CFP: Open Theology Journal issue on: Alternative Religiosities in the Soviet Union and the Communist East-Central Europe: Formations, Resistances and Manifestations

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Open Theology (http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth) invites submissions for the topical issue “Alternative Religiosities in the Soviet Union and the Communist East-Central Europe: Formations, Resistances and Manifestations”, under the general editorship of Dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė and Dr. Eglė Aleknaitė (Vytautas Magnus University).

DESCRIPTION

After the boom of traditional religions (i. e. prevailing national religions or those that have a relatively long history in a particular country) and alternative religious movements (i. e. religious movements that offer an alternative to the traditional religion(s) in a particular country) in post-communist/post-socialist countries, the religion(s) of this area have gained increasing scholarly attention. Research on the religious situation during the prior communist/socialist period is primarily focused on restrictions placed on traditional religions and their survival strategies, while the corresponding phenomena of the alternative religious of that time still lack proper analysis.

The special issue invites papers that address alternative religiosities in the communist/socialist countries up to 1990. Due to Soviet control, they mostly existed underground and could remain only if expressed clandestinely. Beside the officially-established Soviet culture, connected with the Communist Party’s aim to control all aspects of the public sphere, there was an unofficial cultural field that was very receptive to the arrival, formation, spread and expressions of diverse alternative religiosities and spiritualities. The disappointment with the existing narrowness of the official communist ideology and the loss of the absolute allegiance to it led to the formation and rise of unofficial socio-cultural alternatives within the system. The underground activities, including access to alternative spiritual and esoteric ideas and practices, generally existed in parallel, or even jointly, with the official culture and institutions.

We invite religious scholars, historians, anthropologists, as well as authors representing other disciplines, to submit both empirical and theoretical papers including, but not limited to the following topics:

  • Networks and inter-community connections
  • Flows of ideas within the Soviet Union and communist East-Central Europe and from the outside
  • Centers and peripheries of the milieu of alternative religiosity in the region
  • Politics and actions of the regime towards alternative religiosity
  • Restrictions, repressions and survival strategies of practitioners of alternative religiosity
  • Milieu of alternative religiosity as a space of resistance
  • Relationships of communities of alternative religiosity with dominant religious traditions
  • Theoretical frameworks and methodological problems in research on alternative religiosities within the Soviet Union and the communist East-Central European region

Authors publishing their articles in the special issue will benefit from:
    · transparent, comprehensive and fast peer review
    · efficient route to fast-track publication and full advantage of De Gruyter Open’s e-technology,
    · no publication fees,
    · free language assistance for authors from non-English speaking regions.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submissions are due November 30, 2016. To submit an article for the special issue of Open Theology, authors are asked to access the on-line submission system at: http://www.editorialmanager.com/openth/
Please choose as article type: “Special Issue Article: Alternative Religiosities”.

Before submission the authors should carefully read over the Instruction for Authors, available at: http://www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s23006579_Instruction_for_Authors.pdf

All contributions will undergo critical review before being accepted for publication.

Further questions about this thematic issue can be addressed to Dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė at Rasa.Pranskeviciute@degruyteropen.com or Dr. Eglė Aleknaitė at ealeknaite@yahoo.com. In case of technical questions, please contact journal Managing Editor Dr. Katarzyna Tempczyk at katarzyna.tempczyk@degruyteropen.com.

Job Opening: South Asian Religions

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The Department of Historical Studies, at the University of Toronto, Canada, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, invites applications for a tenure-stream position in South Asian Religions at the rank of Assistant Professor. 

Applicants must have earned a PhD with a focus on South Asian religions by the date of appointment or shortly thereafter. We seek applicants whose scholarly record demonstrates expertise in the study of primary sources within their historical, philosophical, devotional, aesthetic, and/or performative contexts and whose work is also situated within the broader study of religion. Candidates must demonstrate strong linguistic skills in the primary source language(s) of their research.

