Call for Papers: SISR/ISSR Session on Religion and Healing

We invite proposed papers (in English or French) for a panel on Religion and Healing at the SISR/ISSR 2021 online conference this summer (12-15 July). Please submit your abstracts here. Deadline: 28 February 2021

Nous avons le plaisir de vous transmettre un appel à communication pour un panel sur Religion et Guérison dans le cadre de la  36e conférence de la Société internationale pour la sociologie des religions, qui se tiendra en ligne du 12 au 15 juillet prochain.

Religion et guérison: classiques et nouveaux horizons en anthropologie de la guérison

Religion and Health: New Directions and Classical Orientations in the Anthropology of Healing

Géraldine Mossière, Institut d’études religieuses, Université de Montréal

Marina Rougeon, Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia (ISC/UFBA, Brazil)

Résumé de la session:

Religion et guérison ont été historiquement interconnectés de bien des façons, que ce soit par le souci chrétien de sauver les âmes, par le recours à la sorcellerie pour gérer les conflits, ou encore par la libération des excès d’émotions dans les transes et possessions. L’engouement populaire que connaissent actuellement les enseignements et pratiques issus des courants de développement personnel participe également de cette tendance qui s’appuie notamment sur les nouvelles spiritualités inspirées des traditions orientales ou autochtones. Ces dèrnieres constituent seulement une des multiples façons dont la religion et la guérison s’entrecroisent dans les sociétés globalisées et sécularisées. Dans cette session, nous appelons des contributions basées sur des études théoriques ou empiriques dans le but de repenser la variété des sites où ces thématiques s’articulent. Avec pour objectif de revisiter les prémisses d’une anthropologie de la guérison actuelle, nous invitons les participants à traiter entre autres des thématiques suivantes: définitions du sujet et de la personne sur lesquelles les pratiques de guérison s’appuient, rôle de la (non)circulation transnationale des ressources religieuses, émergence d’autorités informelles (coach de vies) et réorientation du rôle des guérisseurs traditionnels, sens et affects impliqués dans les pratiques de guérison, statut et symboles associés au corps dans ces pratiques, et pratiques qui visent plus spécifiquement les problèmes de santé mentale ou les crises sanitaires.

Summary

Religion and healing have long been entangled in many ways, such Christianity’s concern with saving souls, the use of sorcery to deal with social conflicts, and the release of emotional overflows through trance possessions. Today’s popular enthusiasm for teachings and practices in personal development is also situated on this thematic seam and it hinges on new spiritualities inspired by Oriental or Native traditions. The latter are just one of the many ways religion and healing intersect in global and secular societies. In this session, we invite contributions based on empirical and theoretical studies in order to revisit the variety of contemporary sites where such thematics intersect. With the aim of rethinking the premises of an anthropology of healing, we invite participants to address the following (and non-exhaustive) list of themes: definitions of the subject and person that healing practices involve, the role of transnational (non-)circulation of religious resources, the emergence of informal authorities (life coaches) and the reorientation of traditional healers’ role, the senses and affects involved in healing practices, the status and symbols associated to the body in these practices, and the practices specifically dedicated to mental health or sanitary crises.

Les propositions sont les bienvenues jusqu’au 28 février au lien suivant : https://conference-system.sisr-issr.org/conferences/conference-2021/?lang=fr#papers

Call for Papers: Implicit Religion, Race, and Representation 21-23 May 2021 (online)

UK – 2021 Implicit Religion, Race, and Representation

Call for Papers
Deadline for submissions is 15 March, 2021

This online only conference takes place against the backdrop of increased political authoritarianism and a noticeable rise in racial and religious intolerance across the world. Politicians are actively seeking to prevent teaching on critical race theory, colonial brutality and the ongoing legacy of enslavement. Concurrently we increasingly find ‘race’ being dismissed or diminished as a category of oppression within wider social problems and dynamics, at the expense of understanding the lives, cultures, and histories of Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour. To understand how assertions of identity function at the same time as racism, nationalism, and exclusion we need to view these developments as intertwined with religion and in the development of definitions of religion and religiosity. The ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, the burning of the Amazon, attempts to lay pipelines in North Dakota, conducting scientific experiments on indigenous sacred lands and responses to other acts of neo-colonialism might be productively analysed in terms of race, religion, and implicit religion.

