirical data on religion and non-religion
  • Methodological challenges of research on religion and non-religion
  • Historical development of religion and non-religion
  • Non/religious minority and majority
  • Human rights, religion and non-religion
  • Religion, non-religion and State
  • Religion, non-religion and social inclusion/exclusion
  • Religion and non-religion in the intersectional perspective (involving gender, age, socio-economic aspects, etc.)
  • Religion and non-religion in everyday life
  • Religious and non-religious activism

Please submit a 200-300 words abstract of your presentation by e-mail to: isorecea2016@idi.hr by November 15, 2015.

If you are interested in a specific topic related to the study of religion and/or non-religion, we encourage you to organize a session/panel. In this case, please submit a 300-400 words proposal with full session details (names and affiliation of contributors, titles of their presentations) by November 15, 2015 to the same email address.

The post CFP: Religion and Non-Religion in Contemporary Societies appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Book Announcement: “Faith in the Time of AIDS: Religion, Biopolitics and Modernity in South Africa”, by Marian Burchardt, Palgrave Macmillan

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Faith in the Time of AIDS

Religion, Biopolitics and Modernity in South Africa

by Marian Burchardt

For a long time, Christians have remained at the margins of social projects around development, humanitarianism and HIV/AIDS in Africa. Drawing on ethnographic explorations in South Africa, this book tells the story of how Christian practices and narratives have become central for civil society responses to the epidemic. Marian Burchardt shows how Christians have employed globally circulating templates around ‘behavioural change’ in fields such as sexuality and biomedicine, but also how these templates are subverted when they are adapted to people’s needs. Through activism and spiritual notions of life, Christians have not only affected the way people think about relationships and health; by envisioning and promoting activist notions of personhood, unwittingly Christians have also pushed the frontiers of modernity. Taking his inspirations from Foucault and the sociology of knowledge, the author argues that Christian responses to AIDS reveal the dialectics of discipline and liberation inherent in the modern Christian project.

Reviews:
This wonderful book uses rich, emotionally-resonant ethnography to explore fundamental aspects of African modernity. It offers a brilliant, paradoxical picture of Christian – especially Pentecostal – and NGO responses to AIDS, as South Africans learn new techniques for transforming the self, and as life, sex, and death are given new meanings.’ -Ann Swidler, University of California-Berkely, USA

‘If there is one book to read about how social science can help us understand the global impact of the HIV epidemic, it is Faith in the Time of Aids. Burchardt masterfully weaves together ethnography from his work with affected communities and churches in South Africa, empirical evidence from around the world, and social theory. He overturns received wisdom about Africa, about the epidemic and about religion in the modern world. Strongly recommended to students of globalization, health and social theory.’ -Vinh-Kim Nguyen, École de Santé publique de l’Université de Montréal and Collège d’études mondiales, Canada and France

‘A critical, eloquent account of an insuperably complex situation, the unfair distribution of privilege/risk, and the imperative for bold political action. With theoretical and methodological dexterity, Burchardt infuses his analysis with respect for the persons whose lives this book narrates, explicates, and represents.’ -Robin Root, City University of New York, USA

The post Book Announcement: “Faith in the Time of AIDS: Religion, Biopolitics and Modernity in South Africa”, by Marian Burchardt, Palgrave Macmillan appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Book Announcement: New book on Muslim-Christian relations

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Christian-Muslim Relations in Egypt: Politics, Society and Interfaith Encounters

The subject of Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East and indeed in the West attracts much academic and media attention. Henrik Lindberg Hansen analyzes this relationship in Egypt, offering an examination of the nature and role of religious dialogue in Egyptian society and politics. Analysing the three main religious organizations and institutions in Egypt (namely the Azhar University, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Coptic Orthodox Church) as well as a range of smaller dialogue initiatives (such as those of CEOSS, the Anglican and Catholic Churches and youth organisations), Hansen argues that religious dialogue involves a close examination of societal relations, and how these are understood and approached.

Recommendations

Prof. Mark Sedgwick, Arab and Islamic Studies, Aarhus University:

Christian-Muslim Relations in Egypt is essential reading for all those interested in today’s Egypt. The book is an important contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of Egyptian society and politics, as well as being a major addition to our knowledge of Christian-Muslim relations. Henrik Lindberg Hansen adds penetrating analysis to the authority of long experience. The book ends with an especially valuable chapter on the controversial events of 2011 and 2013, on their impact at the time, and on their possible future implications.

Dr. Kate Zebiri, Senior Lecturer in Arabic, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London:

This study is a timely contribution to a hitherto neglected area, and highlights the vital importance of religion in Egyptian society and politics. Based on many years of experience on the ground, it greatly enhances our understanding of the dynamics of interfaith relations in Egypt. It sheds light on the different types of religious discrimination which occur, while also providing an innovative typology of the various dialogue initiatives in contemporary Egypt. Using the tools of sociology and social psychology, this book will be of interest to scholars, students and those working in the field of interfaith dialogue.

