Author Archives: Jim

Job Opening: Research Assistant for a project on British Islam

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Research Assistant
Full details of how to apply at: http://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/AHCPR1021
Are you interested in British Islam and its interactions with UK state and society? Do you have experience of working with Muslim organisations, editing reports and websites, as well as organising events, promoting research and gathering feedback? Would you like to work on a collaborative project which aims to have a positive impact on the UK Hajj pilgrimage sector?

You will provide flexible research assistance to Professor Seán McLoughlin, who is working with the Council of British Hajjis to consult pilgrims, Hajj organisers and UK governance authorities as part of the process of writing the first independent report on the Hajj pilgrimage sector in the UK. This effort to develop impact from Prof. McLoughlin’s research is supported by the Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI) with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

You will hold an honours degree in the social sciences or arts and humanities or a comparable subject. A higher degree with a research component is also desirable. You will have first-hand research or other related experience of engaging with British Muslim communities and organisations, as well as a sound understanding of their relations to UK state and society. You will have strong communication skills, both verbally and in writing, and have the capacity to judge/vary what is required to connect with different audiences and influencers. Strong interpersonal skills and self-motivation are also essential, together with the ability to work independently and flexibly to deadlines as part of a small team. Competence in a community language (e.g. Urdu, Panjabi, etc) is also desirable.

You will need to have the flexibility to work more/less intensively at times but will be able to negotiate working patterns with Prof. McLoughlin. Working from home will sometimes be appropriate. Some limited, fully-funded travelling out of office hours and at weekends e.g. to meet community partners and/or to help at events in the North of England and the English Midlands will also be necessary, as will two overnight stays in London. The position is available immediately.
To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam (Muslim Diasporas)
Email: s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.ukmailto:s.mcloughlin@leeds.ac.uk

Location:       Leeds – Main Campus
Faculty/Service:        Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Cultures
School/Institute:       School of Philosophy, Religion & History of Science
Category:       Research
Grade:  Grade 6
Salary:         £27,025 to £32,236 p.a. pro rata
Working Time:   30% of full time
Post Type:      Part Time
Contract Type:  Fixed Term (until 31 July 2019)
Closing Date:   Thursday 13 December 2018
Reference:      AHCPR1021

Call for Papers: Gender and Religion: Correlates and Causes

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Please submit here : https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/call-for-papers

ISSR 2019 Conference, https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/conference-2019

International Society for the Sociology of Religion (Barcelona, Spain, 9-12 July 2019)

Convener(s):
Dr Yaghoob Foroutan,
Associate Professor at The University of Mazandaran

Abstract (English):
This panel focuses on the place of religion in gender dynamics and women’s status. The term ‘religion’ here refers to all religions around the world (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc.), focusing either on a specific religion or on varying religions in order to highlight their role on women’s status from a comparative perspective. In particular, this panel explains the association between religion and gender in terms of a wide range of issues such as family formation patterns including marriage, childbearing and fertility, separation and divorce, new and emerging forms of family formation (like cohabitation etc.), religiosity, labour force participation and employment status, migration, intergenerational gaps related to the impact of religion on gender and women’s status. This panel addresses such key questions as, but limited to, how gender and religion are correlated? Whether and how women’s status is associated with their religion? What does happen to the association between religion and gender upon migration? Whether and how significantly do intergenerational variations exist in terms of the effect of religion on women’s status? Does the effect of a specific religion on women’s status vary in different settings? From a comparative perspective, what are the effects of varying religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc.) on gender dynamics and women’s status? What are more important determinants than religion on women’s status? We welcome both quantitative and qualitative papers with central focus on the association between religion and gender from cultural, economic, demographic and sociological perspectives.

Call for Papers: Religious Minorities: Muslims in the West and Minorities in the Islamic Societies

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ISSR 2019 Conference, https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/conference-2019

International Society for the Sociology of Religion (Barcelona, 9-12 July 2019)

Please submit here : https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/call-for-papers

Convener(s):
Dr Yaghoob Foroutan,
Associate Professor at The University of Mazandaran

Abstract :
This panel provides an avenue to consider religious minorities with specific attention to the world’s fastest growing religion. It includes two interconnected parts: while the first part focuses on the status of Muslim minorities in the western societies, the second part looks at the status of religious minorities in the Islamic societies. In these varying contexts, this panel addresses such key questions as, but limited to, whether and to what extent do these religious minorities differ in terms of socio-economic and demographic experiences and religiosity in their residing society? In particular, do Muslim minorities differ from other religious groups in terms of these experiences? Are such experiences different within Muslim minorities by ethnicity and compositional characteristics? Whether and how significantly are such experiences influenced by the religiosity of Muslim minorities? Such particular questions can be also referred to religious minorities in the Islamic contexts. Accordingly, this panel primarily aims to explore the dimensions, determinants and differentials associated with socio-economic and demographic experiences and religiosity among Muslim minorities in the western societies and religious minorities in the Islamic societies. The contrasts designed in this panel will also provide evidence to examine Huntington’s theory asserting that Western ethno-religious minorities in the Islamic states are more discriminated against than Islamic minorities in Western states. The panel welcomes both quantitative and qualitative papers which address each of these two parts of this panel outlined above from cultural, economic, demographic and sociological perspectives.

CFP: “Young people, religion, politics, and education” — ISSR Conference in Barcelona, July 9-12, 2019

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Deadline for Proposals is 16 dec – Proposal (title and abstract up to 250 words)

Conveners:

Session abstract (English): https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/call-for-papers <https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/call-for-papers>

Organized religion is currently experiencing profound generational change in europe and the anglophone world. Young people are increasingly identifying as non-religious. What does this mean for the sociology of religion and education? Political debates about religion, politics and education often exclude the voices of children and young people. Do young people still want to get educated about religion? What is the relevance of education about religion when increasingly young people are declaring themselves as having no faith? What does this mean for future imaginings of education about religion? Through social media and digital cultures contemporary teenagers are exposed to diverse perspectives on religion, politics and education. How are their experiences mediated by where they go to school, their faith, their politics, their gender and sexual identity and their geographic location and ethnic identity? How is this shaping their worldviews? What is taking the place of religion in young people’s lives in relation to education about ethics/spirituality/morality? Education about gender, and sexuality is being weaponized by the recent resurgence of nationalism and populism in some european countries – take recent debates in hungary over attempts to ban gender studies. How are young people mobilized and mobilizing in these political struggles and what can this tell us about their changing worldviews? How do religious prescriptions of normative gender and sexualities in education become proxies for broader political debates about young people and education?  

Please join us in Barcelona!!

Poste de professeure: Professeur en théories de la religion

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AU DÉPARTEMENT DE SCIENCES DES RELIGIONS

L’entrée en fonction est prévue au 1er juillet 2019 sous réserve des autorisations budgétaires requises.

L’UQAM recherche des candidates et candidats qualifiés afin de renouveler son corps professoral et assurer un développement de qualité dans tous les domaines d’activités.

SOMMAIRE DE LA FONCTION :

  • · Enseignement et encadrement aux trois cycles d’études
  • · Recherche dans le domaine
  • · Services à la collectivité

EXIGENCES :

  • · philosophie ou dans une discipline connexe
  • · Connaissance approfondie des théories de la religion et de leurs fondements philosophiques
  • · Capacité d’articuler une critique épistémologique du croire
  • · Compétence en herméneutique des manifestations contemporaines du religieux
  • · Capacité d’élaborer et de maintenir un programme de recherche subventionnée
  • · Solide dossier de recherche et de publications scientifiques
  • · Expérience en enseignement
  • · Aptitudes dans le domaine du service à la collectivité
  • · Maîtrise du français tant à l’oral qu’à l’écrit

DATE D’ENTRÉE EN FONCTION : 1er JUILLET 2019

TRAITEMENT : Selon la convention collective UQAM-SPUQ

L’Université du Québec à Montréal souscrit à un programme d’accès à l’égalité en emploi. De ce fait, elle invite les femmes, les autochtones, les membres des minorités visibles, des minorités ethniques et les personnes en situation de handicap qui répondent aux exigences du poste à soumettre leur candidature. Nous encourageons les personnes qui s’identifient à l’un ou l’autre de ces groupes à remplir le Questionnaire d’identification à la présente adresse et à le joindre à leur dossier de candidature : www.rhu.uqam.ca/visiteurs/egalite/QuestionnaireAccesEgalite.pdf. 

Nous encourageons toutes les candidates, tous les candidats qualifiés à postuler; la priorité sera toutefois accordée aux Canadiennes, Canadiens ainsi qu’aux résidentes, résidents permanents.

Les personnes intéressées sont priées de faire parvenir un curriculum vitae en français, détaillé, daté et signé, incluant trois lettres de recommandation AVANT LE 6 MARS 17 h à:

Madame Marie-Andrée Roy, directrice
Département de sciences des religions
Université du Québec à Montréal
C.P. 8888, Succursale Centre-ville
Montréal (Québec) H3C 3P8

New Book: The Routledge Handbook of Postsecularity

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1st Edition
Edited by Justin Beaumont

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Han…/…/9781138234147

The Routledge Handbook of Postsecularity: 1st Edition (Hardback) book cover

The Routledge Handbook of Postsecularity offers an internationally significant and comprehensive interdisciplinary collection which provides a series of critical reviews of the current state of the art and future trends in philosophical, theoretical, and conceptual terms. The volume likewise presents a range of empirical knowledges and engagements with postsecularity. A critical yet sympathetic dialogue across disciplinary divides in an international context ensures that the volume covers a wide and interrelated intellectual and geographical scope.

The editor’s introduction with Klaus Eder offers a robust foundation for the volume, setting out the central aims and objectives, the rationale for the contributions, and an outline of the structure. Thorny issues of normativity and empirical challenges are highlighted for the reader. The handbook comprises four interrelated sections. Part I: Philosophical meditations discusses postsecularity from philosophical standpoints, and Part II: Theological perspectives presents contributions from a variety of theological viewpoints. Part III: Theory, space, social relations contains pieces from geography, planning, sociology, and religious studies that delve into theoretically informed empirical implications of postsecularity. Part IV: Political and social engagement offers chapters that emphasize the political and social implications of the debate. In the Afterword, Eduardo Mendieta joins the editor toreflect on the notion of reflexive secularization across the volume as a whole, alluding to new lines of inquiry.

The handbook is an invaluable guide for graduate and advanced undergraduate teaching, and a key reference for students and scholars of human geography, sociology, political science, applied philosophy, urban and public theology, planning, and urban studies.

‘This is an exceptionally strong collection examining one of the defining issues of our era. Readers will find it both broadens and deepens their thinking about changing roles of religion and secularism in contemporary society.’ – Craig Calhoun, Professor of Social Sciences, Arizona State University, USA

‘It is increasingly clear that what comes after postmodernity is not really the vaguely defined neo-modern, which is little more than a wave of nostalgia, but rather the post-secular, which is also a more genuine post-modern. It manifests itself variously as the challenge of other non-secular cultures, of the pre-modern and alternatively modern west, of the extra-human and the unavoidably metaphysical. This fine collection well represents this variety in both its disparity and its aspects of unity.’ – John Milbank, Emeritus Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics, University of Nottingham, UK

Call for proposals: “Religion and Demography”

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International Society for the Sociology of Religion’s conference to be held July 9-12 2019 in Barcelona.

How is religion shaping demographic processes? How are demographic processes shaping religious communities? Proposals addressing one or both of these questions are invited for the religion and demography strand of the

Strand convener: Conrad Hackett, Pew Research Center

General conference information: https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/call-for-papers

Sessions: https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/sessions

Note: You’ll need to join the organization to make a proposal. Proposals must be submitted by Dec. 16.

Call for Papers: “The regime of “spirituality” and the culture of well-being in neoliberal societies”

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17th European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) conference “Religion – Continuations and Disruptions” from June 25 to June 29, 2019 in Tartu, Estonia.

The deadline for individual papers is December 15, 2018.
For more information about the call for papers please see: https://easr2019.org/call-for-individual-papers/

The regime of “spirituality” and the culture of well-being in neoliberal societies

Géraldine Mossière, Université de Montréal, Canada, geraldine.mossiere@umontreal.ca
François Gauthier, Université de Fribourg, Switzerland

While the role of secularization and individualism in the transformation of religions and religious patterns is now widely acknowledged, research now points to the interaction between contemporary religious behaviours on one hand, and the many facets of the neoliberal and consumerist paradigm and its diffusion in all spheres of social life on the other hand. Among them, the thriving culture of well-being probably owes part of its success to the popularization of psychological theories to which it intermingles more than often, but also to the leverage of resources offered by religious traditions. As the latter are restated under the umbrella term of “spirituality” now aimed at working on the self, bettering the individual and equipping her/him for social life, they are redesigned to meet the impetus of leading a “good life”, maximizing one’s potential and focusing on one’s subjectivity. While critics have emphasized the social bias of this new trend towards a category of privileged actors, other accounts testify to the deep penetration of these self-realisation and well-being tropes within mainstream culture. Certainly, empirical and critical studies can bring more to this conversation, which has not been given the place it deserves as an overt thematic within the discipline.

In this session, we invite papers to discuss the dynamics between the contemporary regime of spirituality, ethics of well-being and the consumerist/neoliberal paradigm; all disciplinary lenses are welcome (anthropology, sociology, religious sciences, history, psychology, ethnology, philosophy).

Among others, the following topics could be addressed:

  • Who are the actors of the culture of well-being and how do they appropriate religious rituals, prescriptions or myth?
  • How does this contemporary movement lead to revisit and redefine the notion of “spirituality” beyond its Western historical understanding? What about the initial esoteric dimension of spirituality?
  • How do they negotiate with religious authority and traditions, and how do religious authorities and traditions negotiate with their new presence?
  • How do digital communication technologies shape and participate in this movement?
  • How does the material aspect of religion contribute to assert the influence of the culture of well-being in religious behaviours?
  • Is there a gendered dimension in the dynamic between well-being and religion? Does it correspond to a general “feminization” of religion?
  • What kind of ethics and moralities emerge from this contact zone between well-being and spirituality?
  • What are the best theoretical and analytical framework for understanding these transformations (marketization, secularisation, post-secularity, de-secularisation)?
  • What consistency should we give the term “spirituality” in the analysis of this movement? Should it be kept as a purely “emic” notion, or should it be developed into a sociological concept?

Voici un appel de soumission pour une session intitulée “The regime of “spirituality” and the culture of well-being in neoliberal societies” qui se tiendra au cours de la 17è édition de la conférence de la European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) sous le thème “Religion – Continuations and Disruptions” du 25 au 29 juin prochain Tartu, Estonia.

La date limite de soumission des papiers individuels est le 15 décembre 2018.

Pour plus d’informations: https://easr2019.org/call-for-individual-papers/

Dans l’attente de vous y retrouver,
Géraldine Mossière

Study Opportunity (funded): “Religion at the workplace: experiences, beliefs and practices”

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Job Opportunity at the University of Southampton: SCDTP Studentship – <https://jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=1078718CC>

A fully funded studentship awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) commencing in 2019/20 Academic Year.

We invite applications from qualified and highly motivated students to work in the area of religion, diversity, and work and employment. This research project investigates how workers negotiate faith/religious values in a multi-cultural/multi-faith workplace and how they comply/contest practices in the world of work guided by faith-related values and the use of religious artefacts and ceremonies. This interdisciplinary research will pay particular attention to the production of religious artefacts (shrines, effigies, scapulars, prayer cards, saint cards, etc.), and  practices of faith at the work place (dress code, special time off, religious jewellery, dietary requirements, prayer, meditation).

Supervisory Team:

Dr Bindi Shah (B.Shah@soton.ac.uk) and Dr María Villares-Varela (Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology; Faculty of Social Sciences) and Dr Heidi Armbruster (Modern Languages and Linguistics; Faculty of Humanities).

The closing date and time for applications is 11.59pm on 24th January 2019.  The full application procedure, the funding application form, and more information on the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership can be found at: http://southcoastdtp.ac.uk/apply/

For further information about this project, please contact the lead supervisor detailed above.  For questions relating to the application procedure, or for more information about the SCDTP, please visit the SCDTP website or contact us at scdtp@soton.ac.uk<mailto:scdtp@soton.ac.uk>, or see links below:

Call for Papers: Conference on “The Ahmadiyya Muslim community In Scholarly Perspective” May 23-23, 2019

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Venue: Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG) Bist 164 – B-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerpen. Belgium. Tel.: +32 (0)3 830 51 58.

We are interested in organizing a conference on the Ahmadis and Ahmadiyya in which the speakers examine

  • Its theology- Christology
  • Its history,
  • Its organization, governance and associated groups,
  • Membership: numbers, growth, sociological profile. International expansion,
  • Iconography,
  • Their original territories and their international developments, as well as their various types of changes,
  • Judicial issues addressing its status; prosecution in certain countries,
  • Media relations and media coverage,
  • Impact on humanitarianism, art and culture in general,
  • Influences in popular culture,
  • The peculiar way of placing itself within the Islamic world, from which it is considered “heretical”
  • Relationship with the broader society.

This list of topics above is not exhaustive. We welcome additional studies or surveys completed or in process on the Ahmadiyya and its followers.

As for our previous conferences, we will prepare the publication of the best papers, once the scientific committee has reviewed them. You may see our publications on www.antwerpfvg.org.  We plan our conferences on one or two days, presuming there will about 12 speakers. Our requirement is to make sure speakers have a scholarly record and training even if they do not work in an academic background. Doctoral students are welcome. We do not offer grants or stipends to participants, and every participant has to pay registration fees.

Organized By:

The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité) in partnership with Faculty of Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG), Lirec (Rome), CLIMAS (Bordeaux), Cesnur (Turin).

Practical Information

E-mail: info@antwerpfvg.org 
WEB: www.antwerpfvg.org 
Language of the conference: English.

Submitting

Send a 10 line abstract, with a 5 line résumé of your previous work and a short biography to:

  • Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism): Associate member of the Group of Sociology of Religion and Laicité. CNRS: Paris. France. redericq@netcourrier.com
  • and/or to Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor in North American Studies, Université Michel de Montaigne, member de CLIMAS (Culture et littératures du monde anglo saxon), Bordeaux. France Vice-President of the Observatory of Religion and Laicité. bcellard@numericable.fr
  • and/ or Raffaella Di Marzio. Director of Lirec: centrostudilirec@gmail.com
  • and/or Massimo Introvigne. Director of the Cesnur. maxintrovigne@gmail.com
  • and/or Chris Vonck, rector of the Faculty for Comparative religion and Humanism (FVG). fvg.faculteit@skynet.be 
  • And/or Willy Fautre. Director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, w.fautre@hrwf.org

Papers will be considered for publication, with editorial details given during the conference. It is understood that each presenter must submit his or her paper first to the organizers for possible inclusion in the conference proceedings. When submitting the abstract, please inform the committee whether the paper has been submitted for review or publication in another venue.

Proposal Deadline: March 30, 2019

Registration and Transportation:

Registration Fee: 100 euros and 15 euros for each lunch.
Students: 30 euros and 10 euros each lunch.
There are many hotels in Antwerp and a few in the nearby town of Mortsel, which are discoverable online, and each attendee should book directly. FVG is located off of a bus line to downtown Antwerp.