Presenters are invited to submit abstracts for consideration on the theme of “Implicit Religion, Race, and Representation”. These might include, but are not limited to:

  • Presence, absence, and resistance in representations of race
  • New social movements, resistance, and counter movements (civil rights, indigenous rights, anti-apartheid movements, Black Lives Matter, Say Her Name etc.)
  • Womanist analysis, thinking, being, and doing
  • Agency and social otherness
  • Embodying and embracing difference
  • Technologies (visual, material, and sound) and racial categories in culture memory and the formation of identity
  • Racialisation of religion and religious racism
  • Methodologies for decolonising teaching and curricula in the study of religion
  • Political and religious authoritarianism: past, present, and future
CFP PDFs

A4 IR UK 2021 CFP | Ltr IR UK 2021 CFP

Proposal Submissions

We invite submissions for proposals for either a paper or a scratch session on these themes, elaborated above, by the 15th March 2021 for #IR43, taking place online May 21st – 23rd 2021.

The submission form is now available. You will be asked to indicate if you are submitting a paper or scratch session, and to provide a 300 word abstract (with references to secondary literature and sources) and other information as specified below, and what we need to know in order to accommodate your participation if your proposal is accepted.

Please note while you can edit your entries before you select the submit button, the form does not allow the submission to be saved and edited later. We suggest looking at the form for context and then composing the abstract and the notes regarding accommodating your participation in a word processing document and then cutting and pasting these elements of the proposal into the form.

PAPERS

Please select the option “Paper” on the form. Those submitting papers are asked to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words.

SCRATCH SESSIONS

There will be a dedicated panel for advanced undergraduates, MA and early stage PhD students to present at – called a scratch session. These will be shorter papers and rather than the usual practise of asking questions of the presenters, the audience will make suggestions for further reading, pathways for improvement, scholars to explore etc. If you wish to apply for the scratch session, please select that option on the submission form and submit a 200–250 word abstract.

Keynote

The 2021 Edward Bailey Lecture, “Designing for Humans, Designing Research on Human Subjects: Race, Representations, and Rights” will be delivered by Dr Ipsita Chatterjea, Executive Director of the Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline Workshop.

Workshop

A workshop on decolonising the curriculum, with an emphasis on religious studies will be delivered by Dr Malory Nye.

Please note we are a small organisation and as such are not in a position to provide bursaries for participation. We can provide you with an official letter of invite and a subsequent letter of participation if your university or funding body requires it.

Final Call for Papers: SocRel Annual Conference July 13-15, online

This is just a quick reminder that abstract submission for the socrel annual conference closes tomorrow. Please follow this link for the call for papers and to access the portal to submit your abstract. We can also now confirm the registration rates for the conference but please note bursary winners for the 2020 conference will have their fees waived.

  • BSA Member Full Conference: £20
  • Socrel Study Group Member Full Conference: £25
  • Non-Member Full Conference: £40

The conference will take place via zoom from 13th to 15th July 2021 and we have a great line up of speakers planned including: Sarah-Jane Page (Aston University), Sam Perry (University of Oklahoma), Colin Campbell (University of York), Eileen Barker (London School of Economics), Grace Davie (Exeter University), Jim Beckford (Warwick University) and Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University) so please do consider submitting an abstract. It would be great to see as many of you there as possible for our first online conference.