Prof. David Thomas, School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham:

The networks that operate in Egyptian society are involved and hard to discern, yet they are essential to maintaining relations between both individuals and groups. In this study, Henrik Lindberg Hansen, who has spent many years living in Egypt, shows how dialogue between Christians and Muslims operates through these networks and profits from the links they provide. His study gives a rare insight into unseen aspects of dialogue in Egypt, and makes an unusual and distinctive contribution to research in the field of Christian-Muslim dialogue. This book will give both newcomers and established researchers in the field fresh understandings of the practicalities of dialogue and the intricate relations between Egyptian society and religion.

Christian-Muslim Relations in Egypt closely examines the context of the society in which the dialogue between representatives of these two religions takes place, and how these social groups position themselves and the individuals within them. Focusing on what it means to have interfaith discourse in the Middle East, and how this feeds into the navigation and negotiation of social identities, the book offers analysis of the different types of inter-religious dialogue that have occurred. Arguing that these dialogues form an essential part of Egypt’s social structure, Hansen also examines how the construction of identity and emotional patterns fits into this. He therefore looks at instances of successful dialogue, as well as occasions where resentment or discrimination threaten attempts to create closer ties between Egypt’s Christians and Muslims.

The book includes analysis of the occasions of violence against and dialogue initiatives involving Christian communities in 2011 and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood from power in 2013, and thus provides a wide-ranging exploration of the importance of religion in Egyptian society and everyday encounters with a religious other. The book is consequently vital for practitioners as well as researchers dealing with religious minorities in the Middle East and interfaith dialogue in a wider context.

Find the book here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christian-Muslim-Relations-Library-Religion/dp/1784532037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443459851&sr=8-1&keywords=henrik+lindberg+hansen

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Call for Papers: Special journal issue of Migration Letters

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Call for Papers:

The guest editors of a forthcoming special journal issue to be published in Migration Letters invite interested researchers to submit manuscripts for an issue  titled  ‘Transnational Migrant Families: Navigating Social Fields, Family Practices, and Generational Experiences’

This special issue focuses on ‘transnational migrant family life.’ We examine different aspects of these lives such as marriage practices, polygamy in transnational context, the role of religiosity in transnational family life, transnational childcare and socialization, the ties and experiences of second generation migrants vis-à-vis their countries of origin, and the construction and management of transnational family life in legal discourses (including religious laws) and institutions. Rather than taking transnational migrant families as a given, we will examine how these families are constituted through actively produced transnational relations and practices as well as through legal and political regimes. We will examine the central theme from three dimensions. First, we will critically examine the different social fields in which transnational family life and relations are constituted and contested. Secondly, we will shed light on the heterogeneity of experiences and aspirations of family members constituting transnational kinship-based networks, particularly along the axes of gender and generation. Third, this issue will shed light on the range and diversity of transnational family practices and their multidimensional purposes and outcomes.

We are interested in soliciting article manuscripts, maximum 4000 words (excluding abstract and references), which tackle the broad theme of transnational migrant families, and which supplement or add other dimensions to the aspects of the transnational family life that we are covering. We are particularly interested in manuscripts based on empirical research on transnational migrant families based in Europe and/or North America with family backgrounds in Africa, South Asia, and/or the Middle East.

Kindly send an email of interest and any further queries to the guest editors at the emails listed below.  Deadline for submission of manuscripts is December 31, 2015.

Guest Editors:

Mulki Al-Sharmani: mulki.al-sharmani@helsinki.fi

Marja Tiilikainen:  marja.tiilikainen@helsinki.fi

Sanna Mustasaari:  sanna.mustasaari@helsinki.fi

Transnational Muslim Marriages: Wellbeing, Law, and Gender project (2013-2017, Academy of Finland)

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CFP – Visual Narratives of Faith: Religion, Ritual and Identity. Third ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna (deadline 30th Sept)

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Call for Papers Visual Narratives of Faith: Religion, Ritual and Identity. Third ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna (Austria) July 10‐14, 2016.

Drawing on the work of Geertz (1973) on ritual behaviour and Claude Lévi-Strauss (1966) on ritual bricolage, this session invites papers that will discuss the use of the visual in researching rituals, faith narratives and faith-based identities. It welcomes papers that engage with themes such as:

The role of ritual objects and material culture in constructing meaning and (re)creating faith rituals
The potential of ritual bricolage to (re)create and/or disrupt rituals, faith narratives and faith-based identities
Faith rituals as (temporary) assemblage(s)
The queering of faith rituals

Panellists are strongly encouraged to use film, photographs, drawings, artefacts, bricolage, assemblages and academic critique to discuss how visual narratives intervene with, disrupt, and make audible, faith-based identities.

Call closes 30 September, 2015 24:00 GMT.

For further details see https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/webprogrampreliminary/programs.html

Participants must submit abstracts on-line via Confex platform at http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/ . Abstracts must be submitted in English, French or Spanish. Only abstracts submitted on-line will be considered in the selection process.

For more information about the visual sociology Working Group of the International Sociological Association (WG03) please see http://www.isa-sociology.org/wg03.htm

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