We seek a candidate whose research complements and enhances existing strengths in the Department of Historical Studies. The successful candidate will join a vibrant intellectual community of world-class scholars at Canada’s largest university. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is one of the most fascinating, diverse and “livable” places in the world. The successful candidate will have the ability to teach a range of thematically focused courses engaging with the study of religion, contributing to the undergraduate program on the Mississauga campus, and will hold a graduate appointment at the Department for the Study of Religion on the St. George campus of the University of Toronto. Information about these two departments is available at:http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/historicalstudies  and http://www.religion.utoronto.ca.

Applicants are invited to apply online at the following web site: https://utoronto.taleo.net/careersection/10050/jobdetail.ftl?job=1601019. Applications must be submitted by October 17, 2016, and include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, sample of academic writing such as representative articles, statement of research interests, academic transcripts, and a teaching dossier (teaching evaluations; sample syllabi, assignments and tests; descriptions of teaching strategies and innovations, etc.).

Details are in the attachment.  All queries can be directed to historical.studies@utoronto.ca. 

7th International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

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Imperial College London, London, UK
17-18 April 2017

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

2017 Call for Papers

We invite proposals for paper presentations, workshops/interactive sessions, posters/exhibits, or colloquia addressing one of the following themes:

  • THEME 1: RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS
  • THEME 2: RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY AND SOCIALIZATION
  • THEME 3: RELIGIOUS COMMONALITIES AND DIFFERENCES
  • THEME 4: THE POLITICS OF RELIGION​
  • 2017 Special Focus: Respecting Difference, Understanding Globalism

For information: http://religioninsociety.com/2017-conference/call-for-papers

European Academy of Religion launching event, Bologna, 5 December, 2016

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Hon. Valerio Onida and Professor Alberto Melloni on behalf of the Foundation for Religious Studies, together with the Rector of the University of Bologna Francesco Ubertini and the Minister for Education, University and Research Stefania Giannini, are glad to invite you to join the launching event of the European Academy of Religion in Bologna, on December 5th 2016, under thePatronage of the European Parliament.

Scholars, Representatives of Scientific Societies and Academies, Research Centers, Journals,Publishers and Political Authorities are invited to the meeting,which will be honored by the presence and the keynote addresses of Commissioner Carlos Moedas, Special Envoy Ján Figel’, Professor Romano Prodi and Vice President David Sassoli.

The agenda of this meeting is very simple. Several thousands of Scholars coming from Europe and the Mediterranean Countries participate in the Fall to the Annual Convention of the American Academy of Religion. They are independent esteemed scientist, working in the field of law, history, philosophy, archeology, psychology, sociology, etc., concerning the religious experience in its variety and diachronic extension. As specialists, they are a real resource for the Euro-Med Countries, Unions and cultures, and their research can emerge if a research framework is available. The purpose of a Eu/ARE and the Bologna event is to make them visible and offer them a common framework, with an Annual Convention, to be held in the Spring, as a place of research, exchange and public engagement.

Therefore we kindly ask you: – to join us and the Bologna initiative, also giving a short address supporting this gathering of scholars, academic societies, research centers –to encourage in the most proper and persuasive way the participation/endorsement of national societies and academies as well as the greatest research institutions, scientific journals and specialized publisher which must be part of the initiative. To join the meeting please register at http://forms.fscire.it/app/form/ or write to melloni@fscire.it or events@fscire.it

CFP: Mysticism in Comparative Perspective

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Mysticism in Comparative Perspective

CALL FOR PAPERS

Glasgow University 14th-16th December 2016

Speakers to include:
Rob Faesen (Leuven)

William Franke (Vanderbilt)

Bernard McGinn (Chicago)

George Pattison (Glasgow)

Ada Rapoport-Albert (King’s College, London)

Jane Shaw (Stanford)

Mia Spiro (Glasgow)

At the start of the 20th century, it was widely believed that there was some unitary ‘mystical experience’ underlying the varieties of religious and doctrinal expression. On this view, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or a Sufi all had the ‘same’ experience and only differed in their manner of expressing it. By the end of the century this kind of comparativism had fallen into disrepute. Nevertheless, dialogue between faiths would seem to be significantly imperilled if no shared experiential or practical points of unity can be identified. Drawing on recent research, the conference seeks to renew the project of a comparative study of mysticism and in doing so to offer resources for both teaching and research in theology and religious studies.

Proposals under the following headings are especially welcome: Methodology, Annihilation, Love/Union, Material Culture, and Syncretism.

Proposals for Papers must be sent by September 15th to arts-comparativemysticism@glasgow.ac.uk (Acceptances will be notified by end-September.)

The conference will incorporate the Astaire Seminar in Jewish Studies ‘Wandering Souls’ with papers by Ada Rapoport-Albert and Mia Spiro.

For more information, see the Mystical Theology Network Website: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~rege0676/Glasgow%20Conference.html

Brand Islam: The Marketing and Commodification of Piety

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Brand Islam

The Marketing and Commodification of Piety

Faegheh Shirazi

 

University of Texas Press

August 2016 336pp

http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/shirazi-brand-islam

From food products to fashions and cosmetics to children’s toys, a wide range of commodities today are being marketed as “halal” (permitted, lawful) or “Islamic” to Muslim consumers both in the West and in Muslim-majority nations. However, many of these products are not authentically Islamic or halal, and their producers have not necessarily created them to honor religious practice or sentiment. Instead, most “halal” commodities are profit-driven, and they exploit the rise of a new Islamic economic paradigm, “Brand Islam,” as a clever marketing tool.

Brand Islam investigates the rise of this highly lucrative marketing strategy and the resulting growth in consumer loyalty to goods and services identified as Islamic. Faegheh Shirazi explores the reasons why consumers buy Islam-branded products, including conspicuous piety or a longing to identify with a larger Muslim community, especially for those Muslims who live in Western countries, and how this phenomenon is affecting the religious, cultural, and economic lives of Muslim consumers. She demonstrates that Brand Islam has actually enabled a new type of global networking, joining product and service sectors together in a huge conglomerate that some are referring to as the Interland. A timely and original contribution to Muslim cultural studies, Brand Islam reveals how and why the growth of consumerism, global communications, and the Westernization of many Islamic countries are all driving the commercialization of Islam.

Call for Abstracts – Religion in Contexts

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Call for Abstracts


Religion in  Contexts

-Handbook of the Sociology of Religion-



We are inviting for outline abstracts of 500 words by 30.9.2016 to each editor.

For further information see the annexed file please.


Melanie Reddig, Düsseldorf/ Annette Schnabel, Düsseldorf/ Heidemarie Winkel, Bielefeld

It is the aim of the volume to collect contributions that contextualise religions in their worldwide multiplicity, their particular societal configurations and their dynamics of social transformation. We want to understand religion as a multi-dimensional concept comprising of religious beliefs, world views and practices as well as the richness of religious groups, parishes, organisations and professions characterized by varying hierarchical relations, norms and values systems of societal range. Additionally, religion is also relevant from a macro-perspective as a category of social belonging and social difference; this includes institutional settings as well as social teachings and the religious bodies of knowledge.

At large, the volume will gather and systematically discuss a wide range of contexts and their varying influences on religion. On the basis of selected empirical data, the contributions shall reveal the social mechanisms and processes by which religion is shaped, realised and made salient. By this, the volume will provide a theoretical reconstruction of varying social effects in various societal contexts and a critical input to the up-to-date sociology of religion. This includes the analysis of interdependencies with other social fields like politics or science as well as the intersection with other social categories of difference like gender, race or age.

We are looking for manuscripts that locate religion in spatial, functional and societal contexts: (i) spatial contexts may comprise of global, regional or local environments that influence the relationship between religion and society. (ii) Functional contexts may relate to law, politics and economics but also to social inequalities and social identities. (iii) Societal contexts are practice- and interaction-related and embedded in everyday life on the micro-level; they endorse organisations, networks and their hierarchical order on the meso-level and relate to societal discourses, world views, and values on the macro-level.