Key Dates:

  • Abstract submission closes: 10 February 2021
  • Decision notification: 26 February 2021
  • Presenter registration closes: 26 March 2021
  • Registration closes: 30th June 2021

Should you have any questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes,

Dr Rachael Shillitoe
Research Fellow
Conference and Events Officer for the British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Group (SocRel)

Call for Papers: SISR/ISSR Session on Religion and Social Theory

We invite proposed papers (in English or French) for a panel on Religion and Social Theory at the SISR/ISSR 2021 online conference this summer (12-15 July). Please submit your abstracts here. Deadline: 28 February 2021

Religion and Social Theory // Religion et Théorie Sociale

Session Convener(s):

  • Jim Spickard
  • Titus Hjelm

Session Abstract:

The aim of this session is to stimulate debate about theoretical ideas that have a bearing on the sociological study of religion.

We welcome contributions from researchers applying both familiar and less familiar traditions of social theory to religious topics. We especially invite papers that connect sociological theories of religion to the social, cultural, and/or historical contexts in which they arise and/or are used. Such papers might explore what such shaping has prevented sociologists from seeing about religious life or, on the contrary, what such shaping has enabled sociologists to understand that theories generated in other contexts has not. We also welcome papers on other aspects of the relationship between religion and social theory.

Call for Papers Leaving religion and institutional belonging behind

Dear colleagues,

Please, find below the description of the session I am organizing at the ISSR 2021 online conference this summer (12-15 July). You are cordially invited to submit your abstracts here. Deadline: 28 February 2021

Call for Papers: Leaving religion and institutional belonging behind

Chair: Julia Martínez-Ariño
(University of Groningen)

This session will investigate the phenomenon of apostasy, understood broadly as the rejection of religion, faith, institutional belonging or a previously held religious identity. While a big part of the contemporary research on the religious “nones” has focused on those who define themselves as “indifferent”, less sociological research has been done on those who actively decide to leave religion and institutional belonging. There are some exceptions, especially in relation to New Religious Movements, but this field of inquiry deserves more attention. How do people narrate their experiences of leaving a religious group, faith or form of identification? How do these people navigate the apostasy process and which meaning do they attach to it? Which implications does apostatizing have for the everyday lives and social environments of these people? Which factors do apostates identify as triggering the process and how do the self‐narratives make sense of them? What are the political underpinnings and implications of apostasy within different socio‐political contexts? The session welcomes papers analyzing these and other questions, focusing on a range of religious traditions and geographical contexts. Papers based on empirical and comparative research are especially welcome. The session also welcomes theoretical reflections on the meaning of apostasy and its implications for the sociological analysis of religion and non‐religion.

Best wishes,

Julia

Call for Sessions & Papers: Association for the Sociology of Religion, August 2021

82nd Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion

Call for Sessions and Papers

Theme: “Communicating Religion’s Relevance”

Location: A specially designed virtual conference platform (see note 1 below)
Dates: 3 days between August 7 – August 10 (see note 2 below)
Program Chair: Brian Starks, Kennesaw State University (starksasr@gmail.com)

Although scholars of religion are keenly aware of the relevance of religion in today’s world, too many social elites and academics diminish religion’s importance. Even scholars who know better sometimes fail to explain how religion permeates nearly every aspect of contemporary life. As sociologists of religion, we understand religion’s relevance to individuals and its consequences in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres. This year’s conference invites scholars to reflect on religion’s continuing – and in some areas increasing – relevance to society.

We invite session and paper proposals on several key topics:

  • · What can sociologists of religion do to communicate religion’s relevance to their (our) fellow academics and to the broader public?
  • · Are there ways that various sectors of our society have misunderstood, or failed to fully understand, religion? How can sociologists of religion speak to this problem?
  • · How do social and political elites, as well as ordinary citizens, employ religion when communicating about, or working to address, issues of local, national, or international concern?
  • · How do social actors, including social movement leaders, draw upon religion and religious narratives to frame social problems and/or appeal to human cognition, emotion, and morality?
  • · What are religion’s unique features that distinguish it from other social phenomenon and help explain its distinct capacity to influence human and social life?
  • · How, and under what circumstances, does religion contribute to new forms of identity, community, meaning, expression, moral conviction, and social control? How do we, as sociologists of religion, communicate religion’s relevance in these facets of our lives, to others?

