Author Archives: Janaki

New Book: Religion, Gender and Citizenship. Women of Faith, Gender Equality and Feminism

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New book just published: Line Nyhagen and Beatrice Halsaa (April 2016). Religion, Gender and Citizenship: Women of Faith, Gender Equality and Feminism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Through interviews with Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, this book explores intersections between religion, citizenship, gender and feminism. How do religious women think about citizenship, and how do they practice citizenship in everyday life? How important is faith in their lives, and how is religion bound up with other identities such as gender and nationality? What are their views on ‘gender equality’, women’s movements and feminism? The answers offered by this book are complex. Religion can be viewed as both a resource and a barrier to women’s participation. The interviewed women talk about citizenship in terms of participation, belonging, love, care, tolerance and respect. Nearly all want gender equality, but many regard such equality as compatible with different roles and spaces for women. Women’s movements are viewed as having made positive contributions to women’s status, but interviewees are also critical of claims related to abortion and divorce, and of feminism’s alleged selfish, unwomanly, anti-men and power-seeking stance. In the interviews, Christian privilege is largely invisible and silenced, while Muslim disadvantage is both visible and articulated. Line Nyhagen and Beatrice Halsaa unpack and make sense of these findings, discussing potential implications for the relationship between religion, gender and feminism.

Line Nyhagen is Reader in Sociology at Loughborough University, UK.

Beatrice Halsaa is Professor in Gender Studies at the University of Oslo, UK.

Reviews:

‘… a landmark contribution [and] essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the relation between religion, citizenship and women’s right and equality in the 21st century’ (Niamh Reilly, NUI Galway, Ireland).

‘This excellent book reveals the complexity of religious women’s lives in Europe and challenges generalisations made about, as well as by, religious women’ (Kristin Aune, Coventry University, UK).

For more information, see http://www.palgrave.com/uk/book/9781137405333#aboutBook

For a discount flyer (for individuals only), please write to L.Nyhagen@lboro.ac.uk

Fast Track doctoral scholarships

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Starting October 1st, 2016 the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne offers Fast Track doctoral scholarships over a period of three years.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School serves the entire Faculty of Arts and Humanities and covers all qualification levels of academic training in the arts and humanities – from Master to postdoc. The Fast Track model allows students in their last semester of Master’s studies to immediately be accepted as doctoral students in the structured programme of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School. Candidates admitted to the structured doctoral programme are supervised by a team of three researchers and study a curriculum that involves, among other things, participation in regular meetings of one of the six interdisciplinary graduate classes.
The Fast Track model addresses excellent graduates who are already able to present a viable proposal for a doctoral dissertation project directly after the completion of their degree and who are therefore able to be immediately accepted into the structured doctoral programme of the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School. The doctoral projects of the scholarship holders will be supervised by full professors at the University of Cologne. Applicants may contact potential supervisors in the course of application.
The Fast Track doctoral scholarship is a full scholarship at EUR 1.250 per month and is awarded for three years, starting October 1st, 2016. Please send your complete application documents by May 20, 2016 (application receipt).
For all questions regarding the scholarships, the announcement or the application process, please see http://artes.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/23699.html?&L=1.
Contact for further questions: artes-application@uni-koeln.de.

Scholarships for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation project

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To facilitate the transition to the phase of doctoral studies after students have acquired the necessary qualification (Master’s degree, diploma or similar), the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne is offering 8 scholarships to help candidates prepare themselves for their doctoral studies.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School serves the entire Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne and covers all qualification levels of academic training in the arts and humanities – from Master to postdoc. The purpose of the scholarships for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation project is to enable candidates to begin working towards a doctorate at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Cologne as soon as possible after obtaining their Master’s degrees.
The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School addresses graduates who have successfully completed their studies in the Humanities with outstanding academic excellence and who wish to obtain a doctorate with a specific focus on interdisciplinary aspects at the University of Cologne.
The a.r.t.e.s. scholarships for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation project will consist of a monthly payment of EUR 950, limited to six months, starting October 01, 2016.
For all questions regarding the scholarships, the announcement or the application process, please see http://artes.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/21061.html?&L=1. Please send your complete application documents by May 20, 2016 (application receipt).
Contact for further questions: artes-application@uni-koeln.de.

