Sociology of Religion Study Group (Socrel) Annual Conference

www.socrel.org.uk

Tuesday 7 – Thursday 9 July 2015 hosted by Kingston University London 

High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK

http://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/introduction

Keynote Speakers:

• Professor Nancy T. Ammerman (Boston University)
• Professor James Beckford (University of Warwick)
• Professor Grace Davie (University of Exeter)
• Professor David Martin (London School of Economics)
• Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University)

Since its foundation in 1975, the Sociology of Religion Study Group has become one of the largest in the British Sociological Association (BSA). Its membership includes educators and researchers from across the UK and internationally, and in 2015 the Sociology of Religion Study Group will be celebrating 40 years!

Given this occasion, it is an opportune moment to reflect on religion in society, and religion in sociology. From its foundation, Socrel has foregrounded research on secularisation, gender, spiritualities, embodied and lived accounts, materiality, generational innovations, atheism, social difference, migration, institutions, politicised expressions and methodologies in the study of religion. While this list does not account for all the many ways scholars have been investigating religion in social life – its various forms, intersections and spaces – it does speak to how religions continue to be important subjective and collective experiences that are stable and continuous, resistant and shifting. This conference will bring together scholars who have shaped and are shaping the discipline. It will be an opportunity to pay heed, not only to the Study Group’s and discipline’s accomplishments, but also an opportunity to address questions that are emerging to inform future agendas and areas of concern and study, such as:

• - What are the key points of continuity and innovation in theorising religion?
• - How are methodologies emerging and informing research on religion?
• - How are new approaches adapting and transforming old practices?
• - What are the key controversies that will occupy sociologists of religion?
• - What are the pedagogical challenges and innovations in teaching the sociology of religion?
• We invite you to celebrate with us by engaging in the conference questions from your particular area of research in the Sociology of Religion.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• -David Martin will be in conversation with Linda Woodhead about his career and recent books, ‘The Education of David Martin: The Making of an Unlikely Sociologist’, and ‘Religion and Power: No Logos without Mythos’.
• -Grace Davie will be addressing the religious situation in twenty-first century Britain, drawing from her new book, ‘Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox’ (February 2015). This builds on her highly successful ‘Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging’, now 20 years in print.
• -Nancy Ammerman, James Beckford and Linda Woodhead will be bringing important reflections on the status of religion in sociology, and in society.

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Abstracts for individual papers (250 words max.) and panels (500 words max.) are invited by 5 January 2015. Panels may take a standard 20-minute paper format or take alternative modes such as pre-circulated papers/work in progress/or ‘points of view’ that are 10-minutes long. Submissions should be made in Word format and include in the following order: Name, institutional affiliation, email address and paper title.

**All presenters must be members of Socrel.

Abstracts will be subject to peer review. Please note, presenters will be limited to one paper per person at the conference, but you may also organise a panel. 

• -Abstract submissions open: 1 September 2014
• -Early bird registration opens: 1 September 2014
• -Abstract submissions close: 5 January 2015
• -Decision notification: 15 January 2015
• -Presenter registration closes: 16 March 2015
• -Draft programme online: 16 April 2015
• -Early bird registration closes:  11 May 2015
• -Registration closes: 15 June 2015

Please send abstracts to the attention of the conference organisers:

• Dr Sylvie Collins-Mayo (Kingston University London) and
• Dr Sonya Sharma (Kingston University London) at: socrel2015@gmail.com

Should you have other questions about the conference please also contact the conference organisers at the above email address.

Online Registration: http://portal.britsoc.co.uk/public/event/eventBooking.aspx?id=EVT10391

A limited number of bursaries are available to support postgraduate, early career, low income or unwaged Socrel members to present at the conference. Please visit www.socrel.org.ukfor instructions, and to download an application form, and submit your bursary application along with your abstract by 5 January 2015.

Socrel is the British Sociological Association’s study group on Religion. For more details about the study group and conference please visit www.socrel.org.uk.

