“Entre indifférence religieuse et athéisme militant”, colloque de l’Association Française de Sciences sociales des Religions, CNRS, 59-61 rue Pouchet, Paris 17, lundi 1er et mardi 2 février 2016 (programme joint).
“Between religious indifference and atheist activism”, conference of the French association of sociology of religion (AFSR), CNRS, 59-61 rue Pouchet, Paris 17, 1-2 February 2016 (programme attached).
CALL FOR PAPERS
What would Prophet Muhammad do?
Exploring the Meaning & Application of
Human Dignity in Islam
International Roundtable Symposium, July 16th – 17th 2016
Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, Australia
Synopsis
A great deal of scholarship in the West has emerged on the concept of human dignity in the fields of law, ethics and philosophy. The commonly cited influences of Immanuel Kant, human rights instruments after World War II and role of religious scripture have contributed to the modern understanding of human dignity – the innate self-worth, humanity and moral and rational agency of a human being. Others such as Macklin deem human dignity to be a “useless concept” meaning nothing more than personal autonomy (Macklin, R., “Dignity as a Useless Concept.” British Medical Journal 327. 2003, p.1419-1420).
Comparatively, modern Muslim scholarship on the meaning and application of human dignity is still sparse and many argue that “religious voices no longer carry much weight” in this discussion (Rae, S. B., and Cox, P. M., Bioethics: A Christian Approach in a Pluralistic Age. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. 1999, p.2). Most Muslim scholars trace the concept of human dignity to various verses in the Qur’an and Prophetic narrations but is this methodological approach anachronistic? Are current attempts to construct a notion of human dignity from the Islamic tradition a Eurocentric reflection of the philosophical justifications used in Western scholarship? Apart from discussions of autonomy and constraint, is there anything original that the Islamic tradition can offer in formulating an understanding of human dignity? Ultimately, should human dignity be a bedrock principle in Muslim jurisprudential (fiqhi) and ethical (akhlaqi) discourses?
Whilst we cannot find all answers in history, we can certainly tap into some enduring visions and principles left by courageous figures such as Prophet Muhammad who the Qur’an describes as possessing a “great character” (68:4). He tirelessly worked to bring dignity to those who were treated as less than human such as slaves, women and the impoverished. With the negative political and media attention that paints Islam as a terrorist and inhumane religion, the symposium aims to frame the aforementioned questions within the transformative, merciful and daring spirit of Prophet Muhammad.
The symposium does not restrict discourses and models to be exclusively associated with Prophet Muhammad – it welcomes all types of knowledge-bases in a multi-disciplinary setting; rather it aims to set a viable historical context in which experts can discuss the issue of human dignity. The date of the symposium coincides with the month of Shawwal. This is the month in which the marriage between the Prophet and Lady Khadijah took place – a union based on showing deep compassion and humanity to the less fortunate in society.
Abstracts
Contributors are expected not just to provide a theoretical analysis of human dignity from the Islamic tradition but possible frameworks to solve current jurisprudential, ethical and philosophical problems. Combining seminary and university intellectual approaches in one’s presentation are encouraged.
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words coupled with a short biography. Those whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit a paper of approximately 8,000 words before the symposium for a projected edited compilation. Contributors are free to select from the themes below or suggest their own ideas:
· Human dignity in scriptural and spiritual discourses – lexicology, usage, Divine and Prophetic intent
· Human dignity in philosophical and metaphysical discourses – origins, conceptions, the meaning of humanity, empowerment, constraint and existentialism
· Human dignity in legal and jurisprudential discourses – the treatment of religious denominations, non-Muslims, women, slaves and others; its relationship with human rights and contributions of current Muslim scholars
· Human dignity in ethical discourses – its place in Muslim ethical literature and the need (or lack of) to create a discipline of usul al-akhlaq (principles of ethics)
· Human dignity in bioethical discourses – application to bioethical issues – consent, autonomy, beginning of life & end-of-life care, genetic engineering, animal-human experimentations
· Human dignity in historical and socio-political discourses – its role in early and later Muslim battles, modern terrorism and advancement of the state
· Human dignity in comparative discourses – comparisons and critiques between Islamic, Western/Eastern or interreligious conceptions of dignity and Eurocentrism
Venue, Travel & Accommodation
The symposium will be held at the Imam Hasan Centre, located in Annangrove, Sydney which since its establishment in 2004 has been a place of religious worship, interfaith dialogue, community-building, academic workshops and lectures. More information about the centre can be found here: https://www.imamhasancentre.com.au/ A few places are reserved for early career researchers so graduate researchers in Australia are encouraged to submit abstracts. Monetary assistance for travel and accommodation may be requested and granted if available (particularly for those living in Australia). Information about call for papers can also be found here: https://www.imamhasancentre.com.au/conferences/
Submissions and Queries
· Abstract submission date: March 20th 2016
· Paper submission date: July 1st 2016
Abstracts and queries can be sent to Dr. Imranali Panjwani, Lecturer & Researcher at the Imam Hasan Centre, at: ipanjwani@hotmail.com. For further enquiries, please ring the Centre’s main number on: +61 2 9679 0855.