Recepción de Artículos- Revista Sociedad y Religión

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Convocatoria

Revista Sociedad y Religión

Recepción de artículos – notas breves – reseñas

Desde el 2 de Mayo al 1° de julio de 2016 se encuentra abierta la recepción on line de artículos, notas breves y reseñas (de libros y tesis de posgrado) para los números de 2016/2017/2018 de la Revista Sociedad y Religión.

 

      Para el envío de su colaboración ingrese al sitio: http://www.ceil-conicet.gov.ar/ojs/index.php/sociedadyreligion/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

 

Sociedad y Religión es una publicación semestral del Programa Sociedad, Cultura y Religión del Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Laborales (CEIL) dependiente del CONICET, Argentina. Desde la perspectiva de las Ciencias Sociales busca comunicar y difundir estudios sobre la religión en América Latina. Publica artículos sobre investigaciones empíricas, estudios comparativos, reflexiones teóricas; además de comentarios bibliográficos y de tesis de posgrado. La revista fue fundada en 1985 y está auspiciada por la Asociación de Cientistas Sociales de la Religión del Mercosur. Desde 2009 está incluida en el Núcleo Básico de Revistas Científicas Argentinas y está indexada en SCIELO, LATINDEX y REDALYC.

Web: http://www.ceil-conicet.gov.ar/ojs/index.php/sociedadyreligion

Correo electrónico: revistasociedadyreligion@gmail.com

Facebook: “Revista Sociedad y Religión del Ceil-Conicet”

Twitter: @Revista_SyR

Call for Manuscripts: Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Volume 9: The Changing Faces of Catholicism
Forthcoming 2018
Edited by:
Solange Lefebvre (Université de Montréal, Canada) and
Alfonso Pérez-Agote (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)
Catholicism represents an important area of research in sociology as well as across a number of disciplines. As literature on Catholicism in certain contexts substantially expands, there still remains the need for recent qualitative and quantitative data in specific national contexts via a comparative perspective. In the discussion on secularism and diversity, there exist open questions on the way culture, heritage, and religion intersect or differentiate (political regulation of diversity). Law, education, religious heritage, chaplaincies, collaborations between state and civil society—these are just a few areas of social life where these dimensions are rapidly changing. The relation between Catholicism and the media poses a number of questions as well.

As a global religion, with the pope being a religious leader as well as a head of state of the Vatican, Catholicism has developed, especially since the 1980s, a new way of conducting diplomatic relations and interfering with national and international policies. Pope Francis’ papacy is revealing a divided Church on many matters, globally and at the Curia, between the centre and the local Churches. Catholic leaders have been involved in many contentious debates on sexuality and gender, with different legal, social, and religious impacts (biopolitics). Transnational networks and religious mobility are creating new forms of popular religion and Catholic movements.
To explore these issues we propose to include articles around the following themes:
1. Catholicism and culture
2. Catholicism and media
3. Catholicism and international relations
4. Transnational practices, movements, and popular religion
5. Catholicism, gender, sexuality, and biopolitics
6. Catholicism, public policies, and institutions
7. Catholicism and other religions
The editors will seek out contributors who can address questions raised in the sociology of religion about Catholicism with authors representing regional and cultural variation.
Please send all proposals (300 words) to solange.lefebvre@umontreal.ca
Deadlines:
Submission of proposals: June 30, 2016
Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2016
Completed manuscripts (7,000 words): June 30, 2017

CRR Special Issue: The Muslim Question

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We are pleased to announce the publication of the April 2016 special issue of Critical Research on Religion (Vol. 4, No. 1) on the Muslim Question. Below you will find the table of contents. To access the full contents, click on the following link: http://crr.sagepub.com/content/current.