The post SOCREL Conference: Sociology of Religion: Foundations and Futures appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Les évolutions de la Science chrétienne

Congrès international organisé par l’Observatoire européen des Religions et de la Laïcité et la Faculté d’études comparatives des religions et de l’Humanisme de Wilrijk-Anvers en partenariat avec le CESNUR (Turin) and CLIMAS (Bordeaux)

23-24 avril 2015

Lieu: Anvers: Faculty for the Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism.

Bist 164. 2610 Wilrijk-Antwerpen. Belgique

En 2015, le livre Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures de Mary Baker Eddy aura 140 ans. Il fut la pierre d’angle d’une Église de guérison, la Science chrétienne, qui s’est répandue dans le monde et qui affiche un nombre impressionnant de témoignages de guérison. Mais la Science chrétienne est plus qu’une Healing Church : elle est un mode de vie, une culture marquée par des inspirations artistiques des valeurs sociales qui se reflètent notamment dans le journal mondialement connu qu’est le Christian Science Monitor et dans bien d’autres domaines. Dans nos représentations, la Science chrétienne est l’Église mère de Boston avec sa cathédrale mais elle qui fait partie du paysage religieux mondial et mérite une attention renouvelée des universitaires qui étudient le fait religieux. En coopération avec la Faculté d’études comparatives des religions et de l’Humanisme (FVG) of Wilrijk-Antwerpen, l’Observatoire européen des Religions et de la Laïcité propose de mettre à jour la connaissance théologique, philosophique, sociologique, juridique, de ce mouvement.

On pourra aborder les évolutions de la Science chrétienne sous ces divers angles :

• - évolutions de la direction et de la gouvernance,
• - croissance numérique, expansion internationale, modalités d’installation,
• - perception dans le monde en tant que groupe né en Amérique,
• - problèmes juridiques,
• - impact sur l’art et la culture…
• - couverture médiatique
• - influences de la Science chrétienne sur la communauté religieuse, par exemple sur la New Thought, la guérison chrétienne, la Scientology. Gordon Melton organise une session sur le rôle de la SC dans la naissance de la New Thought.

La liste n’est pas close et toutes les dimensions de l’analyse de la Science chrétienne sont bienvenues.

Langues : français et anglais.

Nous vous invitons à envoyer vos abstracts (10 lignes) et un court cv à Régis Dericquebourg, professeur associé de la FVG et président de l’Observatoire européen des Religions et de la Laïcité,

et/ou à Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, professeur à l’Université Bordeaux Montaigne, vice-présidente de l’Observatoire.

redericq@netcourrier.com

bcellard@numericable.fr

Comité scientifique

• Regis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism), France and Belgium
• Massimo Introvigne, CESNUR, Torino, Italy
• Gordon Melton, Distinguished Professor of American Religious History, Baylor, Texas
• Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor in North American Studies, member de CLIMAS (Culture et littératures du monde anglo saxon), Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France
• Chris Vonck, professor in Religious Studies, Dean of the faculty of Comparative studies of religions, (FVG), Wilrijk (Antwerpen), Belgium

La publication des présentations sera envisagée sur les recommandations du comité scientifique. Nous insistons sur le fait que les textes seront soumis d’abord au comité organisateur avant d’être soumis à d’autres éditeurs.

Les détails sur l’inscription, l’hébergement, l’accès au lieu du congrès seront donnés ultérieurement.

Les conférenciers prennent en charge leurs frais de transport et d’hébergement.

The post Appel à communications: Les évolutions de la Science chrétienne appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for papers

The evolutions of Christian Science in scholarly perspective

April 23-24, 2015

Antwerp, Belgium
Organized by : The European Observatory of Religion and Secularism (Laïcité) in partnership with Faculty of Comparative Studies of Religions, CESNUR and CLIMAS (Bordeaux)

Venue: Faculty of Comparative Studies of Religions (FVG). Wilrijk (Antwerpen) Belgium.

