New Book: The Intimate: Polity and the Catholic Church.

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The Intimate: Polity and the Catholic Church. Laws about Life, Death and the Family in So-called Catholic Countries. KAREL DOBBELAERE & ALFONSO PÉREZ-AGOTE (eds.). KADOC Studies on Relgion, Culture and Society nr 15. Louvain: Leuven University Press: February 2015. http://upers.kuleuven.be

For centuries the Catholic Church was able to impose her ethical rules in matters related to the intimate, that is, questions concerning life (from its beginning until its end) and the family, in the so-called Catholic countries in Western Europe. When the polity started to introduce legislation that was in opposition to the Catholic ethic, the ecclesiastical authorities and part of the population reacted. The media reported massive manifestations in France against same-sex marriages and in Spain against the de-penalization of abortion. In Italy the Episcopal Conference entered the political field in opposition to the relaxation of several restrictive legal rules concerning medically assisted procreation and exhorted the voters to abstain from voting so that the referendum did not obtain the necessary quorum. In Portugal, to the contrary, the Church made a “pact” with the prime minister so that the law on same-sex marriages did not include the possibility of adoption. And in Belgium the Episcopal Conference limited its actions to clearly expressing with religious, legal, and anthropological arguments its opposition to such laws, which all other Episcopal Conferences did also. In this book, the authors analyse the full spectrum of the issue, including the emergence of such laws; the political discussions; the standpoints defended in the media by professionals, ethicists, and politicians; the votes in the parliaments; the political interventions of the Episcopal Conferences; and the attitude of professionals. As a result the reader understands what was at stake and the differences in actions of the various Episcopal Conferences. The authors also analyse the pro and con evaluations among the civil population of such actions by the Church. Finally, in a comparative synthesis, they discuss the public positions taken by Pope Francis to evaluate if a change in Church policy might be possible in the near future.

  • Introduction. Karel Dobbelaere & Alfonso Pérez-Agote
  • Euthanasia and the Belgian Catholic World, Liliane Voyé & Karel Dobbelaere
  • “Mariage pour tous”: The Same-Sex Marriage Controversy in France, Céline Béraud & Philippe Portier
  • The Italian Catholic Church and the Artificial-Insemination Referendum, Annalisa Frisina, Franco Garelli, Enzo Pace & Roberto Scalon
  • Ethical Challenges of the Catholic Church in Portugal : The Case of Same-Sex-Marriage, Helena Vilaça & Maria João Oliveira
  • The Catholic Church Faces Ethical Challenges in Spain : The Regulation of Abortion, Alfonso Pérez-Agote, Jose Santiago & Antonio Montañés
  • Comparative Synthesis, Karel Dobbelaere, Alfonso Pérez-Agote & Céline Béraud

The post New Book: The Intimate: Polity and the Catholic Church. appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

New book just published: The Intimate: Polity and the Catholic Church. Laws about Life, Death and the Family in So-called Catholic Countries. KAREL DOBBELAERE & ALFONSO PÉREZ-AGOTE (eds.). KADOC Studies on Relgion, Culture and Society nr 15. Louvain: Leuven University Press: February 2015. http://upers.kuleuven.be

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For centuries the Catholic Church was able to impose her ethical rules in matters related to the intimate, that is, questions concerning life (from its beginning until its end) and the family, in the so-called Catholic countries in Western Europe. When the polity started to introduce legislation that was in opposition to the Catholic ethic, the ecclesiastical authorities and part of the population reacted. The media reported massive manifestations in France against same-sex marriages and in Spain against the de-penalization of abortion. In Italy the Episcopal Conference entered the political field in opposition to the relaxation of several restrictive legal rules concerning medically assisted procreation and exhorted the voters to abstain from voting so that the referendum did not obtain the necessary quorum. In Portugal, to the contrary, the Church made a “pact” with the prime minister so that the law on same-sex marriages did not include the possibility of adoption. And in Belgium the Episcopal Conference limited its actions to clearly expressing with religious, legal, and anthropological arguments its opposition to such laws, which all other Episcopal Conferences did also. In this book, the authors analyse the full spectrum of the issue, including the emergence of such laws; the political discussions; the standpoints defended in the media by professionals, ethicists, and politicians; the votes in the parliaments; the political interventions of the Episcopal Conferences; and the attitude of professionals. As a result the reader understands what was at stake and the differences in actions of the various Episcopal Conferences. The authors also analyse the pro and con evaluations among the civil population of such actions by the Church. Finally, in a comparative synthesis, they discuss the public positions taken by Pope Francis to evaluate if a change in Church policy might be possible in the near future.

