Category Archives: Calls for Papers

CFP: Conference on “Radicalisation and Islamophobia: Roots, Relationships and Implications in Religiously Diverse Societies”

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SECOND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON ISLAM (ACI’2)

“Radicalisation and Islamophobia: Roots, Relationships and Implications in Religiously Diverse Societies”

26–27 November 2015 – Sydney, Australia

Abstract submission date: 30 March 2015

While the themes of radicalisation and Islamophobia have been broadly addressed, to date there has been little or no investigation into the relationship between the two. Is radicalisation a response to Islamophobia? Or is Islamophobia a peripheral issue in light of the serious threat posed by radicalisation? Despite seeming to be independent from one another, there is a counter-intuitive link between radicalisation and Islamophobia as each serves to perpetuate its own radical narrative and generalisations. While radicalisation of Muslims causes fear and anxiety in the broader society, Islamophobia can be a source of excessive legal measures, discrimination of Muslims and vilification of Islam. Such Islamophobia feeding attempts are used by radical ideologues to justify their extreme narrative and recruit power which in turn increases Islamophobia.

This conference aims to explore how radicalisation and Islamophobia feed one another and work hand in hand to pull society towards polar extremes. By tackling these issues from political, sociological, psychological and theological angles, this conference aims to explore the root causes of radicalisation and in particular the significant impact of Islamophobia to that process. The 2nd Australasian Conference on Islam invites abstracts for original and critical research papers addressing the theme Radicalisation and Islamophobia: Roots,Relationships and Implications in Religiously Diverse Societies.

  • Topics of interest for abstract submission include, but are not limited to:
  • Relationship between radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • Impact of radicalisation and Islamophobia on religiously diverse societies
  • Exploring and contesting the legitimacy of the theological roots of radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • Social roots of youth radicalisation in Western societies
  • Roots of Islamophobia and its link to religious radicalisation within other religious communities
  • Impact of social media on extremism, radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • Alternative discourses/initiatives/movements to extremism, radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • Case studies from countries, social groups and faith based movements as alternatives to radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • Effects of Islamophobia on Muslims living in the West
  • The empirical evaluation of counter-terrorism policy, counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation through theoretical and practical cases
  • Gender dimensions of radicalisation and Islamophobia
  • The cultural construction and consumption of the radical and Islamophobic discourse
  • Strategies and attempts to resist ‘radicalisation’, ‘de-radicalisation’ and ‘counter-radicalisation’ and the surrounding discourses
  • Strategies and attempts to resist Islamophobia and incompatibility theories
  • Rigorous evaluations of the local contexts fuelling radicalisation and Islamophobia

Abstracts of no more than 300 words must be submitted together with the contributor’s short biography (no more than 200 words) by 30 March 2015.

If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper must be submitted by 25 September 2015.

Submit abstracts should be submitted to Dr Derya Iner diner@csu.edu.au and copied to info@isra.org.au . Abstracts should be in Word format with the following information in this order:
a) author(s) name; b) affiliation; c) email address; d) title of abstract; e) body of abstract; f) author’s biography.

Email subject should be titled: Australasian Conference on Islam. Use plain text (Times New Roman, 12 point, double spaced) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline).

We will acknowledge receipt and respond to all abstracts submitted. If you do not receive a reply within a week, assume we did not receive your abstract. We suggest to then look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

Select papers will be published in peer-reviewed publications.

Organising chairpersons:

Conference Website: http://ausconfislam.net/ (note that it is currently
under construction)

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Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

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Invitation to the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies, 2015, at the Old Library in the Oxford University Church Of St Mary

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies. You may register for the Summer Session (3, 4 & 5 August) or the Fall Session ( 7, 8 & 9 December). The meeting will be held at The Old Library in the Oxford University Church Of St Mary.  Constructed in 1320, The Old Library is the first university (as opposed to college) building in Oxford and therefore uniquely important; this is where the nascent University began.

The sessions will be hosted by Canon Brian Mountford, Vicar of St Mary’s. Dr. Mountford is a Fellow and Chaplain of St Hilda’s College in the University of Oxford.

You are invited to present a paper on an aspect of religious studies, or you may wish to attend as an observer.

For more information visit our website Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies

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CFP: “Contemporary Religious Concepts of Knowledge”

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Dear Colleagues, 

I would wish to draw your attention to this CfA for a conference titled 

‘Texts, Sounds, and Images from the Divine Sphere – Contemporary Religious Concepts of Knowledge in Competition’

It is going to be held on 29, 30 September 2015 at St. Paul’s University, Kenya. 

Here is the weblink on the conference. 

https://www.zmo.de/Ausschreibungen/calls%20for%20papers/Limuru_call%20for%20papers.pdf

Kindly circulate among interested parties. 

Best, 

Halkano Abdi Wario

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CFP: Ethnicity, Race and Citizenship: Place of Indians in the New South Africa

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Conference : Call for Papers: Celebrating 155 years of Indians in South Africa

Theme: Ethnicity, Race and Citizenship: Place of Indians in the New South Africa

  • Conference Dates: 11-15 November, 2015
  • Venue: Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa
  • Conference Registration Fee: $120 (USD)
  • Early Registration Fee: $100 (USD) before 30 October, 2015
  • Student Registration Fee: $75 USD
  • Abstract Submission Deadline: 31 July, 2015

The arrival of Indians since 1860 some as indentured workers and others as independent passengers with an intention to trade has fundamentally changed not only the demographic landscape of South Africa, but also had a deeper impact culturally, socially and religiously. On 16 November 2015 it will be 155 years of their presence in the country. Their experience extends from the colonial history to apartheid and finally culminating in the new South African dispensation. As such, their memories, their social history, their cultural and religious outlook has been shaped by these three key phases of history. In as much as they have shaped the memories of other cultural groups, they have been profoundly affected by their interactions with the rest of the South African population groups. This conference seeks to understand and appreciate as well as to conceptualise their presence in South Africa and also to assess and take stock of their contributions to the South African way of life as a whole, their troubles and anxieties not only of the past but also of the present. The conference aims to bring together researchers and academics to engage in critical discussion on a range of themes and topics that relate to South African Indians.

Although the focus is on South Africa, we also invite scholars working on Indian diaspora in other countries to offer papers and participate in the conference proceedings. The participation of scholars beyond South Africa will enable all of us in the field of diaspora studies to reflect on broader theoretical issues in conceptualising the Indian diaspora.

We therefore invite scholars and academics both from South Africa as well as beyond to submit papers for a 3 full day-long conference in Durban. Durban is a city that has the largest concentration of Indians outside of India. It is a coastal city with vibrant beaches and plenty of tourist attractions in and around the greater metropolitan area.

Listed below are some of the sub-themes covered. Although participants are encouraged to submit under these themes, papers outside the scope of these themes are also invited as long as they relate to the Indian diasporic experience.

  • Issues of ethnicity within the South African Indian society and beyond
  • Inter-racial relations between Indians and other population groups in South Africa
  • Issues of Indian citizenship in South Africa
  • Issues of definition—South African Indian and Indian South African
  • Cultural and Religious Contributions to South Africa
  • Significant Public Personalities of Indian descent in South Africa
  • Political Future of Indians in South Africa
  • Affirmative Action and South African Indians
  • Social and Cultural Geographies of South African Indians
  • Media, Theatre, and Art
  • Indian Diaspora as Transnationals
  • Indian Diaspora beyond South Africa
  • Caste, Gender and Religious Identities in the Indian Diaspora
  • Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Identities in the Indian Diaspora

Scholars are invited to submit an abstract of 150 words along with the title of the paper. Postgraduate students working on any aspect of Indian diaspora are also invited to submit papers. We are in the process of setting up a website for the conference and in the mean time you can check for updates at the following website.

www.idc2015.ukzn.ac.za

You can submit your abstract on the email mentioned below. For more details and for submission of abstracts please contact:

P. Pratap Kumar (Professor Emeritus)
School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics
Howard College Campus
University of KwaZulu Natal
Durban 4041
South Africa

Email: diasporasa@yahoo.co.za
Tel: 027-31-260-7539/7303
Fax: 027:31-260-7286

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Call for Papers: “Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion”

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Call for Papers
Regulating Religion: Normativity and Change at the Intersection of Law and Religion
14 – 15 December 2015
Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (Bukit Timah Campus)

Submission Deadline: 31 May 2015

In most eras and cultures, law and religion relate dialectically. Every major religious tradition strives to come to terms with law by striking a balance between the worldly and the spiritual, the structural and the mystical, the rational and the sacred. Every major legal tradition struggles to align its formal structures and processes with the beliefs and values of its people. Thus, while law and religion can be conceptualized as distinct spheres of human life, they do not exist independently but are constantly interacting with and influencing each other.

This workshop will engage emerging scholarship on the influence of religion on legal systems, both historically and currently, and vice versa. Regulation is our key focus. In simplest terms, we will consider how law regulates religion, and how religion responds to such regulations. The more complex question we ask is how the normativity becomes diversified and drives the regulatory dialectics between law and religion after the institutional development of the latter two. The workshop seeks to approach this question in three streams:

  1. Socio-political norms regulating religion. What social and political assumptions are we making when we make claims about the legitimate role of religion in public debate? What overarching social and political goals underlie how the law deals with issues of freedom of religion and freedom of religious expression? With the resurgence of religion into issues of public debate, how might religious considerations influence the formulation of contemporary legal norms, if at all?
  2. Constitutional and legal norms regulating religion. What can we learn from the different constitutional legal experiences and contexts of Asia and other parts of the world, given the importance of constitutional structures in framing, defining and governing the interactions of religion and law? What alternative models of arranging state and religion exist vis-à-vis the dominant constitutional model separating state from religion? How has the resurgence of public religion opened up the area of constitutional thinking?
  3. Religious norms regulating religion. What type of legal structures do religions have? How do religious traditions and communities perceive their interaction with religious laws? What demands do such internal rules make upon their religious faith and worship? Are all traditions ‘religio-legal’, i.e., as having claims that take the form of law over their adherents and others? What varying forms do they take? How do believers negotiate these internal rules and how can religious traditions change within this legal framework?

Submission:
Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (no more than 200 words), an outline of the proposed paper with section titles and brief section descriptions, and a personal biography (no more than 100 words). Submissions should be emailed to regulatingreligion@gmail.com by 31 May 2015.

Successful applicants will be notified by 15 July 2015 and would be required to send in a completed draft paper (7,000 – 10,000 words) by 15 November 2015. Depending on the availability of funds, partial or full funding may be granted to paper presenters. Full funding covers air travel to Singapore by the most economical means and reasonable accommodation for the duration of the workshop.

Convenors:

Dr. Arif A. Jamal Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Dr. Jaclyn L. Neo Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Daniel P.S. Goh Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore

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Call for Papers for an edited volume on: Authority, Agency and Islam

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Introduction
The relationship between Muslims and the world is in crisis-mode, and the effects are felt in many ways and in many different instances. One of the themes that often succumbs to ideological cooptation is the issue of authority in Islam and for Muslims. What role is there for Muslims within a minority context both as agents in charge of their own destiny, or as demanders of social justice, and recognition and representation in time, place, and public space? Is there space for and actions of solidarity transcending boundaries, either geographic or socio-cultural? To what extent can Muslims engage with non-Muslims and state authorities, whether as minorities in non-Muslim territories or in countries with a Muslim majority? Are there limits for Muslims in its ability to practice their faith in a secular state? What texts are to be considered authoritative when approaching these questions? And is there one locus or multiple loci for legitimate interpretive authority?

Although the focus of the public discourse remains on the headlines, this book aims to offer a much deeper insight into examining the relationship between authority and agency for Muslims and Islam today.

Objective of the Book
The overall mission is for this book to be one of the leading  publications within the area of contemporary Islamic and Muslim studies. We envision this book to be a key reference at a number of levels, across a wide variety of fields both within and outside of academia. The main objective is to bring together academic minds from a variety of fields all connected by an interest in understanding the role of authority and the dynamics of agency in contemporary Islam as lived by Muslims today.

Paper proposals to be included may engage the above theme from any perspective appropriate for this cross-disciplinary book. A list of suggested topics is the following:

  • Religious vs. State authority
  • Effects of cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism
  • Institution-building and citizenship
  • Geopolitics, power, and economic interests
  • Race and gender
  • Authority in a historical perspective (particular interest may go out to the effects that can be felt in the post-Ottoman, nationalist and post-colonial setting).
  • Health and behavioural change through social changes felt by Muslims
  • Islam and business (e.g. Islam and financial authority, commodification of Muslims, effects of marketing, branding, human resource training and motivation, sales, crowdsourcing and product
    development)
  • Environmental issues
  • Islam and Muslims in the news and as journalists, authority of public perception and reproducible images
  • Cross-cultural issues
  • Privacy, risk, ethics, and legal issues facing Islam and Muslims domestically or globally

The above list is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. Individual papers will be combined to form thematic but multi-layered approach to the relationship between Authority, Agency and Islam and/or Muslims.

Submission Procedure
The editors invite papers from diverse disciplines interested in expanding the body of knowledge in this intriguing area to submit chapters for publication consideration. Individuals interested in
submitting chapters should submit a 300-word abstract in a Microsoft Word or pdf document, with a short bio, to either  laurens.de-rooij@durham.ac.uk or law.ilm@durham.ac.uk by March 22nd, 2015.

Notification of Abstract acceptance will be March 30th, 2015. Following that a letter of interest, including your name, affiliation, and chapter proposal should be sent electronically by April 19th, 2015.

Proposals (2-3 pages) should provide a descriptive outline and clearly explain the purpose and contribution of the chapter. Definitive acceptance notifications will be sent by April 27th, 2015. We also
invite advanced graduate students and recent PhDs to submit proposals that address one or more of the themes above. Upon acceptance, authors will have until August 31st, 2015 to prepare a chapter of approximately 6,000 and 10,000 words, including notes and references. Each chapter will be subject to a peer review process and must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Guidelines for preparing the final chapter will be sent upon acceptance notification.

Note: No late abstracts will be accepted. The final papers are due August 31st, 2015. We look forward to reading your abstracts.

Important Dates

  • Abstract Deadline: March 22nd, 2015
  • Abstract Notification: March 30th, 2015
  • Full Chapter Proposal Due: April 19th, 2015
  • Definitive Acceptance Notifications: April 27th, 2015
  • Full Chapters Due: August 31st, 2015

The post Call for Papers for an edited volume on: Authority, Agency and Islam appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for Papers: Sixth International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society

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Call For Papers

The Religion in Society community is pleased to announce the Call For Papers for the Sixth International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society to be held 23-24 March 2016 at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., USA. We welcome submissions from a variety of disciplines and perspectives and encourage faculty and research students to jointly submit proposals, discussing Religion in Society through one of the following themes:

Conference Themes
Theme 1: Religious Foundations
Theme 2: Religious Community and Socialization
Theme 3: Religious Commonalities and Differences
Theme 4: The Politics of Religion

2016 Special Focus: Religion in the Age of the Anthropocene: Towards a Common Cause?
2016 Special Focus
A new framework has been presented in recent years to periodize and interpret the effects of human life on the natural environment: the age of the ‘anthropocene’. By this definition, we are now in an era when human activities have become a key macro-determinant of the destiny of the ecosystems of Earth. Critical analyses of this age generally have one of two orientations. One perspective looks back, re-examining the relationship of human social, economic, and technical developments on the natural environment. Another looks forward, attempting to build alternative models of human development that put ecological sustainability as a foundational principle.
The natural environment presents itself as a ground for life and a gift of life in all communities of faith and spiritual meaning. In the ‘age of the anthropocene’, how might faith (and explicitly non-faith) communities productively engage in these critical discussions? Looking backward: could this be an opportunity for productive dialogues between principles of science, economics, and religion? Looking forward: in what ways might faith communities and other communities of spiritual meaning set agendas for personal and community action? What principles of stewardship, compassion, or mutual obligation might they offer? How might they provide leadership on issues of the environment, ecological sustainably, and climate change? Could addressing these concerns also offer a basis for productive inter-faith dialogue, a locus for the development of unified moral voice across differing belief systems? Could the age of the anthropocene, as a focal interpretive mechanism for understanding the intersection of human action, science, and faith, become a site for joining into a ‘common cause’ and a place to share imaginations for the future of human development? Not only might such an agenda have implications for our relations in the natural environment, but also such considerations of the future might prompt us to address related questions of inequality, poverty, and human suffering.

Proposal Submissions and Deadlines

The current review period closing date for the latest round of submissions to the conference Call For Papers (a title and short abstract) is 18 March 2015 *. Please visit our website for more information on submitting your proposal, future deadlines, and registering for the conference.
If you are unable to attend the conference in person, you may still join the community and submit your article for peer review and possible publication, upload an online presentation, and enjoy subscriber access to The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society.
*Proposals are reviewed in rounds adhering to monthly deadlines. Check the website often to see the current review round.

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Call For Papers: This American Muslim Life: The Cultural Politics of Asserting the Familiar

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Call For Papers:

This American Muslim Life:  The Cultural Politics of Asserting the Familiar

-Proposed Panel for 2015 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Denver, Nov. 18-22
-Conference theme:  “Familiar/Strange”
-Organizers: Maria Curtis (University of Houston-Clear Lake) and Alisa Perkins (Western Michigan University)

Recent coverage of the Charlie Hebdo incident in France casts a long shadow over Muslims living in the West, publically asserting an austere face of Islam that is far “stranger” than the everyday experience of most practitioners.  This panel asks why must Islam in the West be “made strange,” and what does a lived Islam grounded in ethnographic perspective look like once it is plucked from the familiar/strange duality and instead viewed as an American Muslim “way of knowing.” We aim to collectively examine how Muslims in America are blurring lines by carrying out aspects of their everyday lives “in a Muslim way” (Henkel 2008). Papers may cover a wide range of topics examining how familiar ways of doing things take on novel meanings for Muslims as they are rehearsed in American spaces; and/or how non-Muslims reinterpret American spaces or cultural life by engaging with Muslim minority cultural, material, and institutional forms. The aim of the panel is to build an understanding of how Muslim minorities expand religious and cultural boundaries in an American scene already crowded with multisecularisms on the one hand, and neoconservatisms on the other. What is at stake for Muslim Americans when they are called upon to answer for the “stranger” articulations of political Islam, and in an environment of overdetermined “strangeness” is an authentic Muslim American “familiar” tenable?  Papers may include a focus on space and public culture, materiality, institution building, conversion, the poetics of personal life, festivals and demonstrations, performance and artistic production, political activism, legal and civic engagement, interfaith movements, cityscapes, education, cultural brokerage, Muslim business and finance, and halal foodways.

Please send a 250 word abstract and a title for your proposed contribution to both Maria Curtis (Curtis@UHCL.edu) and Alisa Perkins (alisa.perkins@wmich.edu) by Saturday, Feb 14th.  Authors of accepted proposals will be notified via email by Monday Feb 16th.  Please contact us in advance with any questions about this proposed panel session.

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Call for Papers for ASR’s 77th Annual Meeting in August

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Call for Papers for ASR’s 77th Annual Meeting in August

The Program Chair for this year’s Annual Meeting, Grace Yukich, is now accepting session/panel proposals and individual paper abstracts for consideration for this year’s program.  All of the details for making these submissions are available on the ASR website.  Proposals for sessions should be sent directly to Grace at Grace.Yukich@quinnipiac.edu by March 31, 2015, and individual abstracts should be submitted through the ASR Member Portal by April 30, 2015.    

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Call for Papers for the journal Sociology of Religion

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Call for Papers from Sociology of Religion for Advanced Graduate Students

The editors of Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review are now soliciting essays (25 page maximum or 7,000 words, all inclusive) from advanced graduate students built on dissertations in process. The essay should speak specifically to your scholarship, yet generally to sociologists interested in religion by presenting a central idea of relevance to our readership. In addition, the essay should also reflect on the process of developing as a sociologist whose scholarship includes a clear focus on religion, which may include observations on how “sociology of religion” as a sub-field is currently being shaped, where it is heading, why that matters, etc. While the essay may address one’s own experiences and in the first person, all aspects of the essay should remain of relevance and interest to rigorous scholarship, which therefore can include things like aspects of our training, professional development, conceptual breakthroughs, and empirical surprises. Be sure to cite sources and develop ideas and arguments adequate to the high standards of our journal. 

All manuscripts should follow standard author guidelines for the journal (e.g., 12 pt Times Roman, double space throughout), and be submitted through Manuscript Centralhttps://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/socrel. 

The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2015. Any questions should be addressed to the Editor in Chief, Gerardo Marti, sorjournal@davidson.edu.

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