In 2015 Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures will be 140 years old. It lay the foundation of a healing church, Christian Science, that since then has spread to the whole world and has received thousands of testimonies on its spiritual and physical healing power. Yet Christian Science is much more than a healing church, it is a way of life, spiritually, socially and materially, and it has given birth to an original culture. Its values are displayed in the world famous Christian Science Monitor and in many more areas. With the mother Church of Boston, Christian Science is a major actor on the international religious stage that deserves to be reassessed today in a scholarly perspective. We thus invite religious studies scholars to join us in Antwerp to focus on its evolutions and possible transformations in its 140 years of existence.

The list of topics below is not exhaustive:

• - Evolutions of the governance of the Church,
• - Membership: numbers, growth, sociological profile. International expansion,
• - Perception in the world as an American born religion,
• - Judicial issues addressing its status and its healing techniques,
• - Impact on art and culture in general,
• - Media coverage,
• - Influences: Christian Science impact on the religious community, including New Thought, Christian healing, Scientology… (In this regard, Gordon Melton has suggested a session on the role of Christian Science on the birth of New Thought).

Language of the conference: English and French

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

Régis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism)

and/or to Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, professor at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, vice-president of the Observatory.

redericq@netcourrier.com

bcellard@numericable.fr

Papers will be considered for publication, with editorial details given during the conference. It is understood that presenters must submit their paper first to the organizers before submitting them to other publishers.

Detail on registration, housing, transportation will be given later

Deadline to submit your proposal: February 28, 2015

Unfortunately, no funding will be available to cover travel and accommodation expenses

Scientific committee:

• Regis Dericquebourg, Associate Professor at the FVG and President of the European Observatory of Religions and laïcité (secularism), France and Belgium
• Massimo Introvigne, CESNUR, Torino, Italy
• Gordon Melton, Distinguished Professor of American Religious History, Baylor, Texas
• Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Professor in North American Studies, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, member de CLIMAS (Culture et littératures du monde anglo saxon), France
• Chris Vonck, professor in Religious Studies, Dean of the faculty of Comparative studies of religions, (FVG), Wilrijk (Antwerpen), Belgium

The post Call for Papers: The evolutions of Christian Science in scholarly perspective appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Dans le cadre de la 33e conférence de la SISR qui aura lieu à Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgique), du 2 au 5 Juillet 2015 nous lançons l’appel à communications suivant pour la Session STS 21.
Religion et institutions publiques: nouvelles pratiques et dynamiques religieuses-séculières

Les institutions publiques sont des lieux privilégiés pour l’observation du rôle changeant du religieux dans nos sociétés contemporaines. D’une part, leur analyse permet, telle une fenêtre, d’observer les implications pratiques, sociales et politiques des transformations globales contemporaines des dynamiques religieuses-séculières. Les institutions publiques reflètent, en miniature, les enjeux émergents que la croissante vitalité et variété religieuse pose dans la sphère publique. D’autre part, elles gagnent en importance comme des lieux de fabrication du champ religieux et de ses frontières. Dans ce sens, la présence de plus en plus forte de “spiritualités holistes” dans les institutions publiques telles que les prisons ou les hôpitaux illustre la perméabilité des frontières traditionnelles et nourrit de nouvelles pratiques à la limite du séculier. De plus, les micro-processus de négociation, contestation et accommodement autour de revendications religieuses dans ces institutions contribuent à redéfinir le rôle des Églises traditionnelles et des minorités religieuses dans nos sociétés. Cette session vise à faire rencontrer des scientifiques étudiant le rôle du religieux dans les institutions publiques telles que — mais non exclusivement—les hôpitaux, les prisons ou les écoles. Nous encourageons notamment la présentation de recherches empiriques adoptant une approche comparative internationale ou inter-institutionnelle.

