I am writing to inform you of a Conference on ‘Religious Marriages in the Mediterranean‘ to be hosted by the University of Malta on the 20th and 21st March 2018. The deadline for submission of abstracts is the 31st January 2018.Further details are in the accompanying blurb. I hope to see some of you there.
Best regards,
David E. Zammit LL.D. Ph.D. (Dunelm)
Head of Department of Civil Law
Faculty of Laws Room 116
University of Malta
Tal – Qroqq
Msida MSD 2080
Malta
ECPR General Conference, Hamburg 24-26 August 2018
Section: Revisiting Religion and Politics Research: Achievements, Critique, Future Questions
Panel Chair: Anja Hennig, European University Viadrina (ahennig@europa-uni.de)
This panel specifies some of the major questions, addressed in the section “Revisiting Religion and Politics Research: Achievements, Critique, Future Questions”. It departs from the observation that over the last three to four decades a research field analysing the mutual impact of religion and politics has been consolidating. The existence of various research networks on national and transnational level, dictionaries, handbooks, an ever growing number of edited volumes with empirical studies on various aspects of religion and politics such as Church-state arrangements, governance of religious diversity, religious voting, religion and public policy etc. and respective journals is a proof of it.
However, a reflection on the approaches, theories, or assumptions constitutive of this field is rare. This panel opens the floor for dispute and reflection on the subject by taking the Western origin of the religion and politics research agenda as point of departure.
To what extent does contemporary religion and politics research reflect a predominantly Western- or Eurocentric agenda? What justifies such perspective? Which decentralizing perspectives (empirically or theoretically) do exist or are desirable?
West- or Eurocentrism here implies primarily a reference to the liberal-democratic separation principle, and, thus, to the normative assumption that religion and politics/Churches and state ought to be separated or constitute separate spheres; a still dominant perspective despite the fact that politico-religious cooperation or overlaps of both spheres is a matter of fact also in the global West. Such a perspective reflects not only the normative impact of the secularization (or nowadays rather differentiation) paradigm. The separation principle grounded in Western liberal thinking structures also empirical research on religion and politics. An example would be the widely used analytical distinction between religious and political actors or factors.
Paper givers may also propose a different understanding of “West-or Eurocentrism” as focal point for critically revisiting the state of the art of religion and politics research. Counter arguments are welcomed as well!
Scholars are invited to submit a proposal of max. 350 words that outlines the major arguments in relation to the central questions. Such arguments may be based on (comparative) case studies or reflect theoretical or conceptual thoughts.
Please submit your proposals (350 words) to ahennig@europa-uni.de latest by 1 February 2018!
Please consider also our Call for Panels for the Section “Revisiting Religion and Politics Research” at the ECPR General Conference 2018: https://ecpr.eu/Events/SectionDetails.aspx?SectionID=725&EventID=115
Dr. Anja Hennig
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin / Lecturer and Researcher
Lehrstuhl für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft / Chair of Comparative Politics
Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences
Europa-Universität Viadrina / European University Viadrina
in / at Frankfurt/Oder
Egdūnas Račius
2018, Edinburg University Press
The history and contemporary situation of Muslim communities in Eastern Europe are explored here from three angles. First, survival, telling of the resilience of these Muslim communities in the face of often restrictive state policies and hostile social environments, especially during the Communist period. Next, their subsequent revival in the aftermath of the Cold War, and last, transformation, looking at the profound changes currently taking place in the demographic composition of the communities and in the forms of Islam practiced by them. The reader is shown a picture of the general trends common to the Muslim communities of Eastern Europe, and the special characteristics of clusters of states, such as the Baltics, the Balkans, the Višegrad states, and the European states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Egdūnas Račius
Associate Editor, Journal of Muslims in Europe
http://www.brill.com/publications/journals/journal-muslims-europe
Muslims in Eastern Europe, Edinburgh University Press, 2018
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-muslims-in-eastern-europe.html
Mid-term Conference Religions and Identities in the European Migration Crisis
30 August -1 September 2018 TURIN (IT)
University of Turin, Campus Luigi Einaudi
The relation between immigration, citizenship, integration/participation in host societies, and religion has been for quite some time central to the interest of scholars. Over time, the increase of migrations from non-European countries has further enriched the debate, drawing attention to various religious traditions. The increase in the number of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists (as well as other religious affiliations) has re-directed scholars to the question of whether religious belonging (leading to convinced behavior) improves or hinders the process of integration of immigrants and, above all, of their children in the host society. At the same time, migration patterns have become quite complex. Migration from Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe has intensified and traditionally emigrant countries, particularly in Southern Europe, have also become destination countries. In addition, refugees and asylum seekers, associated with what has been usually termed as the “Mediterranean Crisis”, have prompted a profound social and political crisis across different European countries, contributing to anti-immigrant feelings. The issue of religious pluralism has thus become linked to wider interrelated issues such as citizenship rights; “deserving” and “non-deserving” migrants; how states and other institutions, including old and new religions, and in particular educational institutions, are managing the rising number of migrants; relations between different types of secularities and religious identities; understandings of cultural identities and so on.