Introduction. Karel Dobbelaere & Alfonso Pérez-Agote

Euthanasia and the Belgian Catholic World, Liliane Voyé & Karel Dobbelaere

“Mariage pour tous”: The Same-Sex Marriage Controversy in France, Céline Béraud & Philippe Portier

The Italian Catholic Church and the Artificial-Insemination Referendum, Annalisa Frisina, Franco Garelli, Enzo Pace & Roberto Scalon

Ethical Challenges of the Catholic Church in Portugal : The Case of Same-Sex-Marriage, Helena Vilaça & Maria João Oliveira

The Catholic Church Faces Ethical Challenges in Spain : The Regulation of Abortion, Alfonso Pérez-Agote, Jose Santiago & Antonio Montañés

Comparative Synthesis, Karel Dobbelaere, Alfonso Pérez-Agote & Céline Béraud

Poste vacant, l’Ecole pratique des hautes études à Paris (Sorbonne)

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A l’Ecole pratique des hautes études à Paris (Sorbonne), un concours est
officiellement ouvert pour le recrutement d’un directeur d’études en
«histoire et sociologie des protestantismes».

La date limite pour déposer sa candidature est le mardi 10 mars 2015 à
minuit.

Pour tout renseignement consulter : www.ephe.fr <http://www.ephe.fr>

New Book: “The Russian Orthodox Church, 1917-1948: From Decline to Resurrection”

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New Book: “The Russian Orthodox Church, 1917-1948: From Decline to Resurrection”

By Daniela Kalkandjieva

Routledge, 2015

This book tells the remarkable story of the decline and revival of the Russian Orthodox Church in the first half of the twentieth century and the astonishing U-turn in the attitude of the Soviet Union’s leaders towards the church. In the years after 1917 the Bolsheviks’ anti-religious policies, the loss of the former western territories of the Russian Empire, and the Soviet Union’s isolation from the rest of the world and the consequent separation of Russian emigrés from the church were disastrous for the church, which declined very significantly in the 1920s and 1930s. However, when Poland was partitioned in 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Stalin allowed the Patriarch of Moscow, Sergei, jurisdiction over orthodox congregations in the conquered territories and went on, later, to encourage the church to promote patriotic activities as part of the resistance to the Nazi invasion. He agreed a Concordat with the church in 1943, and continued to encourage the church, especially its claims to jurisdiction over émigré Russian orthodox churches, in the immediate postwar period. Based on extensive original research, the book puts forward a great deal of new information and overturns established thinking on many key points.

Link: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138788480/

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Book Announcement: New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa

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New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa
Edited by Rosalind I. J. Hackett and Benjamin F. Soares
Foreword by Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Indiana University Press, 2015

New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa casts a critical look at Africa’s rapidly evolving religious media scene. Following political liberalization, media deregulation, and the proliferation of new media technologies, many African religious leaders and activists have appropriated such media to strengthen and expand their communities and gain public recognition. Media have also been used to marginalize and restrict the activities of other groups, which has sometimes led to tension, conflict, and even violence. Showing how media are rarely neutral vehicles of expression, the contributors to this multidisciplinary volume analyze the mutual imbrications of media and religion during times of rapid technological and social change in various places throughout Africa.

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Call for Papers ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IN THE U.S.

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Writer’s Seminar and Volume on: ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IN THE U.S.

How do Muslims in the United States practice their religion? Where, when, how and why do they pray, fast during Ramadan, and make pilgrimage to Mecca? What rituals accompany the birth of a child, a wedding, and the death of a loved one? How do they celebrate holidays and mark days of commemoration such as the martyrdom of Husayn? How do U.S. Muslims recite the Qur’an, celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, and praise God?

The growing scholarly corpus on Islam in America includes significant coverage of Muslim American organizations and associations, anti-Muslim prejudice and the politics of Islam, Sufism, the interpretation of Islamic law and ethics, gender and women’s issues, the sociology of mosque attendance, the assimilation of Muslim immigrants, Muslim American public opinion, and the ways that Muslim Americans construct their ethnic and racial identities. But there is a dearth of scholarship on Islamic ritual practice. Scholars, journalists, students, and members of the general public often resort to introductory textbooks to describe the ritual practices and performances of Muslim Americans rather than consulting a body of peer-reviewed scholarship.

This project, which includes a writer’s seminar and a resulting edited volume, will explore in concrete detail how Muslim Americans practice their religion through ritual performance. Drafts of volume chapters will be due on June 1, 2016. Contributors will then gather in early July, 2016, on the campus of IUPUI in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, to comment on each other’s papers. Final drafts, approximately 30 pages long, will be due on November 1, 2016.

Scholars are welcome to use a variety of theoretical approaches, but all chapters should give readers a concrete sense of what it feels like, looks like, sounds like, and smells like (as relevant) to perform the ritual under consideration. So, each chapter should be descriptive as well as analytical. All writing should be accessible to a broad audience (so scholarly jargon, whenever used, must be defined and explained).