Editorial:
Critical theory of religion vs. critical religion
Warren S Goldstein, Rebekka King, and Jonathan Boyarin

Special Issue: The Muslim Question
Introduction
Re-posing the “Muslim Question”
Jennifer A Selby and Lori G Beaman

Articles:
Muslims’ integration as a way to defuse the “Muslim Question”: insights from the Swiss case
Matteo Gianni

Visibility, transparency and gossip: How did the religion of some (Muslims) become the public concern of others?
Valérie Amiraux

Exploring the intricacies and dissonances of religious governance: The case of Quebec and the discourse of request
Amélie Barras

“Muslimness” and multiplicity in qualitative research and in government reports in Canada
Jennifer A Selby

The intimate and the stranger: Approaching the “Muslim question” through the eyes of female converts to Islam
Geraldine Mossiere

Book Reviews:
Joerg Rieger and Pui-lan Kwok, Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude
Paul-François Tremlett and Claire Wanless

George González, Shape-Shifting Capital: Spiritual Management, Critical Theory, and the Ethnographic Project
Kenneth Surin

Andrew McKinnon and Marta Trzebiatowska (eds), Sociological Theory and the Question of Religion
James V Spickard

Christina Petterson, The Missionary, the Catechist and the Hunter: Foucault, Protestantism, and Colonialism
John Docker

Joyce E. Williams and Vicky M. MacLean, Settlement Sociology in the Progressive Years. Faith, Science, and Reform. Studies in Critical Social Sciences Series
Anthony J Blasi

CFP for the topical issue of Open Theology journal. Alternative Religiosities in the Soviet Union and the Communist East-Central Europe: Formations, Resistances and Manifestations

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CALL FOR PAPERS

for the topical issue of Open Theology journal

Alternative Religiosities in the Soviet Union and the Communist East-Central Europe:

Formations, Resistances and Manifestations

Open Theology (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth) invites submissions for the topical issue “Alternative Religiosities in the Soviet Union and the Communist East-Central Europe: Formations, Resistances and Manifestations”, under the general editorship of Dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė and Dr. Eglė Aleknaitė (Vytautas Magnus University).

DESCRIPTION

After the boom of traditional religions (i. e. prevailing national religions or those that have a relatively long history in a particular country) and alternative religious movements (i. e. religious movements that offer an alternative to the traditional religion(s) in a particular country) in post-communist/post-socialist countries, the religion(s) of this area have gained increasing scholarly attention. Research on the religious situation during the prior communist/socialist period is primarily focused on restrictions placed on traditional religions and their survival strategies, while the corresponding phenomena of the alternative religious of that time still lack proper analysis.

The special issue invites papers that address alternative religiosities in the communist/socialist countries up to 1990. Due to Soviet control, they mostly existed underground and could remain only if expressed clandestinely. Beside the officially-established Soviet culture, connected with the Communist Party’s aim to control all aspects of the public sphere, there was an unofficial cultural field that was very receptive to the arrival, formation, spread and expressions of diverse alternative religiosities and spiritualities. The disappointment with the existing narrowness of the official communist ideology and the loss of the absolute allegiance to it led to the formation and rise of unofficial socio-cultural alternatives within the system. The underground activities, including access to alternative spiritual and esoteric ideas and practices, generally existed in parallel, or even jointly, with the official culture and institutions.