The aim of the ESA RN34 mid-term conference is to respond to such challenges by welcoming papers that may contribute to:
Other topics related to the theme of the conference are also welcomed.
Beside papers, session /panel proposals are welcomed too.
PhD students and post-doc fellows are particularly encouraged to submit a paper. There is a possibility to propose also a poster session, including work in progress. The best poster will get a small, but nice prize.
A specific workshop will be organized on “Mixed-methods in exploring religiousness within diaspora communities” for nonacademic researchers.
We look forward to your proposals and to welcoming you in Turin!
Roberta Ricucci & Siniša Zrinščak (ESA – RN34 Coordinator & Vice-Coordinator)
Dear colleagues,
For the EASR conference 17-21 June in Bern (http://www.easr2018.org/) I have proposed a session on “Post-global religion”.
This open session investigates critical responses to globalisation and articulations of strategic particularity in (the study of) religions.
The session is explorative and invites scholars of religion to think with the term through both theoretical perspectives as well as empirical cases from around the world.
Please contact Jørn Borup (jb@cas.au.dk) with suggestions of individual papers before 12th of January.
Although transcultural interaction and exchange of people, ideas, practices and goods are essentially part of all religious history, the speed and media of such circulations, compressed in time and space, are more typical of a global (post)modernity. Transnational migration and the increasing representation of global diasporas have furthermore questioned essentialist relations between religion, ethnicity, culture, language and territory. Hybrids, fluidity, liquidity and synthesizing flows are the centripetal forces framing also increased religious pluralization and multi-religiosity in cultures traditionally having been mainly mono-religious. Westernization dressed as universalisation and global harmonization has been responded to by negotiated domestication (‘glocalization’), and the study of religion has increasingly been de-protestantized in light of more global approaches to the study of global religion.
Ideals of a global world seem also, however, to be questioned and criticised by new political realities. Walls are being built, borders and boundaries are being reinstalled and countries are withdrawing from international cooperation. Insistence on diversity (rather than pluralisation) and assimilation (rather than integration) are part of national, ethnic and cultural narratives favouring closed systems, as are the increasing influence of interaction-resisting groups representing themselves through identity politics. If globalisation was an ideal of a new world order, there seems also to be parallel indications of strategic reactions towards this in a post-global world.
Critical responses to globalisation seem to be also affecting religious worlds. Reports from Pew Forum show more religious intolerance and less freedom of belief, and also religious voices applaud discourses of contraction. What could be termed ‘post-global religion’ is characterised by the strategic articulation of a re-enchantment of particularity. Just like post-colonial voices were critical responses to Western hegemony, post-global discourses and practices at both individual, institutional and national levels are critical reactions to globalisation favouring the forces of centrifugal dispersion. This can be represented by anti-global religious re-nationalisation, re-ethnification, re-culturalisation, re-traditionalisation, re-racialisation, re-tribalism, re-territorialisation and re-configuration of the codes appropriating religious diversity. It can be seen in discourses and practices favouring monolithic cultural/national narratives, minority suppression, fractionalisation, downscaling of religious freedom and by ‘religionisation’ of political, cultural, ethnic or gender-related identity politics being turned into sacred authenticity claims.
Welcome to the inaugural Ecclesiology and Ethnography Conference in Canada!
Please submit by 18th January if you wish to apply for a travel grant.
This is a pre-announcement of the upcoming 2018 conference of The Ritual Year Working Group.
Our 13th conference will be hosted by the Romanian Academy and is scheduled to take place in Bucharest (Romania), 7-9 November 2018.
The conference theme is City Rituals.
The Call for papers (with details about the theme, costs and deadlines) will soon be sent to you.
In the meantime, please book the dates.Irina Stahl
Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Romanian Academy
Secretary of “The Ritual Year” Working Group
ritualyear@siefhome.org
05-07 April 2018, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Abstract Deadline: 5 February 2018
The study of sacred sites is a prominent feature in a number of disciplines. Sacred sites and stories and pilgrimage are the theme of the conference. Topics of enquiry range from the role of sacred sites in religious traditions, through to how sacred sites form part of the development of modern tourist industries, the role of sacred sites in international relations and the ways in which sacred sites can be the focus for disputes. At a time when many sacred sites and their stories face challenges due to economic development, environmental change and the impact of mass pilgrimage and tourism the conference offers an opportunity for wide-ranging discussions of the past, present and future of sacred sites and stories and their significance in the world today.