Politics and Religion
Call for Proposals for New Editor(s)
The Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association invites applications from individuals, pairs, or teams for the editorship of Politics and Religion (P&R) from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2021. Nominations and self-nominations are encouraged. The section particularly encourages nomination of pairs or teams of editors where each editor represents a different country and a variety of substantive expertise.
Interested applicants for editor should be senior scholars and members in good standing of the Religion and Politics section. Applicants are expected to have records of significant research accomplishment in the subfield of Religion and Politics, intellectual breadth and depth, an entrepreneurial approach to attracting and soliciting quality manuscripts, authors, and reviewers, and excellent administrative, organizational, and interpersonal skills.
information for candidates
Politics and Religion is the flagship journal for the subfield of Religion and Politics, published by Cambridge University Press. P&R receives close to 100 submissions per year and continues to grow. As a result, serving as editor requires substantial commitments of time, intellectual effort, and management skill. It also offers an opportunity to shape the intellectual direction of the journal and the field.
The P&R editor reports to the Executive Committee of the Religion and Politics Section of APSA and to the Publishing Editor at Cambridge University Press. The editor will appoint book review editors and journal editorial board members in consultation with the section’s executive committee. The editor is required to provide at least one written report per year on the state of the journal, in addition to frequent informal consultation with the section and CUP. Cambridge University Press provides a stipend to the editor each year to defray some of the administration costs of the journal.
to Apply
Candidates should e-mail a single PDF that includes a full curriculum vita, a letter of intent or proposal that discusses vision and goals for the journal, particularly addressing the challenge of balancing international politics, American politics, comparative politics, and political philosophy in an outlet for Religion and Politics research; experiences directly relevant to the position of editor; plans for management, and organization of the journal’s workflow; and statements of financial support commitments from the host university(ies).
Applications should be sent to Elizabeth Shakman Hurd (eshurd@northwestern.edu), Religion and Politics section chair, and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.
All applicants will receive e-mail confirmation.
Nominations and Questions: If you wish to nominate a person to serve as editor, you may contact Elizabeth Shakman Hurd who, in turn, will contact the nominee. If you have questions about the responsibilities of serving as editor of Politics and Religion you are encouraged to contact the chair of the Religion and Politics section committee.
You are invited to the research seminar ‘Governing religion: Interfaith dialogue and organized cultural encounters’ held at University of Agder (UiA) in Kristiansand, Norway, on March 30 2016.
The seminar critically engages with the ways in which interfaith dialogue constitutes a means to govern religion and the religious, and it explores which forms of religion that are produced from these organized cultural encounters and raises questions as to which roles local government, migration and media play.
Two keynote lectures by international experts on interfaith dialogue, Mar Griera from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Lise Paulsen Galal from Roskilde University, will take place during the morning session. The rest of the seminar will take the form of a workshop and provide an opportunity for Ph.D.-students to present on-going Ph.D.-projects (app. 30-45 min. each) and receive comments from the lectures, commentators and fellow Ph.D.-students.
The seminar is free of charge. Lunch, coffee and tea will be provided as well as mandatory reading for the seminar (app. 3 texts). The seminar is open for all, but preregistration is necessary.
Deadline for registration: March 7 2016 to Louise Lund Liebmann (louise.l.liebmann@uia.no).
For those PhD-students who want to present a paper: please add an abstract of 200 words.
Notification of paper acceptance will be given shortly after the deadline.
The seminar is organized by the research project ‘Conflicts in Mediatized Religious Environments’ (CoMRel) and University of Agder.
Modern times are marked by rapid advances in technology, urbanization and globalization. The second half of the 20th century witnessed fragmentation of culture, ethnicity and religion as a reaction to disappointment in the progress of civilization. This promoted interest in natural, ethnic and indigenous aspects of localities. Orientation toward localities, as revealed in various worldviews and socio-cultural movements, has been related to the revival of traditional and nationalist ideas, orientation to nature-based spiritualities, (re)construction of local ethnicities and the need to return to ethnic and pre-Christian identities. A related trend manifests itself as return to old customs, indigenous values and attempts to reconstruct traditional pre-Christian religions. The existence of historical re-enactment groups and contemporary pagan movements, grounded in native faith, as well as fantasy-based movements raises the following questions: what drives them to look back to their roots? How and why do these groups emerge, exist and disappear? What is their social and cultural impact on society and members of historical re-enactment groups?
The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary studies of historical re-enactment, contemporary pagan movements and fantasy-based movements. Early career researchers and students are also encouraged to participate.
We invite papers and panels including but not limited to the following topics:
Theoretical and methodological approaches to re-enactment
• Theoretical approaches to re-enactment and/or contemporary paganism;
• Fieldwork within re-enactment groups;
• Methodological implications and challenges.
Diversity of re-enactment movements
• Diversity of historical re-enactments and contemporary pagan movements;
• Past and present of the living history movement;
• Fantasy and live action role-playing (LARP) groups as a form of re-enactment;
• Historical cosplay in Western and other cultures;
• Aspects of the local and the global in re-enactment;
• Periodization and typology of re-enactment;
Worldviews and activities of re-enactors
• Identity of historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Authenticity and (re)construction in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Traditionalism, nationalism and politics in re-enactment;
• Gender in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Spirituality, religion and re-enactment;
• Culturally relevant or historically significant places within the context of historical re-enactments;
• Cultural heritage in historical re-enactment and/or contemporary pagan movements;
• Festivals, rituals and performance in historical re-enactment;
Re-enactment and society
• Influence of consumerism, globalization and the mass and social media for historical re-enactors and/or contemporary pagans;
• Historical re-enactment and/or the influence of contemporary pagan movements on the on mainstream society;
• Historical re-enactment in popular culture.
We expect individual paper proposals and panel submissions, including 3-4 presenters.
After the conference, participants are invited to observe historical re-enactment of Lithuanian history in the Hanse Day festival 2016, held on May 21–22.
Participants should complete the form at https://tgt.wufoo.com/forms/conference-entry-form/. Abstracts will be published on the Conference website. Each paper is allotted a time of 15 minutes, followed by up to 10 minutes for questions and discussion.
Participation fee: 40€ (for students 20€)
Travel and accommodation to attend the Conference will be at the attendee’s expense.
Abstract submission deadline: March 21, 2016.
Notification of acceptance: April 4, 2016.
Working languages: Lithuanian, English
Conference website: http://reenactment.vdu.lt/
Organizing Committee: Agnė Kalėdienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintarė Dusevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Aušra Kairaitytė-Užupė (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Gintaras Jaronis (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania).
The Scientific Committee will be announced later.
Conference participants are welcome to prepare papers to the Group and the Environments journal http://ejournals.vdu.lt/index.php/grupes/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
Organizers: Center for Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University.
K. Donelaičio St 52-410 LT-44248 Kaunas Lithuania. http://ktc.vdu.lt/
Contact person: Agnė Kalėdienė
Phone number: +370 662 32 470
E-mail: reenactment.conference@gmail.com
Please feel free to spread this message.
Call for Journal Papers
Special issue of State, Religious and Church, a Russian peer-reviewed academic quarterly
Blasphemy seems to be universal and unchanging term, and yet its meaning varies tremendously across times and cultures. Medieval inquisition guides discussed the boundary between blasphemy and heresy, while current virulent debates about the feelings of believers, radical reactions against contemporary art or caricatures are construed in terms of opposition of blasphemy and basic freedoms.
Controversies around blasphemy have always been those of boundaries and limits: limits of what is permissible in the statements about the sacred; boundaries of various physical and social spaces where these statements can be acceptable or not; finally, the boundaries of what is conceived as “sacred” in each particular historical and cultural context.
Blasphemy controversies have always reflected the fight for power. What communities, institutions, and individuals have the right to define the boundaries of the sacred, the norms of describing or speaking about the sacred, as well as the right to punish for the violation of these norms? Thus, blasphemy is, potentially, a hidden script bearing the agency of resistance and protest.
In this special issue, we propose to explore how theories and practices of blasphemy have been evolving in Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities from the Middle Age until now. We will see how blasphemy and its persecutions worked behind various religious, social and political conflicts. We will study how the norms disciplining blasphemy were imposed and implemented by religious and secular institutions, and how efficient such implementations were. Finally, we will study what happens with these discourses and practices in the modern secular society.
Although the phenomenon of blasphemy cannot be understood without exploring the macro-level of theological and legal interpretations, we will mostly focus our studies upon the micro-level – that is, the level of everyday situations where, in various societies, some pieces of speech or imagery are felt and labeled as “blasphemous;” and also upon those conflicting interpretations that occur at the intersection of various speech practices and behavioral patterns.
We welcome studies of blasphemy cases generated at the breaches and borders – religious, social, ethno-national, and political.
Major themes:
Ø Theories of blasphemy: the construction of the category in theological, polemical and legal traditions;
Ø The borders of the category: blasphemy v. heresy; blasphemy vs. reform; blasphemy vs. free thinking; blasphemy vs. risus sacer; blasphemy vs. carnival;
Ø The practices of blasphemy: situations when they occur; people who say them; typical reactions;
Ø The poetics of blasphemy: what are the words that the sacred do not tolerate? The typical objects of blasphemous transgression;
Ø Blasphemy as an external challenge to tradition/religion/church vs. blasphemy as an internal, permissible transgression;
Ø Blasphemy as sin and crime: criminalization and decriminalization of blasphemy;
Ø Blasphemy and the Other: offences of blasphemy in ethno-confessional and political conflicts;
Ø Blasphemy and religious skepticism: the problem of unbelief in the eras of supposedly “universal faint;”
Ø Debates about blasphemy in secular societies;
Ø The political “sacred and the political “blasphemy:” how religious rhetoric is transposed into a non-religious space.
Please send your papers (in Russian, English or other languages) at two addresses: the email of the journal (religion@rane.ru), copied to the email of the guest editor Mikhail Maizuls (maizuls@gmail.com). The length of the papers is around 6000-7000 words. We accept high resolution pictures added to the text. The bibliographic rules can be found at the journal website here: http://religion.rane.ru/?q=ru/for-authors.
The deadline for submitting papers is 31 December, 2016.
You are also welcome to get in touch with us (emails same as above) for a preliminary proposal of a topic; in this case please send us a title and 150-200 word abstract until April 15, 2016.
The journal Gosudarstvo, religia i tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom (State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide) is a peer-reviewed, SCOPUS-indexed academic quarterly. It is published in the Russian language; however, manuscripts in other languages are also accepted. The website is: www.religion.rane.ru
Research Methods in the Study of Religion
Intensive Training Programme, 8th-11th March 2016
Canterbury, Kent
We are pleased to announce that the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent is again offering its annual intensive methods training programme which is open to doctoral researchers based at any university within the EU. The sessions will run at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge conference centre, in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, and will cover:
The politics and ethics of research
The role of social theory in social research
Rigour and validity in research
Public engagement with research on religion
Conceptualising religion for research
Conducting research interviews
* Ethnographic research
Researching religion and media
Researching objects and spaces
Reflexivity and the role of the researcher’s ‘self’
The process of research supervision
Sessions will be delivered by researchers who have engaged with these issues specifically in the context of research on religion. Confirmed speakers are: Prof Gordon Lynch, Dr Abby Day and Dr Anna Strhan (University of Kent), Dr Jasjit Singh (University of Leeds), Dr Steph Berns (University of Lancaster), Dr Ruth Sheldon (Birkbeck College) and Dr Katherine Robinson (Goldsmiths)
https://papers.aarweb.org/content/sociology-religion-group
Statement of Purpose:
The Sociology of Religion Group of the American Academy of Religion serves
as a bridge between religious studies and the subdiscipline of sociology of
religion. It functions as a two-way conduit not only to import sociological
research into religious studies but also to export the research of
religious studies into both the subdiscipline and the broader field of
sociology. Only through a cross-fertilization transgressing departmental
boundaries can there be breakthroughs in research in both fields. The group
has a wide conception of sociology of religion. It is open to a
multiplicity of paradigms and methodologies utilized in the subfield and
sociology more broadly: theoretical as well as empirical, quantitative,
qualitative, and comparative-historical. By liaising with other Program
Units, the Sociology of Religion Group is able to bring the rich diversity
of critical and analytical perspectives that are housed in the American
Academy of Religion into mainstream sociology of religion. Conversely, it
aims to provide scholars of the study of religion with a deeper
understanding of the landscape of sociology of religion.
Theory, Method, and their Application:
Sociology of Religion as part of a larger discipline is marked by a
canonization of its theory and its division by paradigms and
methodologies–whether these be the classics (Weber and Durkheim), the old
paradigm (functionalism and social constructionism), or the new paradigm
(rational choice) on the one hand or quantitative, qualitative, or
historical-comparative sociology on the other. As it intersects with
sociology of religion, the study of religion has drawn from theories and
methodologies in conversation with sociology, anthropology, critical
theory, psychology, history, and other related disciplines. We are
interested both in papers that utilize the methods and theories in the
study of religion and bring them into the sociological canon as well as
those that help religious studies gain a better grasp of the sociological
theory of religion. We encourage papers that exploit both the theory and
methodology of sociology of religion and religious studies and use them as
frames for analysis of concrete cases. In particular, we request papers
that touch upon social divisions examining race, class, gender, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, region, age, etc.
Internationalism and Diversity:
Critics of sociology of religion have pointed out that the field is
dominated by North Americans scholars primarily interested in
Protestantism. The discipline of religious studies provides a clear
antidote to these perceived limitations. Therefore, we encourage
contributions from academics who study the various religious traditions
around the world as well as those studying North American religious
communities. In particular, we would like submissions from scholars from
all academic ranks across the lines of nationality, region, race,
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
Call for Papers:
The Sociology of Religion Group (SOR) invites both panel and paper
proposals across a wide range of topics of interest to both the sociology
of religion and religious studies and are particularly interested in
papers, which speak to both thereby encouraging increased dialogue between
them. In particular, this year’s CFP expresses interest in the following
topics:
• Following the theme of AAR’s 2016 annual meetings, the Sociology of
Religion Group invites papers that address the multi-dimensions of
“Revolutionary Love.” This includes but is not limited to love communism
(or the communism of love), brotherly/sisterly love, or love as an impulse
for social change. Conversely, it could include the inverse hypothesis –
where love is not revolutionary at all but is egoistic or narcissistic
(self-love), where revolutions are not based on love but on hate, where
love is harmful and tears down dreams rather than build them up. Finally,
papers could contain a synthesis addressing the contradictory impulses of
revolutionary love – e.g. paradoxical reflections of the religious adage to
love thy enemy.
• Social and Religious Movements and/or Social Movements Theory and
Religious Movements Theory
• Competing Canons within the Sociology of Religion and Religious Studies
• Theory and Methodology including issues of reproducibility, validity, and
empiricism
• Religion and the Public Sphere
• Religion and Education including but not limited to “Religion and
Education in Pluralistic Societies” or “Religion and Education in the
Postsecular Age.”
• In a co-sponsored paper session, the Quaker Studies Group and Sociology
of Religion Group invite proposals on normative religious identity and
notions of the ‘true Church.’ We are interested in papers that utilize
sociological theories and methods in the analysis of this topic. We are
particularly interested in the following questions: What mechanisms do
religious groups use to establish normative identities, particularly
against deviants or schismatics within their own group? How is ‘membership’
and ‘authenticity’ counted and measured? What types of authority are used
to sustain particular identities and how are these operationalized within
the group? How are notions of ‘the world’ constructed and sustained, and
how are these notions adapted when they no longer serve their original
purpose (for example during the processes of denominationalization or
internal secularization)?
• The topics mentioned above are meant merely as suggestions. We encourage
submissions of all papers that utilize sociological theories, methods, and
questions in their analysis of religion. We are particularly interested in
papers that address issues of inequalities of race, class, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, or those that utilize critical paradigms
including but not limited to critical theory, Marxism, feminism, queer
theory, post-colonialism, post-structuralism, and environmentalism.
Publication:
The Sociology of Religion Group of AAR regularly co-sponsors panels with
the peer-reviewed print and online journal Critical Research on Religion
(CRR) (http://crr.sagepub.com). Published by SAGE Publications, over 2600
libraries worldwide have subscriptions to the journal. Presenters of
promising papers in SOR panels will be invited to turn their papers into
articles and submit them for peer review to CRR.
Deadline for Submissions: Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Leadership:
Co-Chairs:
Rebekka King (Middle Tennessee State University) rebekka.king@mtsu.edu
Warren S. Goldstein (Harvard University)
goldstein@criticaltheoryofreligion.org
Steering Committee:
Afe Adogame (Princeton University)
Courtney Bender (Columbia University)
David Feltmate (Auburn University)
Volkhard Krech (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
Katja Rakow (Universiteit Utrecht)
Randy Reed (Appalachian State University)