Nous invitons les personnes intéressées par ces thématiques à nous faire parvenir une proposition de communication au plus tard le 15 décembre 2014 en utilisant le formulaire en ligne http://sisr-issr.org/Program/
Pour toute information, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter via email.

Irene BECCI (UNIL– Université de Lausanne, Switzerland: Irene.BecciTerrier@unil.ch)
Mar GRIERA (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain: mariadelmar.griera@uab.cat)
Lene KÜHLE (Aarhus University, Denmark: lk@cas.au.dk)

The post Appel à communications: “Religion et institutions publiques: nouvelles pratiques et dynamiques religieuses-séculières” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

Call for Papers:

In the frame of the 33rd ISSR conference to be hold in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), from 2-5 July 2015 we launch a call for papers for Session STS 21.

Religion and Public Institutions: New Practices and Religious-Secular Dynamics

Public institutions are crucial sites for exploring the changing role of religion in contemporary societies. One the one hand, they serve as windows to observe the practical, social and political implications of the current global transformations of the religious-secular dynamics. Public institutions reflect in miniature the challenges raised by the growing religious vitality and variety in the public sphere. On the other hand, they gain relevance as strategic places where the religious field and its boundaries are being reshaped. In this regard, the increasing presence of ‘holistic spiritualities’ in public institutions such as prisons or hospitals evidences the blurring nature of traditional boundaries and foster new practic es at the limit of the secular. Moreover, the micro processes of negotiation, contestation and accommodation of religious claims within these institutions contribute to redefine the role of historical churches and religious minorities in current societies.This panel aims to bring together researchers studying the role of religion in public institutions such as—but not restricted to—hospitals, prisons or schools. We particularly welcome papers with strong empirical foundations and those taking a cross-instiutional or cross-country comparative approach.
We invite paper proposals related to this topic to be submitted no later than December, 15th 2014. Proposals should use the online form (http://sisr-issr.org/Program/)

For any information, please contact us via e-mail:

Irene BECCI (UNIL– Université de Lausanne, Switzerland: Irene.BecciTerrier@unil.ch)
Mar GRIERA (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain: mariadelmar.griera@uab.cat)
Lene KÜHLE (Aarhus University, Denmark: lk@cas.au.dk)

The post Call for Papers: “Religion and Public Institutions: New Practices and Religious-Secular Dynamics” appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

ESA 2015 – Call for Papers – 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association — Prague, Czech Republic, 25 – 28 August 2015

ESA – RN 34 Sociology of Religion

Religion, Social Inequalities, Differences, and Sociological Imagination

Coordinator: PD Dr. Heidemarie Winkel, Technical University of Dresden
heidemarie.winkel@mailbox.tu-dresden.de

After decades of critical discussion, the social significance of religion in Europe is an accepted and empirically grounded fact today. Whether it concerns political attitudes, economic orientation or other social fields of life like education, culture and the media or the private sphere, manifold empirical studies demonstrate the sustaining influence of religion on preferences, practices and identity formation. At large, it is undisputed that (structural) secularization does not diminish, but rather nourishes religious pluralization as well as the development of new spiritualities and popular forms of
religion in Europe.

This development is – among other things – a consequence of global dynamics; they accelerate social, cultural and economic transformations, and more recently radical political changes. This raises questions about how religion is involved and affected by these changes in the neo-liberal era (whether on the local, the national or the supranational level) and how religion reacts to these all-encompassing transformations and turmoil.

A particular interest concerns religion’s social forms of organization and practice that respond to the increase of social inequalities and asymmetries; the latter are often trapped in power relations like in the case of neo-liberal economics and politics.

Another concern is how religion is acting on the various forms of social difference and discrimination that are recently unfolding with new life. For example Islamophobia is one of the new ways in which racism is expressed in contemporary Europe next to older forms of discrimination like anti-semitism, sexism and the growth of right-wing extremism. This finally leads to the question how religion itself has become a (constant) source of social friction and exclusion, whether on a macro or on a micro scale, for example regarding access to political, economic and civil rights. This is intertwined with an interest in the social practices of religious actors and the ways they strive to strengthen their agency in European societies under the conditions of growing inequality and social discrimination.

All these questions concern politically and morally contested issues. This additionally centers the focus of interest towards how religious groups, organizations and individuals are included in civic debates about social discrimination and inequality, i.e. poverty and inequality of income, unemployment, the cutback of the welfare system.

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Authors are invited to submit their abstract either to the general session or any specific session. Please submit only to one session. After abstract evaluation, coordinators will have the chance to transfer papers between sessions where applicable.

Abstracts should not exceed 250 words. Each paper session will have the duration of 1.5 hours. Normally sessions will include 4 papers.

Abstracts must be submitted online to the submission platform, see below. Abstracts sent by email cannot be accepted. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed and selected for presentation by the Research Network; the letter of notification will be sent by the conference software system in
early April 2015.

Abstract submission deadline: 1st February 2015
Abstract submission platform: www.esa12thconference.eu

If you have further questions on the conference, please visit the conference website. For
further information on the Research Network, please visit www.europeansociology.org

The post Call for Papers: European Sociological Association, Prague, 25 – 28 August 2015 appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

33e Conférence SISR: “Éprouver le religieux”
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique, 2-5 juillet 2015
http://www.sisr-issr.org/

Appel à communication
ST 29 : “Les écoles confessionnelles face à la diversité : transformations, stratégies et résistances”

Organisatrices de la session :

Sara Teinturier, GSRL (EPHE-CNRS), Paris, sara.teinturier@ephe.sorbonne.fr
Julia Martinez-Arino, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity,martineza@mmg.mpg.de
Sabrina Pastorelli, GSRL (EPHE-CNRS), Paris, pastorelli.sabrina@gmail.com

Résumé

Depuis le milieu du XXe siècle, les sociétés démocratiques sont marquées par la diversité culturelle et religieuse. Or, les écoles confessionnelles se construisent généralement autour d’une tradition religieuse principale. Quelles transformations et défis cette situation a-t-elle engendrées ? Plusieurs niveaux d’analyse peuvent être retenus pour en prendre la mesure : observe-t-on dans ces établissements une ouverture aux autres confessions (accueil d’élèves de diverses confessions religieuses, enseignement inter-religieux, accommodement des pratiques religieuses … ) ? Au contraire, est-ce l’occasion de l’affirmation d’une identité religieuse forte pouvant être l’expression d’une résistance à la pluralisation du corps social ? Comment les enseignants et les directions des établissements prennent-ils en compte cette nouvelle situation dans leurs pratiques pédagogiques et la mise en oeuvre des activités scolaires ? Lorsque des fédérations scolaires existent au niveau national, des réflexions sont-elles menées autour de ces questions ? D’autres acteurs – syndicats, autorités religieuses, parents d’élèves… – peuvent également proposer leurs propres interprétations et solutions : que manifestent-elles ? Cette section thématique ambitionne d’approfondir les questions soulevées par Robert Jackson dès 2004 (RethinkingReligious Education and Plurality), en se limitant aux seules écoles confessionnelles et en privilégiant les stratégies et les pratiques des acteurs. Sans se restreindre à l’étude d’une seule situation nationale, elle entend proposer des perspectives comparatives et mieux comprendre les liens à l’oeuvre entre éducation, religion et identité.

Soumission de votre proposition : Les propositions de communication doivent être soumises en ligne(http://sisr-issr.org/Program/), avec un titre et un résumé (350 mots maximum), avant le 15 décembre 2014.

Pour toute information sur cette session thématique, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter aux adresses électroniques indiquées ci-dessus.

The post Appel à communication: "Les écoles confessionnelles face à la diversité : transformations, stratégies et résistances" appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.