We invite religious scholars, historians, anthropologists, as well as authors representing other disciplines, to submit both empirical and theoretical papers including, but not limited to the following topics:

• Networks and inter-community connections

• Flows of ideas within the Soviet Union and communist East-Central Europe and from the outside

• Centers and peripheries of the milieu of alternative religiosity in the region

• Politics and actions of the regime towards alternative religiosity

• Restrictions, repressions and survival strategies of practitioners of alternative religiosity

• Milieu of alternative religiosity as a space of resistance

• Relationships of communities of alternative religiosity with dominant religious traditions

• Theoretical frameworks and methodological problems in research on alternative religiosities within the Soviet Union and the communist East-Central European region

Authors publishing their articles in the special issue will benefit from:

· transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review

· efficient route to fast-track publication and full advantage of De Gruyter  Open’s e-technology,

· no publication fees,

· free language assistance for authors from non-English speaking regions.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions are due June 30, 2016. To submit an article for the special issue of Open Theology, authors are asked to access the on-line submission system at: http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/

Please choose as article type: “Special Issue Article: Alternative Religiosities”.

Before submission the authors should carefully read over the Instruction for Authors, available at: http://www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s23006579_Instruction_for_Authors.pdf

All contributions will undergo critical review before being accepted for publication.

Further questions about this thematic issue can be addressed to Dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė at Rasa.Pranskeviciute@degruyteropen.com or Dr. Eglė Aleknaitė at ealeknaite@yahoo.com. In case of technical questions, please contact journal Managing Editor Dr. Katarzyna Tempczyk at katarzyna.tempczyk@degruyteropen.com

Istanbul Seminars + Summer School 2016

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Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations is glad to announce the

 Istanbul Seminars Summer School
Istanbul Bilgi University | 22-28 May 2016

Reset-DoC and the Istanbul Bilgi University are glad to invite students and young scholars to apply for the first edition of the International Summer School to be held from May 22 to May 28 (including the Istanbul Seminars 2016 + two more days: May 22 and May 23) at the Santral Istanbul campus of Bilgi.

The Summer School will complete this year’s Istanbul Seminars and represents an exceptional opportunity for students and young scholars to examine the topics of the Seminars in depth with tutors and professors from the Reset-Bilgi faculty.

All those who have already applied for the Istanbul Seminars are welcome to apply for the Summer School. Those who have not applied for the Seminars are welcome to apply for both the Seminars and the Summer School, unless they only want to attend the Seminars.

Participation is free of charge.
Participants attending the Summer School will be granted 5 University credits (5 ECTS).

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
ABOUT THE ISTANBUL SEMINARS AND THE SUMMER SCHOOL
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN


THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL

The title of the Istanbul Seminars Summer School ’16 is:
“Philosophy & Social Criticism: Religion, Rights and the Public Sphere“.
The overall purpose of the summer school is to analyze the relationship between religion, culture and politics. It discusses the role religion, culture and identity play in the foundation of liberal democracy, human rights and political modernity. Moreover it asks what political models are most adequate to accommodate religious and cultural pluralism. The first two days there will be lectures introducing the topic given the by the Bilgi-Reset faculty, followed by the regular Istanbul Seminars lectures and workshops. The syllabus will be made available as soon as possible.

EVALUATION
– Attendance and participation 20%
– Reaction paper (to be sumbitted at the end of the Seminars) 20%
– Final paper (to be submitted three weeks after the end of the Seminars) 60%

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Deadline for the enrollment is April 24, 2016.

The Summer School will be held in English.

The Istanbul Seminars 2016

Confirmed speakers : Mustafa Akyol, Albena Azmanova, Zygmunt Bauman, Rajeev Bhargava, Seyla Benhabib, Manuel Castells, Mohd Eiadat, Alessandro Ferrara, Silvio Ferrari, Nilufer Gole, Amr Hamzawy, Mikhail Ilyin, Aleksandra Kania, Andreas Koller, Cristina Lafont, Ebrahim Moosa, Fabio Petito, David Rasmussen, Olivier Roy, Richard Sennett, John Torpey, Ananya Vajpeyi, Michael Walzer (in video), Patrick Weil, Boyan Znepolsky and many more.