Generally speaking, chapters will cover topics such as the pillars of practice, life cycle rites, holidays, food rituals, dhikr, and Qur’an recitation but other thematic approaches to ritual practice and
performance are also welcome.

Contributors to the project so far include: Kambiz GhaneaBassiri on Hajj; Amir Hussain on funerals and burials; Michael Muhammad Knight on Ramadan; Marcia Hermansen on mawlid/milad; and Laury Silvers on congregational prayer.

If interested, please send a brief expression of interest to Edward Curtis, ecurtis4@iupui.edu . Participants will then be invited to submit a brief proposal by May 1, 2015.

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Call for papers: International Conference of the Belgian Association for the Study of Religions

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Call for papers :
International Conference of the Belgian Association for the Study of Religions

IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINS OF RELIGIONS
Ghent 11-13 September 2015

This conference (in Ghent) will analyze factors that contributed to the origins of religion as such, the origins of a specific religion and of a specific tradition within a religion. It also includes the beginnings of the scientific study of religion. The geographical scope is global and papers can be submitted on any historical period. The aim of the conference is both to give the floor to international specialists and to Belgian researchers.

Proposals (max. 300 words) and a cv should be sent  to Danny Praet (danny.praet@ugent.be) before March 1, 2015.
The scientific committee of the conference will select the papers by the end of March 2015.

For more information, please visit the conference website: http://www.babel-religions.be/node/117

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Call for Papers: Heritage Religion & Travel: Theoretical and Empirical Journeys

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Conference: Heritage Religion & Travel: Theoretical and Empirical Journeys

Çağ University, Tarsus, Turkey 1-4 October, 2015
www.heritagereligionandtravel.com

Around the globe and across a wide variety of religious traditions, heritage has become central to our understanding of landscape, space and time. Heritage sites attract hundreds of millions of visitors each year, often as a form of pilgrimage to sacred destinations. Their popularity has provoked a burgeoning interest in both ‘sacred’ and ‘secular pilgrimage’ as a legitimate focus of academic enquiry.
This unique conference seeks to build on four decades of research on the relationship between Heritage, Religion and Travel and to advance new theoretical and empirical perspectives concerning this relationship. It also offers an interdisciplinary space for debate. Hence, and not coincidentally, the conference will be hosted in the ancient city of Tarsus in Turkey  ̶  a country that could be defined as at the crossroads of history, i.e. between east and west. It is a land deeply influenced by religious traditions of extraordinary variety and richness. It also has been the setting for the rise and fall of many cultures and entire civilizations. Drawing on the work of leading academics, we hope to evoke the depth and breadth of the importance of heritage and its connection to religion and new and old forms of travel and tourism.

The focus of the conference will be on re-assessing old and building new theoretical frameworks for the study of heritage, religion and travel, with particular emphasis on the study of pilgrimage and religious tourism.

Keynote speakers:

  • Prof. Dr. John Eade – University of Roehampton/University of Toronto
  • Prof. Dr. Ian Reader – Lancaster University
  • Dr. Avril Madrell – University of the West of England
  • Prof. Maria Coroucli – Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre

Program committee:

  • Dr. Eduardo Chemin (Çağ Üniversitesi, Tarsus, Turkey)
  • Prof. Dr. John Eade – University of Roehampton (U.K.)/ University of Toronto (Canada)

Please see the conference website for more information: www.heritagereligionandtravel.com

The post Call for Papers: Heritage Religion & Travel: Theoretical and Empirical Journeys appeared first on ISA Research Committee 22.

New Book: “Religion and Politics in the European Union. The Secular Canopy”

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Religion and Politics in the European Union. The Secular Canopy, by François Foret

Cambridge University Press, 2015

This book analyzes the place and influence of religion in European politics. François Foret presents the first data ever collected on the religious beliefs of European decision makers and what they do with these beliefs. Discussing popular assumptions such as the return of religion, aggressive European secularism, and religious lobbying, Foret offers objective data and non-normative conceptual frameworks to clarify some major issues in the contemporary political debate.

http://www.cambridge.org/ar/academic/subjects/politics-international

-relations/european-government-politics-and-policy/religion-and-politics-european-union-secular-canopy

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Workshop on ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism’

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Workshop on ‘Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism’:  25 February 2015, Middlesex University

Co-organised by Dominic Pasura SPRC and Marta Bivand Erdal PRIO

http://sprc.info/events/future-events/

 

Place: Middlesex University, Town Hall Committee Room 1

Time: 9am–5.15pm

The workshop is free to attend but you must book a place via Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/migration-transnationalism-and-catholicism-tickets-15550371580

Please note that places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

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