Religion, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life Edited by Peter Nynäs, Åbo Akademi University, Finland and Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, University of Nottingham, UK Ashgate, 2012
http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calctitle=1&pageSubject=2925&title_id=8936&edition_id=12167
Exploring the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality within the context of everyday life, this volume examines contested identities, experiences, bodies and desires on the individual and collective levels. With rich case studies from the UK, USA, Europe, and Asia, Religion, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life sheds light on the manner in which individuals appropriate, negotiate, transgress, invert and challenge the norms and models of various religions in relation to gender and sexuality, and vice versa.
Drawing on fascinating research from around the world, this book charts central features of the complexities involved in everyday life, examining the messiness, limits, transformations and possibilities that occur when subjectivities, religious and cultural traditions, and politics meet within the local as well as transnational contexts. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of sociology, anthropology, geography and cultural studies examining questions of religion and spirituality, gender and sexuality, and individual and collective identities in contemporary society.
Contents: Re-framing the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality in everyday life, Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip and Peter Nynäs; The resistance from an alterspace: Pakistani and Indonesian Muslims beyond the dominant sexual and gender norms, Vanja Hamzic; Spirituality, activism, and the ‘postsecular’ in the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Melissa M. Wilcox; Hindu, Muslim and Sikh young adults: gendered practices in the negotiation of sexuality and relationship, Sarah-Jane Page and Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip; Coping with religious and cultural homophobia: emotion and narratives of identity threat among British Muslim gay men, Rusi Jaspal; Sexualities in the migration context: religious influences on views on abortion and homosexuality, Bernadetta Siara; Queering conversion: exploring new theoretical pathways to understand religious conversion in a Western context, Wim Peumans and Christiane Stallaert; Body and sexuality constructions among youth of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, Sara Zalcberg and Sima Zalcberg; When God is not so good: corporate religion contra new social movements, Kenneth Houston; Index.
About the Editor: Peter Nynäs is Professor of Comparative Religion at and Director of The Center of Excellence in Research, ‘Post-Secular Culture and A Changing Religious Landscape in Finland’ at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. He is editor of Transforming Otherness.
Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip is Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham, UK. His research interests include contemporary religious/spiritual identities, sexual identities, youth culture, ageing, and human rights. His writings have appeared in journals such as British Journal of Sociology, Sociology of Religion, Theology & Sexuality, Sexualities, Sociological Research Online and Contemporary Islam. He is also the author of Gay Male Christian Couples: Life Stories (1997); and co-author/co-editor of Lesbian and Gay Lives over 50 (2003), Queer Spiritual Spaces: Sexuality and Sacred Places (2010), Religion, Youth and Sexuality: A Multi-faith Exploration (2011), and The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality (2012).
Reviews:
‘While understanding religion in everyday life is a growing field relevant to numerous disciplines, its intersection with gender and sexuality is less well-documented. This edited collection breaks considerable new ground and will be of interest to both scholars and students alike by offering contributions from leading researchers engaged with these themes across several traditional faiths as well as emergent spiritualities.’
Stephen Hunt, University of the West of England, UK
‘This volume begins with the everyday life of sexual subjects from different faiths
and backgrounds, and then moves to the broader questions which these real lives pose for an understanding of religion, gender and sexuality, and the intersection between each. The chapters are remarkably fresh, kaleidoscopic in scope and essential reading for students and researchers alike.’
Adrian Thatcher, University of Exeter, UK