Paper and session proposals may speak to these themes, or they may engage with any topic relevant to the sociology of religion. We especially encourage proposals that pursue and stimulate new avenues of research and/or innovative theoretical and/or methodological approaches. Specialty sessions are also welcome, including book salons, teaching and professional development, and discussions that focus on a particular question of interest.

We are very excited about our upcoming conference and the opportunities it will provide for intellectual interchange. Indeed, if people are interested in developing and structuring sessions in an especially creative manner, we are open to different (but feasible) approaches. Please email Program Chair Brian Starks starksasr@gmail.com) to discuss any ideas you have and how we might accommodate them.

DEADLINES

  • Session proposals: March 31, 2021
  • Paper abstract submissions: April 30, 2021
  • All submissions should be made through the ASR website at www.sociologyofreligion.com

ASR Membership is required for organizing a session, presenting a paper, serving as a panelist, or holding another role in the program. All are expected to register for the meeting by July 1, 2021. For questions, contact Brian Starks (starksasr@gmail.com), James Cavendish (jcavendi@usf.edu), or Rachel Kraus (ASREO@bsu.edu).

Note 1: Because of the pandemic, our meeting this year will be a virtual conference. We have been working hard to design a stimulating experience that allows the intellectual interchange, the networking, and the chance to catch up with old and new friends that make our in-person conferences so enjoyable.

I am happy to report that we will be using a major platform with previous experience running other academic conferences. This platform organizes all sessions into a single attractive, easy-to-access online hall. The platform will also host our major plenary sessions and allow publishers to hold virtual book exhibits. To this, we are excited to be incorporating a virtual café that will remain open throughout the conference. This will allow private conversations and will let people meet and network easily with other participants during the conference at any time.

Our goal is to have each session include not only a traditional facilitator, but also a technological convener who could help individual participants with any technology related issues or questions. This will allow facilitators to focus on time-keeping and substantive conversation, as they usually do. Towards that end, if there are grad students or others interested in earning a little extra money by serving as technological conveners for several sessions, please email me at starksasr@gmail.com.

Note 2: We do not yet know our exact dates, as we are still waiting for the ASA to confirm the date of the Religion Section’s session. We want to avoid overlapping with them, so people can participate in both conferences. We simply ask you to keep August 7-10 open in your schedules. We will let you know exact dates as soon as we can.

Call for Papers: American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2021

Member_Header_R1_964486.jpg

Deadline to Submit to the 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting is February 3

ASA invites you to submit proposals for its 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, August 6-10, 2021. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:59 p.m. (Eastern). We are accepting submissions for:

  • Papers, which have four outlets, including Regular Sessions, Section Sessions, Roundtables, and the Student Forum. You may elect to a submit either a full paper (15-35 pages) or an extended abstract (3-5 pages)—a new feature this year. If you submit an abstract and it is accepted, plan to send the full paper to session participants at least a month before the annual meeting .
  • Courses, which are half- or full-day opportunities for sociologists to gain new skills and knowledge
  • Workshops, including: (1) Departmental Leadership and Management; (2) Professional Development; (3) Research and Policy; and (4) Teaching.
  • Preconferences, which provide an opportunity for disciplinary peers to gather for an extended period to discuss their work related to a particular field of study, theory, perspective, question, controversy, or professional context.
  • Ideas for Future Research, which are primarily networking roundtables valuable to those who are developing a new set of ideas or formulating issues and who would like to have these explored further by colleagues with similar interests.
  • The Sociology in Practice Settings Symposium, where sociologists employed in government, non-profit organizations, commercial industry, research centers, and other practice settings can present abstracts that address the context-specific opportunities and challenges of their work.
  • The Teaching and Learning in Sociology Symposium, which will advance the conference theme of “Emancipatory Sociology: Rising to the Du Boisian Challenge.”

Review the Call for Submissions for details. Contact meetings@asanet.org if you have questions.

SocRel conference 13-15 July 2021

Dear colleagues,

The Socrel annual conference 2021 will take place online via zoom from 13th to 15th July 2021. To deliver a paper, please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words. We will also be accepting a limited number of panel proposals. To deliver a panel, please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words. Due to the process of receiving and reviewing abstracts, we are unable to automatically accept those abstracts submitted and accepted for the 2020 conference. However, we warmly welcome all those who submitted abstracts for 2020 to resubmit your abstract for 2021. All presenters must be members of Socrel.

Please follow this link for the call for papers and to access the portal to submit your abstract.

** We are aware that some delegates have experienced issues when submitting abstracts. This should now be resolved but if anyone is experiencing any problems, please email Rachael at r.shillitoe@bham.ac.uk **

Information about the conference, including theme and speakers, can also be found on the page above. Further details regarding registration and how presentations will be delivered (e.g. live or pre-recorded) will be uploaded in due course.

Abstracts must be submitted by 10 February 2021.

Key Dates:

  • Abstract submission: Open now
  • Early bird registration opens: 20 January 2021
  • Abstract submission closes: 10 February 2021
  • Decision notification: 26 February 2021
  • Presenter registration closes: 26 March 2021
  • Registration closes: 30th June 2021

Should you have any questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes,
Dr Rachael Shillitoe
R.Shillitoe@bham.ac.uk 
Conference and Events Officer for the British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Group (SocRel)

CFP: “Feasts in Latin America: Customs, Cultural Heritage, Social Patterns”

Daniela and I are organizing at the XLIII INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICANISM, PERUGIA 2021 the panel 15 FEASTS IN LATIN AMERICA: CUSTOMS, CULTURAL HERITAGE, SPACIAL PATTERNS (Fiestas en América Latina: prácticas, patrimonio cultural, patrones espaciales)

The conference takes place at Perugia (Italia), from 6-11 May 2021. The deadline for the submission of a proposal is 31.01.2021. Further information on the conference you find at the following links:

http://www.amerindiano.org/xliii-convegno-internazionale-di-americanistica/?lang=es (Spanish)

http://www.amerindiano.org/xliii-convegno-internazionale-di-americanistica/?lang=en (English)

The proposals and a CV have to be submitted till 31 January 2021 via the online registration form you may find following the same link.

Presentations can be held Portuguese, English, French, Italian, Spanish and any Latin American language.

For any questions please contact the coordinators: Daniela.Salvucci@unibz.it  or Tobias Boos,
tobiboos@gmail.com.

We wish you nice festive days, that you stay healthy and we hope to see you soon another time face-to-face.

Best wishes,
Tobias

SocRel 2021 -Abstract Submission Open

The annual SOCREL conference for 2021 will now take place online via zoom on from 13th to 15th July 2021. To deliver a paper, please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words. We will also be accepting a limited number of panel proposals. To deliver a panel, please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words. Due to the process of receiving and reviewing abstracts, we are unable to automatically accept those abstracts submitted and accepted for the 2020 conference. However, we warmly welcome all those who submitted abstracts for 2020 to resubmit your abstract for 2021. All presenters must be members of Socrel.

Please follow this link for the call for papers and to access the portal to submit your abstract.

Information about the conference, including theme and speakers, can also be found on the page above. Further details regarding registration and how presentations will be delivered (e.g. live or pre-recorded) will be uploaded in due course.

Abstracts must be submitted by 10 February 2021.

Key Dates:

  • Abstract submission: Open now
  • Early bird registration opens: 20 January 2021
  • Abstract submission closes: 10 February 2021
  • Decision notification: 26 February 2021
  • Presenter registration closes: 26 March 2021
  • Registration closes: 30th June 2021

Should you have any questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes,
Dr Rachael Shillitoe
R.Shillitoe@bham.ac.uk
Research Fellow
Conference and Events Officer for the British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Group (SocRel)