The conference will have the following panels:
• Pilgrimage and Tourism
• Historical Perspectives
• Visual Arts and Architecture
• Indigenous Traditions
• Competition and Contestation
We welcome proposals for paper presentations that address the theme of one of these panels. Individual papers that are relevant to the main theme but are not aligned with any of the proposed panel streams will also be considered for presentation.
• Panel Proposals. While proposals for individual papers are welcome, applicants are also encouraged to collaborate with peers to propose panels of 3-4 papers that converge on a particular theme.
In view of the major role that Australia and the Asia Pacific region plays in national and international discussions about sacred sites and sacred stories we particularly welcome panels on Asian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Pacific perspectives on sacred sites. We also welcome papers covering a range of time frames, from pre-history to the contemporary era, and from all traditions and locations.
If you are interested, please send your abstract (150 words), including a note of which stream your proposal addresses, and bio (80 words) to the following email (davidwj_kim@yahoo.co.uk). The conference fee is AU$350, but for masters students, doctoral candidates and early career researchers who do not have full-time positions the fee will be AU$250. The conference cost includes registration fee, conference dinner and refreshments. The two best papers submitted by HDR students will be awarded (AU$500 each). To be considered for this award, the full paper must be submitted at least one month before the conference (by 07 March 2018). There will be a limited number of bursaries available for some accepted masters students, doctoral candidates and early career researchers. Please note that those selected to receive bursaries will be informed of this before the conference but the bursaries will not be dispersed until the papers have been presented at the conference. In addition, selected papers may be considered for publication in a book volume.
Contacts:
Dr David W. Kim (Australian National University)
Email: davidwj_kim@yahoo.co.uk
Dr Peter Friedlander (Australian National University)
Email: peter.friedlander@anu.edu.au
A/Prof McComas Taylor (Australian National University)
Email: mccomas.taylor@anu.edu.au
Dr Barbara Nelson (Australian National University)
Email: barbara.nelson@anu.edu.au
Dr Yuri Takahashi (Australian National University)
Email: yuri.takahashi@anu.edu.au
Please see the website for more information: http://www.anu.edu.au/events/sacred-sitessacred-stories-global-perspectives
Stellenbosch (near Cape Town), South Africa
The discipline of Christian Spirituality at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Volos, Greece invite proposals for the first of three international conferences on: “Bible, churches and spirituality in a (non?-)secular world”.
The global rise of religion has seen the centre of gravity of Christianity move into the global south, as numerous sociologists and religion theorists attest. Christian theology internationally has an important mission to fulfill, despite its devaluation and assumed unimportance in the policies of many states and institutions. With the demographic trends currently and over coming decades of a rising tide of confessionality over against non-religiosity, such assumptions of unimportance are becoming ever more untenable.
One of the main tasks of Theology, particularly after the fall of Communism in Central and East Europe, is to reassert the dignity and worth of human persons, as it was ravished by Soviet communism. In South Africa, the same search for renewed human dignity characterises the post-Apartheid period. In both contexts, such dignity is now ever more under threat by the commodification accompanying consumer capitalism and neoliberal education policies that are oriented solely toward the market place, without much sense of the human and spiritual experience – which lies at the foundation of every single human being.
These conditions provide Theology with the opportunity to witness to its core contributions. In doing so, different theologies will have to reconsider their doctrinal, ethical, homiletic and pastoral narratives, and hence the often-neglected role of the Bible and spirituality; the latter, not only in the light of the particular histories, but, also, in the light of the present and emerging contexts. With this rise in the global interest in religion, the Bible in particular and spirituality in general have considerable roles to play – apart from theologically, also phenomenologically and sociologically. On the one hand, the Bible is clearly recognised as the common ground and heritage of the main Christian traditions and of Christian-heritage societies, upon which deeply irenic and fruitful encounters take place. On the other hand, spirituality, as the essential means by which religious life is concretely expressed, is the common existential experience of all people, irrespective of particular religious or national origins. Spirituality brings together. This means that Bible-and-spirituality could be considered as a widely-applicable language by which the major Christian traditions, like Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestant Churches, in their own immediate contexts and more broadly within Christian-heritage societies, could facilitate understanding for shared visions for the wider world.
To this end, paper proposals are invited on aspects of the theme: “Bible, churches and spirituality in a (non?-)secular world”. Of particular interest would be proposals from or on aspects of the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant traditions. However, papers would be welcomed from other perspectives too.
Proposals for papers should include:
• A succinct title
• A brief abstract (± 150 words)
• The name/s and (where applicable) institutional affiliation/s of the author/s
• Contact details
Papers may be proposed and delivered in any language.
Closing date for proposals: 1 February 2018
Acceptance of proposals: Before 1 March 2018
Confirmation of attendance: 5 April 2018
DOWNLOAD THE FULL CONFERENCE PDF HERE: