Category Archives: Publishing Opportunities

Call for Papers: Special Issues of the Open Access Journal “Religions”

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Journal “Religions” announces five special issues open for submission

Transforming Encounters and Critical Reflection: African Thought, Critical Theory, and Liberation Theology in Dialogue (Deadline: 1 February 2018)
Guest Editors: Justin Sands, Anné Hendrik Verhoef

Women in Buddhism (Deadline: 1 March 2018)
Guest Editor: Lisa Battaglia

Current Trajectories in Global Pentecostalism: Culture, Social Engagement, and Change (Deadline: 30 April 2018)
Guest Editor: Roger G. Robins

Practicing Buddhism through Film (Deadline: 1 June 2018)
Guest Editor: Francisca Cho

Feminisms and the Study of “Religions” (Deadline: 28 February 2018)
Guest Editor: Darlene Juschka

To access the full list of open Special Issues, please click: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues

NOTE: Article processing charge of 350 Swiss Francs.  See http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/apc

CFP: Special Issue “Interfaith on the World Stage”

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Special Issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the upcoming special issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs on the theme of ‘Interfaith on the World Stage’. This special issue will be co-edited by John Fahy (Georgetown University, Qatar & Woolf Institute, Cambridge) and Jeffrey Haynes (London Metropolitan University). Please send abstracts (up to 200 words) to John Fahy atjef96@georgetown.edu by September 1st 2017.

Key words: Religion, international relations, interfaith, multifaith, interreligious, faith-based diplomacy

Outline

In the wake of the events of 9/11 there has emerged a now significant body of literature that seeks to account for the ‘return’ or ‘resurgence’ of religion in international relations (Fox & Sandler 2004, Snyder 2011, Fitzgerald 2011, Haynes 2012, Sandal & Fox 2013, Hunter 2016). Against a backdrop of secularisation theory, and often framed by historical processes such as globalisation and democratisation, this literature typically attributes religion’s marginalisation in global politics to Westphalian-informed assumptions that continue to pervade international relations today. Arguing that religion’s role in international relations can no longer be ignored, scholars have engaged with case studies as diverse as Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Shi’a Islam in Iran and Christian fundamentalism in the United States, to name but a few examples. Insofar as this literature focuses on particular religious traditions, however, a critical blind spot has developed whereby the contemporaneous proliferation of transnational interfaith (or multifaith, interreligious) initiatives has often been overlooked (cf. Braybrooke 1992, Marshall 2013). This special issue addresses this oversight by exploring the role of interfaith actors, organisations and initiatives in the broader re-emergence of religion in international affairs.

Although the interfaith movement can be traced back to the late 19th century, it gained unprecedented prominence in the years following 9/11. Interfaith initiatives were enlisted as part of wider multiculturalist responses to the threat of radicalisation in liberal democracies such as the United States, the UK and Australia. In the Middle East interfaith events came to represent important platforms for the promotion of ‘true’ or ‘moderate’ Islam, and continue to serve as valuable opportunities to counter the ‘clash of civilisations’ discourse that informs relations between the Islamic world and the West. In the last decade or so the United Nations has recognised interfaith actors and organisations as close allies, passing several important resolutions, for example, on ‘the promotion of interfaith dialogue’ (2004). Since 2011 the first week of February every year marks U.N. World Interfaith Harmony Week.

There are today dozens of interfaith organisations whose activities and agendas transcend national borders. Although their goals are as diverse as peace-building, conflict resolution, combating extremism, tackling poverty and addressing climate change, they share a common commitment to the idea that the world’s most pressing issues must be responded to not by side-lining, but by engaging, the world’s religious traditions. Interfaith has come to represent a particular mode of faith-based diplomacy (Johnston 2003), or what we might call ‘faiths-based diplomacy’, within which religion occupies a privileged rather than a peripheral place in international relations. There remains significant disagreement, however, as to the effectiveness of interfaith efforts. In contributing to debates that cohere around the broader resurgence of religion in international relations, this special issue fills an important gap in the literature by exploring the emergence of interfaith on the world stage.

Call for Papers: Women, Abortion, & Religioins

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CALL FOR PAPERS

WOMEN, ABORTION AND RELIGIONS: DEBATES ON SEXUAL POLITICS, SUBJECTIVITIES AND RELIGIOUS FIELD. (PERIOD 2017-2018)

The Program on Gender Studies (PEG by its acronym in Spanish)- San Marcos National University and Flora Tristan Center of Peruvian Women are pleased to invite scholars and activists to submit articles for our editorial project Women, abortion and religions: debates on sexual policy, subjectivities and religious field.

Presentation

Over the last decades, we are more aware on abortion as a social complex issue with a field developed by a group of historical, cultural and politic processes, existing within global and local dynamics, as poverty, inequality, public health, secrecy, legality/illegality and also, without any doubt, religion thus establishing the characteristics of its practice, penalization and decriminalization. We consider that abortion as a social issue is a symptom of the infrastructure of sexual policy, that is, of the mechanisms through which sexual difference is developed in all societies. Therefore, to analyze the dynamics of abortion in contemporary societies is crucial to establish a genealogical exercise regarding the views and responses of women towards the place “assigned” to them, to their bodies and undoubtedly to their contribution on the development of citizenship. The abortion and women relationship displays a multitude of strengths, always starting and ending in their own bodies.

Several research studies point out religions have been one of those privileged fields for such processes. Evidently, from the post secular debate, religions have not stopped influencing neither the history of governmentality nor the construction of concrete forms of subjectivity, particularly related to abortion. This publishing aims at reflecting, analyzing and questioning these relations.

Religions can be analyzed as a place of control or also action (or both at the same time) related to the construction of women (spiritual, politic, cultural, human rights) demands. In this regard, studying the religious phenomenon from an intersectional gender perspective is a way to track the situation of women today, especially through the analysis of circumstances surrounding their abortions. Therefore, we are particularly interested in inquiring about those historical, political and social processes where religions support or oppose abortion and their effects in the lives of women. We look for papers with a profound investigation on one of these aspects (or both) based on the analysis of historical, ethnographic, legal material, among others. We focused on the existing interaction among different religious traditions (such as, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, indigenous world views, among others) and said phenomenon.

This invitation seeks papers with an analysis on the role religions play in the history of governmentality regarding abortion. That is, we aim at studying the mechanisms, strategies, representations (among others), developed by religious fields and capitals existing within processes of influence and intervention of the religious discourse in States and also in the international policy (multilateral organisms, international cooperation) within the contemporary world.

This invitation also aims at analyzing the construction of corporalities, subjectivities and identities of women who experienced abortions, related to religious fields and capitals. In particular, their spiritual and/or religious or atheist practices, their experiences and perceptions. Within this framework, papers on world views/theologies, rites, mysticism, moral and memory can be included. We are also interested in exploring articles with a reflection on religious groups and collectives linked negatively or positively with abortion.

Beyond the post secular debate, the encounter with religions within the international scenario leads us to think on policies dynamics and new subjective constructions where religions are introduced as an important device on social analysis. In this regard, we are deeply interested in inquiring about the work of women or women movements (for example, Islamic, Catholic, Christian,

Jew women or with alternative beliefs) who have underwent abortion within their own spiritual traditions and ritualized practices, within each and every cultural and social context where traditions result transformed by their own demands.

Goals

The goals of this publishing aim at:

  1. Building a comparative and systematic perspective of the relation between religious discourses and abortion within contemporary societies.

  2. Analyzing the construction of subjectivities on women with abortion stories related to the religious phenomenon within local and regional specific contexts.

  3. Studying the historical, social and cultural dynamics where religious traditions play an important role on the promotion or rejection of abortion in contemporary societies.

  4. Reflecting on spiritual productions (practices, rituals, perceptions, among others) developed by women with abortion stories in different regions of the whole world in or out of religious traditions, with particular emphasis on the South-South dialogue.

Topics

Papers should include these thematic lines, although they are not restricted to:

  1. Religious traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, indigenous world views, among others), abortion and women within contemporary societies.

  • Local stories on the relation between abortion and women with different religious traditions.

  • Mechanisms, strategies and representations created by religious leaders or religious discourses existing or affecting the penalization or legalization of abortion within States or the international policy.

  • Spiritual practices of women on abortion in contemporary societies, in particular dialogues and resistances regarding their own religious traditions.

  • Analysis on any aspect regarding spiritual practices (such as divinity and rituality) from a feminist theological perspective.

  • Feminist theological production on abortion and women on each religious tradition.

  • Ability of women and groups of women to take action within the context of spiritual production regarding abortion.

  • Spiritual expressions related to non confessional practices, secularism, atheism and other contemporary spiritual manifestations on abortion.

  • Intersection among religious practices with sexuality, gender, race and social class within the women movement.

  • Relationship among spiritual production, ethical discourses and supporting practices from women, with particular emphasis on the South-South dialogue.

    • Relevant information To participate send an abstract with a maximum of 350 words until November 30th 2017 to Martin Jaime (mjaimeb@pucp.pe) and Fátima Valdivia (valdiviadelrio@gmail.com), academic editors of this compilation. Please include any questions or doubts.

    Once proposals are accepted you will receive a written notification. All articles will follow the APA (American Psychiatry Association) style and should have 8 000 to 10 000 words, without bibliography. All papers will be peer-reviewed by double blind pairs. Articles can be written either in English or in Spanish. Complete articles must be sent until June 30th 2018 to Martin Jaime and Fátima Valdivia, academic editors of this compilation, to the following e-mail addresses: mjaimeb@pucp.pe and valdiviadelrio@gmail.com

    CFP: “Exploring Contemporary Muslim Art, Culture, and Heritage in Britain”

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    Call for Papers
    MUSLIM ART CONFERENCE
    Exploring Contemporary Muslim Art, Culture and Heritage in Britain
    14th September 2017, Birmingham

    Art and culture provide a means of communication, an alternative platform to share stories, celebrate contributions to society and challenge misconceptions and stereotypes. In Britain, Muslim art and culture are in transition as we see interchange between artists inspired by the traditional Islamic arts and those who are finding new ways of weaving together their British and Muslim identities. A rising generation is using artistic forms such as music, film, literature, photography, poetry and comedy to express themselves. As well as celebrating the diversity of British Muslim identity, these artists and cultural producers explore difficult issues and help bridge divides between communities.

    This new world creates exciting opportunities but also uneasy tensions as to where these practices can fit in the traditional canons of visual and performing arts, the heritage and museum sectors, in literature and even popular culture in Britain. British Muslims often find it difficult to present their work in mainstream arts and cultural establishments such as theatres, galleries and museums. Many upcoming Muslim artists work alone and often struggle to fund their work. Furthermore, the persistence of stereotypical representations of Muslims in popular media and cultural industries makes it harder for Muslims in the arts and cultural sectors to reach a wide audience.

    This one-day Muslims in Britain Research Network conference will create space for critical dialogue and community exchange by bringing aspiring and established Muslim artists and cultural producers together with eminent scholars and researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and arts funders. The conference will provide a space to discuss, inform, connect and engage through a program of lectures, presentations, panel discussions and workshops. Cultural experts will share insights into the key factors affecting Muslim arts and culture in Britain and will address the practical questions facing Muslim artists in the UK – from applying for their first grant to running an arts organisation, from creating social change to establishing and receiving commissions for national and international work.

    We invite the submission of papers, presentations, talks, session proposals, panel discussions, lightning talks, short performances to be presented on Thursday 14th September 2017 at a Birmingham venue (to be confirmed). We welcome proposals from scholars, curators, artists, cultural producers and programmers, and students and independent researchers. Sessions that include a mixture of scholars/researchers and practitioners are particularly encouraged. Although all paper proposals should speak to the theme of Muslim art and culture, we welcome submissions from individuals from any faith background and none.

    Themes we hope to cover in the conference include:
    • How are Muslims in Britain exploring identity, belonging and social change through art, culture and heritage?
    • How are Muslim art and culture represented in the cultural sector in Britain? Are the cultural industries responding to British Muslims’ demand for culture?
    • What does contemporary ‘Muslim’ and ‘Islamic’ art mean?
    • How does contemporary British Muslim cultural production compare/relate to the past and to other cultural contexts?
    • How are Muslim arts in Britain developing?
    • What strategies are needed to grow, fund, and sustain Muslim cultural production without compromising on beliefs and creativity?

    Individual presentations/responses should last no longer than 10-12 mins, and a full panel session no longer than one hour including audience Q&A.

    To participate please send a 200 word abstract to the email address below by Monday 31st July 2017 along with a biography of no more than 50 words (per speaker)

    Abstract submissions and any general questions should be sent to the conference organisers atmuslimsinbritainrn@gmail.com

    Selected academic papers and practitioner responses will be considered for publishing in a conference report and/or recorded and placed online.
    http://www.mbrn.org.uk/muslim-art-conference-2017-cfp/

    Call for Papers: “Complex Religion: Intersections of Religion and Inequality”

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    Call for Papers

    Special Issue – Social Inclusion

    Volume 6, Issue 2

    Title: Complex Religion: Intersections of Religion and Inequality

    Editor: Melissa J. Wilde (University of Pennsylvania, USA)

    Deadline for Abstracts: 15 September 2017
    Submission of Full Papers: 15 to 31 January 2018
    Publication of the Issue: May/June 2018

    Information: Although scholars of American religion acknowledge religion’s deep interconnectedness with race, class, and ethnicity in the USA, we nonetheless typically study religion as a factor that is independent from other social structures. Likewise, we rarely systematically examine class, race or gender differences between or within American religious groups. This thematic issue will highlight research that moves beyond these weaknesses by publishing papers that intentionally examine aspects of inequality as they relate to religion. Papers that discuss both theoretical and methodological conundrums (and solutions) are welcome.

    Instructions for Authors: Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s editorial policies and to send their abstracts (about 200-250 words, with a tentative title) by email to the journal’s editorial office (si@cogitatiopress.com) by 15 September 2017.

    Open Access: The journal has an article publication fee to cover its costs and guarantee that the article can be accessed free of charge by any reader, anywhere in the world, regardless of affiliation. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and advise them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Institutions can also join Cogitatio’s Membership Program at a very affordable rate and enable all affiliated authors to publish without incurring any fees. Further information about the journal’s open access charges and institutional members can be found here.

    Call for Manuscripts on “Interreligious Dialogue: From Religion to Geopolitics”

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    CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

    ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

    Volume 10: Interreligious Dialogue: From Religion to Geopolitics

    Forthcoming 2019

    Edited by:

    Giuseppe Giordan (University of Padua, Italy) and

    Andrew P. Lynch (University of Sydney, Australia)

    The topic of interreligious dialogue is of critical importance at a time of increasing geopolitical tension. The urgency for developing better analytical tools for understanding interreligious dialogue is underscored by widespread concerns about religion and violence, and the security culture that this has given rise to in a number of nation states. Furthermore, globalization, technological developments, mass migration, and recent political upheavals and the narratives of exclusion that have been associated with them, highlights the need for greater levels of communication between religious groups. This volume seeks to investigate interreligious dialogue as a necessary component of global affairs in post-secular times, and in multi-faith societies facing increasing levels of cultural pluralism.

    To explore these issues we propose to include articles on the following themes, from the perspective of a range of different religions:

    1. Changing viewpoints and theories in the study of interreligious dialogue
    2. Interreligious dialogue and politics in the context of globalization
    3. Interreligious dialogue and debates about secularism and post-secularism
    4. Interreligious dialogue in the context of social diversity, cultural pluralism, and multi-faith societies
    5. Interreligious dialogue and emerging information technologies
    6. Interreligious dialogue in an age of terrorism
    7. Interreligious dialogue and migration

    Please send all proposals (300 words) to andrew.lynch@sydney.edu.au

    Deadlines:

    Submission of proposals: July 30, 2017

    Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2017

    Completed manuscripts (7,000 words): June 30, 2018

    Call for Papers: Religion and the Rise of Populism: Migration, Radicalism and New Nationalisms

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    http://explore.tandfonline.com/cfp/pgas/crss-call-for-papers-religion-rise-populism

    The editors of the journal Religion, State and Society are pleased to invite contributions to a special issue, slated for publication in early 2018. The special issue will investigate the roles of religion in recent trends towards populist politics, in particular as manifested in public reactions to migration, the rise of new nationalisms, and the increasing prominence of radicalism.

    Growing evidence suggests that these developments are taking centre stage throughout the world, set in a wider context of global political and economic uncertainty. It can also be observed that religion plays an important role in each of these three issues, often in ways that interconnect them. For example, the actions of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have exacerbated an already worrisome global migration crisis, while also heightening concerns about violent radicalism.  From France to the Philippines, public anxieties surrounding ISIS and domestic ‘radicalisation’ have become frequent motifs in populist rhetoric that links them with increasing flows of migrants as representative of threats to social security and the economic wellbeing of local populations.

    Other examples of contemporary issues in which religion is implicated in populist politics and linked to migration, new nationalisms, and radicalism include: the emphasis on ‘Hindu values’ in the politics of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India; the Christian or anti-Muslim rhetoric of American presidential candidates; the UK Brexit campaigners’ use of the prospective membership of ‘Muslim’ Turkey in the EU; the deepening significance of ‘traditionalist’ and pro-Orthodox rhetoric in Russia’s domestic and international politics; and the increasing prominence of religion-based identity politics in Poland, Hungary, and Croatia.

    This special issue will seek to probe the various roles of religion in these interlinked issues and across comparative cases. There is an urgent need for considered academic analysis to discern how the rise of populism is connected to religion and the issues of migration, radicalism, and new nationalisms, to elucidate the broader empirical and theoretical implications for our understandings of religion, state, and society.

    Areas of investigation can include but are by no means limited to:

    • Religious dimensions of populism in national contexts, including comparative perspectives
    • The migration crisis and its implications for religion-based identity politics in European societies and beyond
    • The ‘crisis’ of the European Union following the Brexit referendum, and its broader implications with relevance to religion
    • Religious dimensions of radicalism: discourses, movements, and politics
    • Religiously-based conservative and traditionalist movements in Europe, the United States, India, Russia, or other parts of the world, including comparative studies
    • Fringe and far-right political and vigilante groups and movements, and their politics of religion
    • Religious dimensions of the securitisation of borders and the ‘othering’ of excluded groups
    • Theoretical, legal, or discourse-based work on the role of religious, such as ‘Christian’ or ‘Hindu’, affinities in constructions of national identity and the operation of national institutions

    This special issue of Religion, State and Society is planned for publication in the first half of 2018. The editors have been invited by Routledge to also consider republication of the contributions as a book.

    Application Process

    Please send completed papers of 6,000-8,000 words by 15 August 2017. To submit a paper, please register for an account and follow the submission instructions at the journal’s online submission portal: http://www.edmgr.com/crss

    Before submitting your manuscript please read carefully the journal’s submission instructions, available on the RSS main website under the ‘Instructions for Authors’ page (http://www.tandfonline.com/crss). All manuscripts will go through the normal peer review process.

    Questions related to the theme and potential ideas for papers can be discussed with the editors:
    Dr Daniel Nilsson DeHanas (daniel.dehanas@kcl.ac.uk)
    Dr Marat Shterin (marat.shterin@kcl.ac.uk)

    Call For Book Proposals: Religion and the Social Order

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    A Book Series from Brill Academic Publishers and the Association for the Sociology of Religion

    We are now seeking book proposals for Religion And The Social Order book series. The series was initiated by the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR), which is an international scholarly association that seeks to advance theory and research in the sociology of religion. The aim of Religion and the Social Order (RESO) is to publish edited volumes or single topic monographs that center around a particular set of current interests within the sociology of religion. It specifically aims to advance theory and research within this field of study. The series seeks to publish at least one volume per year. Under the auspices of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, RESO has been published by Brill since 2004 and under the General Editorship of Inger Furseth since 2016.  Please view the full Call For Proposals and find out more about the Manuscript Proposal Guidelines.

    Call for Papers: “Approaching Ethnoheterogenesis. Membership, Ethnicity, and Social Change in Contemporary Societies”.

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     Organization: Prof. Dr. Mathias Bös, PD Dr. Nina Clara Tiesler, and Deborah Sielert. Institute of Sociology, Leibniz University of Hannover (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie – Sektion Migration und ethnische Minderheiten)

    Email to: n.tiesler@ish.uni-hannover.de

    Venue: Hannover Leibnizhaus

    Date: Thursday and Friday, December 12th and 13th, 2017   

    The study of societal change and ethnic relations has been a core pursuit in Sociology, both in the past and in the present, especially – though not exclusively – in historical contexts marked by heightened migration. This conference aims to refine the theoretical understanding of social and cultural processes regarding the formation of ethnicities and ethnic diversity (Yancey et al 1976, Bös 2010).

    The specific contribution of this conference goes to the research context of migrants and migrant descendants; wherein conceptual debates on self-perceptions, modes of belonging, group formation, and collective subjectivities continue to be at the core of theoretical considerations (Cohen 1974, Glazer and Moynihan 1975, Banton 2008). Importantly, the conference also goes beyond this context: studying the genesis and continuously shifting social forms of ethnicities is heuristically important in that it can help us clarify processes of socio-, cultural-, and political change in society at large (Bell 1975, Bös 2011, Banton 2011).

    Researching the emergence of ethnicities has a long tradition in diverse social sciences and in the humanities. The term ethnogenesis originally described constitutive processes of ethnic groups, their possible fissions, de-ethnization, expansion, or new formations over time and space (Singer 1962, Voss 2008). From the mid-1970s onward, in American Sociology, ethnogenesis was also used to grasp societal assimilation, integration, and change caused by ethnic diversification (Greeley 1974), as such describing socio-cultural change among both minority and majority groupings and in society at large.

    However, it appears that current analytical concepts and frameworks to describe the genesis of ethnicities and societal change through ethnic diversification are too limited to grasp these complex and multi-dimensional formative processes (Barth 1969, Fardon 1987, Thompson 2011, Bös 2015). These concepts (e.g., assimilation, identity, integration, diversity, inclusion, multi-ethnic societies, etc.) often represent normative self-descriptions by civil society rather than analytical categories of heuristic value. Therefore, we propose the concept of Ethnoheterogenesis (EHG) as a starting point to discuss multidimensional models of specific forms of societization (Vergesellschaftung), which involve ethnic framing and affiliations of individuals, groupings, and macro groups (Tiesler 2015). Rather than reducing such formative processes to linear models, new concepts such a Ethnoheterogenesis explicitly address the dialectic of homogenization and heterogenization in the genesis of ethnicities, as well as the normality of de-ethnization and multiple options regarding ethnic affiliation (Waters 1990).

    The aim of the conference is to further develop EHG or other new alternatives as analytical categories for processes of socio-cultural change in complex settings of transnationally constituted societies that can be coined ethnoheterogeneous (Claussen 2013). We invite international scholars for a critical discussion in favor of further theorizing. Conceptual papers and empirical studies referring to the following themes are welcome:

    1. What changes in ethnic framing, ethnic affiliation, and multiplicity of memberships/belongings can be observed in current times of heightened mobility and how can they be analyzed?

    – What can be said about ethnicity as a resource for individualization, collectivization, and community building or potential counterhegemonic cultures?

    – What forms of “past presencing” can be reconstructed in the processes of ethno(hetero)genesis?

    – What does the analysis of the genesis and changes of ethnic framing and multiplicity of memberships add to the broader field of sociology (i.e., Sociology of Migration, Global Sociology, and Sociology of the Nation State)?

    1. How are the processes of (de-)ethnization interwoven with social inequality (economic, legal, political, etc.)?

    – What role do institutions such as the family, neighborhoods, work, or communities play in this context?

    – How should we think about the genesis of ethnicities in the intersection with and relation to different categories of social inequality, and most importantly race, gender, class, and/or generation?

    1. How does ethnicity function as an element in the structuring of (world) society?

    – What can be said about the (changing) role of the nation in the emergence of ethnicities and membership roles?

    –What is the role of spatial configuration, such as transnationalism, in the genesis of ethnicities?

    –What insights can be gained from related fields such as diaspora or transnational studies?

    Keynote Speakers:      

    ·        Nadje Al-Ali, Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS

    ·        Thomas D. Hall, Prof. Emeritus, Department of History, DePauw University

     

    We are looking forward to proposals for lectures and/or workshops. The abstracts (one page long) should include the question, empirical/theoretical background, hypothesis, and brief personal details. Please send your proposals or abstracts to n.tiesler@ish.uni-hannover.de
    ABSTRACTS DUE: June 15, 2017

    Call for Papers: “Approaching Ethnoheterogenesis. Membership, Ethnicity, and Social Change in Contemporary Societies”.

    Posted on by

     Organization: Prof. Dr. Mathias Bös, PD Dr. Nina Clara Tiesler, and Deborah Sielert. Institute of Sociology, Leibniz University of Hannover (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie – Sektion Migration und ethnische Minderheiten)

    Email to: n.tiesler@ish.uni-hannover.de

    Venue: Hannover Leibnizhaus

    Date: Thursday and Friday, December 12th and 13th, 2017   

    The study of societal change and ethnic relations has been a core pursuit in Sociology, both in the past and in the present, especially – though not exclusively – in historical contexts marked by heightened migration. This conference aims to refine the theoretical understanding of social and cultural processes regarding the formation of ethnicities and ethnic diversity (Yancey et al 1976, Bös 2010).

    The specific contribution of this conference goes to the research context of migrants and migrant descendants; wherein conceptual debates on self-perceptions, modes of belonging, group formation, and collective subjectivities continue to be at the core of theoretical considerations (Cohen 1974, Glazer and Moynihan 1975, Banton 2008). Importantly, the conference also goes beyond this context: studying the genesis and continuously shifting social forms of ethnicities is heuristically important in that it can help us clarify processes of socio-, cultural-, and political change in society at large (Bell 1975, Bös 2011, Banton 2011).

    Researching the emergence of ethnicities has a long tradition in diverse social sciences and in the humanities. The term ethnogenesis originally described constitutive processes of ethnic groups, their possible fissions, de-ethnization, expansion, or new formations over time and space (Singer 1962, Voss 2008). From the mid-1970s onward, in American Sociology, ethnogenesis was also used to grasp societal assimilation, integration, and change caused by ethnic diversification (Greeley 1974), as such describing socio-cultural change among both minority and majority groupings and in society at large.

    However, it appears that current analytical concepts and frameworks to describe the genesis of ethnicities and societal change through ethnic diversification are too limited to grasp these complex and multi-dimensional formative processes (Barth 1969, Fardon 1987, Thompson 2011, Bös 2015). These concepts (e.g., assimilation, identity, integration, diversity, inclusion, multi-ethnic societies, etc.) often represent normative self-descriptions by civil society rather than analytical categories of heuristic value. Therefore, we propose the concept of Ethnoheterogenesis (EHG) as a starting point to discuss multidimensional models of specific forms of societization (Vergesellschaftung), which involve ethnic framing and affiliations of individuals, groupings, and macro groups (Tiesler 2015). Rather than reducing such formative processes to linear models, new concepts such a Ethnoheterogenesis explicitly address the dialectic of homogenization and heterogenization in the genesis of ethnicities, as well as the normality of de-ethnization and multiple options regarding ethnic affiliation (Waters 1990).

    The aim of the conference is to further develop EHG or other new alternatives as analytical categories for processes of socio-cultural change in complex settings of transnationally constituted societies that can be coined ethnoheterogeneous (Claussen 2013). We invite international scholars for a critical discussion in favor of further theorizing. Conceptual papers and empirical studies referring to the following themes are welcome:

    1. What changes in ethnic framing, ethnic affiliation, and multiplicity of memberships/belongings can be observed in current times of heightened mobility and how can they be analyzed?

    – What can be said about ethnicity as a resource for individualization, collectivization, and community building or potential counterhegemonic cultures?

    – What forms of “past presencing” can be reconstructed in the processes of ethno(hetero)genesis?

    – What does the analysis of the genesis and changes of ethnic framing and multiplicity of memberships add to the broader field of sociology (i.e., Sociology of Migration, Global Sociology, and Sociology of the Nation State)?

    1. How are the processes of (de-)ethnization interwoven with social inequality (economic, legal, political, etc.)?

    – What role do institutions such as the family, neighborhoods, work, or communities play in this context?

    – How should we think about the genesis of ethnicities in the intersection with and relation to different categories of social inequality, and most importantly race, gender, class, and/or generation?

    1. How does ethnicity function as an element in the structuring of (world) society?

    – What can be said about the (changing) role of the nation in the emergence of ethnicities and membership roles?

    –What is the role of spatial configuration, such as transnationalism, in the genesis of ethnicities?

    –What insights can be gained from related fields such as diaspora or transnational studies?

    Keynote Speakers:      

    ·        Nadje Al-Ali, Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS

    ·        Thomas D. Hall, Prof. Emeritus, Department of History, DePauw University

     

    We are looking forward to proposals for lectures and/or workshops. The abstracts (one page long) should include the question, empirical/theoretical background, hypothesis, and brief personal details. Please send your proposals or abstracts to n.tiesler@ish.uni-hannover.de
    ABSTRACTS DUE: June 15, 2017