Executive Committee of the Istanbul Seminars: Asaf Savaş Akat, Seyla Benhabib, Giancarlo Bosetti, Alessandro Ferrara, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Nina zu Fürstenberg, Nilüfer Göle, Ferda Keskin, David Rasmussen

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND UPDATES

Grants:
As usual, there is no fee of attendance for the Seminars and for the Summer School. Reset-Dialogues does not arrange travel and accommodation for participants, but is happy to provide information and support through its website. A limited number of small grants (up to 300 euros) for Undergraduates, Graduates, PhDs and Post PhDs, is available.

Granted applicants are required to attend the whole Istanbul Seminars program 24-28 May.

The application deadline to apply for a grant and for the Summer School has been posponed to the 24th of April 2016. Applicants asking for a grant will be notified regarding the selection as soon as possible after the deadline. Those who have already applied for a grant before the 8th of April will be notified regarding the selection by the 15th of April.
The enrollment deadline to apply without asking for a grant is 10th May 2016.

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND TO FILL IN THE APPLICATION FORMS

A daily free lunch ticket to be spent at the Campus Cafeteria will be provided to all granted participants and to all enrolled participants.

Working groups:
Both granted students/scholars and not granted enrolled participants may ask for being part of the discussion working groups during the Seminars. Participants involved in the working groups will receive some reading material by April 30th. Each working group will discuss the preliminary readings and the speeches given by the Speakers. At the end of the program each working group will present the results to the audience. Working groups meet daily at the end of the sessions, for about one hour.

Involvement in the working groups is not compulsory, but welcome.
Students enrolled in the Summer School are required to take part to the working groups.

Check www.resetdoc.org regularly for updates

CFP: Historical Re-Enactment, Contemporary Paganism and Fantasy-Based Movements – Deadline April 11

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Vytautas Magnus University / Faculty of Humanities / Center for Cultural Studies

International Scientific Conference

on Cultural Group Behaviour

Historical Re-Enactment, Contemporary Paganism
and Fantasy-Based Movements

20–21 May, 2016. Kaunas, Lithuania

Call for Papers

Modern times are marked by rapid advances in technology, urbanization and globalization. The second half of the 20th century witnessed fragmentation of culture, ethnicity and religion as a reaction to disappointment in the progress of civilization. This promoted interest in natural, ethnic and indigenous aspects of localities. Orientation toward localities, as revealed in various worldviews and socio-cultural movements, has been related to the revival of traditional and nationalist ideas, orientation to nature-based spiritualities, (re)construction of local ethnicities and the need to return to ethnic and pre-Christian identities. A related trend manifests itself as return to old customs, indigenous values and attempts to reconstruct traditional pre-Christian religions. The existence of historical re-enactment groups and contemporary pagan movements, grounded in native faith, as well as fantasy-based movements raises the following questions: what drives them to look back to their roots? How and why do these groups emerge, exist and disappear? What is their social and cultural impact on society and members of historical re-enactment groups?

The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary studies of historical re-enactment, contemporary pagan movements and fantasy-based movements. Early career researchers and students are also encouraged to participate.

We invite papers and panels including but not limited to the following topics:
Theoretical and methodological approaches to re-enactment
• Theoretical approaches to re-enactment and/or contemporary paganism;
• Fieldwork within re-enactment groups;
• Methodological implications and challenges.
Diversity of re-enactment movements
• Diversity of historical re-enactments and contemporary pagan movements;
• Past and present of the living history movement;
• Fantasy and live action role-playing (LARP) groups as a form of re-enactment;
• Historical cosplay in Western and other cultures;
• Aspects of the local and the global in re-enactment;
• Periodization and typology of re-enactment;
Worldviews and activities of re-enactors
• Identity of historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Authenticity and (re)construction in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Traditionalism, nationalism and politics in re-enactment;
• Gender in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Spirituality, religion and re-enactment;
• Culturally relevant or historically significant places within the context of historical re-enactments;
• Cultural heritage in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Festivals, rituals and performance in historical re-enactment;
Re-enactment and society
• Influence of consumerism, globalization and the mass and social media for historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Historical re-enactment and/or the influence of contemporary pagan movements on the on mainstream society;
• Historical re-enactment in popular culture.

We expect individual paper proposals and panel submissions, including 3-4 presenters.

After the conference, participants are invited to observe historical re-enactment of Lithuanian history in the Hanse Day festival 2016, held on May 21–22.

Participants should complete the form at https://tgt.wufoo.com/forms/conference-entry-form/. Abstracts will be published on the Conference website. Each paper is allotted a time of 15 minutes, followed by up to 10 minutes for questions and discussion.
Participation fee: 40€ (for students 20€)
Travel and accommodation to attend the Conference will be at the attendee’s expense.
Abstract submission deadline: April 11, 2016.
Notification of acceptance: April 18, 2016.

Working languages: English, Lithuanian
Conference website: http://reenactment.vdu.lt/

Organizing Committee: Agnė Kalėdienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintarė Dusevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Aušra Kairaitytė-Užupė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintaras Jaronis (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania).

The Scientific Committee will be announced later.
Conference participants are welcome to prepare papers to the Group and the Environments journal http://ejournals.vdu.lt/index.php/grupes/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Organizers: Center for Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University.
K. Donelaičio St 52-410 LT-44248 Kaunas Lithuania. http://ktc.vdu.lt/
Contact person: Agnė Kalėdienė
Phone number: +370 662 32 470
E-mail: reenactment.conference@gmail.com

 

Call for Papers: Conference ‘Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights’ (24-25 Nov 2016, Maastricht)

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CALL FOR PAPERS
‘Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights’
International MARICAP Conference 2016 24-25 November 2016
Ius Commune Research School Conference
Faculty of Law, Maastricht University
The Netherlands
People marry in different ways: either civilly or religiously, or both. Dissolving a civil marriage is usually not too difficult; dissolving a religious marriage can, however, be quite a challenge, especially for women of migrant or refugee background. A civil divorce pronounced by a civil court will generally not end a religious marriage. Whether a person is ‘still’ religiously married or not, is often determined by the laws of the country where the marriage was concluded or by the rules and norms of the couples’ religious community, or both. This position of being legally divorced yet religiously (still) married can be denoted as being in a state of ‘marital captivity’. Marital captivity refers to a situation wherein someone is unable to terminate his or her religious marriage, i.e. keeping a spouse ‘trapped’ in a marriage against his or her will. A situation of marital captivity can have serious implications for the trapped spouse, usually the woman, such as the inability to re-marry or travel without restrictions.
In the research project ‘Marital Captivity: bridging the gap between religion and law’, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), researchers of the Law Faculty of Maastricht University investigate this phenomenon within the Dutch context. The research project aims (i) to gain insight into the phenomenon of marital captivity in the Netherlands, and (ii) to find legal solutions (national and international) to resolve and prevent situations of marital captivity both in the Netherlands and in the country of origin.
In this international conference we aim to share and exchange ideas, research findings and experiences regarding the phenomenon of ‘marital captivity’ in different geographical areas, besides the Netherlands/Europe. We intend to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue, with contributions drawn from, most importantly, legal anthropology, (international) family law and human rights law, in order to address the issue of marital captivity from an integrated perspective.
The conference committee therefore encourages and invites researchers from various countries and disciplines (e.g. law, anthropology, sociology, political science) to submit papers that will advance empirical and conceptual/theoretical knowledge and understanding of ‘marital captivity’. Proposals should address the issue of ‘marital captivity’, and may include topics, such as:
– Individual (socio-legal) experiences;
– The influence of legal and political contexts (e.g. religion-state relations; multiculturalism-secularism) on the occurrence, continuation or solution of situations of marital captivity;
– The interaction of state and non-state normative orders;
– (Informal) dispute resolution practices of religious communities;
– The use of national legal instruments to prevent or resolve situations of marital captivity;
– Solutions to situations of marital captivity in secular and non-secular countries;
– The implications of limping marital status in a transnational continuum;
– Gender equality and divorce;
– State’s human rights responsibility in respect of religious and cultural practices that are harmful (to women);
– The protection of (women’s) human rights in local settings;
– The extra-territorial application of human rights;
Paper proposals from interested participants with various disciplinary backgrounds that relate to one of the following three panels are particularly appreciated.
Panel 1: Marital captivity in practice This panel aims to identify similarities and differences between different situations of marital captivity, preferably drawing from various (trans-)national, religious, and communal contexts. This panel invites in particular empirical contributions that, for example, describe case studies or examples of manifestations of marital captivity in a specific local, religious or (trans)national context, including investigations and analyses of the (e.g. legal, religious or social) causes and consequences of such situations. A ‘chained spouse’ may, for example, encounter problems within his or her local community or in his or her country of origin, or both. Moreover, attention can be given to solutions that have been investigated by individuals in their quest for a religious divorce, including the results of these explorations.

Panel 2: Solutions to marital captivity Since societies all over the world struggle with marital captivity, this panel invites submissions exploring legal and/or non-legal (informal) remedies employed within religious communities that aim to prevent or resolve marital captivity and its pernicious effects. Examples of solutions may be contractual clauses about the cooperation to a (religious) divorce, tort action, recognition of a (civil) divorce in another country, legislation that furthers cooperation to a religious divorce, penal sanctions etc. How and under what circumstances and conditions are these solutions applied? What are the experiences with their feasibility and effectiveness? What is their impact or what are their benefits or possible drawbacks? Hence, we welcome paper proposals that analyse different solutions to marital captivity, specific to various (trans-) national and religious communities.

Panel 3: Marital captivity and human rights law This panel welcomes paper proposals that have primarily a human rights focus to harmful divorce practices within religious communities, be it within a general human rights context or within a specific national context. The panel aims to explore the use of human rights law as a means to enhance the protection of the trapped spouse(s)’s rights, ensure the State’s compliance to its human rights obligations and trigger effective State action in addressing marital captivity and its consequences. Papers covering topics such as women’s rights and religious freedom, the intersection of human rights and diplomatic protection, the State’s responsibility for human rights violations by private persons and the interplay of human rights, secular foundations and religion are highly appreciated.
Submission of abstracts and papers Paper proposals should consist of an abstract of max. 300 words, a title, panel preference, the author(s) name, affiliation, contact details and a short bio, and should be sent by e-mail to: maricap@maastrichtuniversity.nl before May 1, 2016.
Notification of acceptance abstract: May 15, 2016
Presenters shall submit a draft paper before October 1, 2016. Final papers should be between 5000 and 8000 words. Selected submissions will be considered for publication in an edited volume or special issue to a journal.
For questions related to the submission of abstracts and papers and the MARICAP conference programme, please contact one of the members of the MARICAP conference committee.

Co-ordinator research project: Susan Rutten (s.rutten@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 1: Esther van Eijk
(postdoctoral researcher; esther.vaneijk@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 2: Pauline Kruiniger
(postdoctoral researcher; pauline.kruiniger@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 3: Benedicta Deogratias
(PhD researcher; b.deogratias@maastrichtuniversity.nl)
Practical Information
The international MARICAP conference 2016 is hosted and co-organised by the research school ius Commune under the auspices of the Law Faculty of Maastricht University. The conference will take place in Maastricht (conference venue: Van der Valk hotel), the Netherlands, on 24-25 November 2016.
There are no registration fees. Travel- and accommodation costs are expected to be covered by the participants themselves. Meals and beverages during the conference will be covered by the conference organization.
For more information on the research project, see: http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Faculteiten/FdR/Thema/Capaciteitsgroepen/Privaatrecht/Projecten/EchtscheidingEnReligie/MARICAPEnglish.htm