Our explicit aim is to emphasise the so far neglected perspective on religion arising from culturally and socially structured phenomena–religion in this regard is understood as neither ‘quasi-naturally’ given nor as a necessarily antecedent and independent category. By this, we want to question Eurocentric perspectives in the sociology of religion and instead, search for alternative accesses to compare religions and contribute to a better understanding of the social mechanisms that make (and maintain) religions salient.

Projected structure:

 

(I) Introduction: Contextualising religion

(II) Religion in spatial contexts

Global contexts

Regional contexts

Local contexts

(III) Religion in social contexts

Religion and its political context

Religion and its legal contexts

Religion and contexts of economy and social inequality

Religion and its contexts of identity

(IV) Religion and the levels of inquiry

Religion in the context of everyday life

Religion in the context of organisations, networks and hierarchies

Religion in the context of structure and culture

The volume will be published by NOMOS end of 2017. Manuscripts should be submitted by 31.03.2017.

We are inviting for contributions of up to 30.000 characters (including bibliographical indications). We very much appreciate your acceptance. Initially, please submit an outline abstract of 500 words by 30.09.2016 to each editor:

 

Melanie Reddig: reddig@phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de

Annette Schnabel: annette.schnabel@uni-duesseldorf.de

Heidemarie Winkel: heidemarie.winkel@uni-bielefeld.de

Out now: special issue of New Diversities

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The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space

Guest Editors: Marian Burchardt (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen), Stefan Höhne (Technische Universität Berlin) and AbdouMaliq Simone (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen). With contributions by Suzi Hall, Kim Knott, AbdouMaliq Simone and many others.

In contemporary scholarship  materiality and human diversity constitute two largely disconnected ways of think- ing about urban space. Scholars interested in materiality are loosely connected and inspired by the “infrastructural turn” while those focusing on human diversity work within the “diversity turn”. This special issue argues that bringing together urban infrastructures and urban diversity opens up new avenues for thinking about the politics and meanings of space. Spanning distances between Rio de Janeiro, London, Manila and Ankara, the contributions to this special issue ask how socio-material assemblages shape encounters with diversity in urban life in relation to concrete social problems. 




LIST OF CONTENTS

The Infrastructures of Diversity: Materiality and Culture in Urban Space – An Introduction
by Marian Burchardt (Max PIanck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen) and Stefan Höhne (Technische Universität Berlin)
»read the full article

Walls and Other Unremarkable Boundaries in South London: Impenetrable Infrastructure or Portals of Time, Space and Cultural Difference?
by Kim Knott (Lancaster University)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Infrastructures of Partition, Infrastructures of Juncture: Separation Barriers and Intercommunal Contact in Belfast and Nicosia
by Emily Bereskin (Technische Universität Berlin)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Envisioning Migration: Drawing the Infrastructure of Stapleton Road, Bristol
by Suzanne M. Hall, Julia King, and Robin Finlay (London School of Economics and Political Science)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

The Sacred Diesel: Infrastructures of Transportation and Religious Art in Manila
by Anderson Blanton (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Large-scale Urbanization and the Infrastructure of Religious Diversity in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro
by Stephan Lanz (European University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Architectures of Interreligious Tolerance: The Infrastructural Politics of Place and Space in Croatia and Turkey
by Jeremy F. Walton (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Urban Diversity: Disentangling the Cultural from the Economic Case
by Boris Vormann (John-F.-Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Berlin)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Cities as Infrastructures of Diversification and Homogenisation: Constructing Multiformal Spaces in Paris and Shenzhen
by Stephen Read (Delft University of Technology)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Passing Things Along: (In)completing Infrastructure
by AbdouMaliq Simone (Max PIanck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen)
»read the full article
Abstract and Keywords

Muslim prison chaplaincies

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This link is about an international symposium to be held in Paris 24-25 November about the role that prison chaplains could play in the fight against the swing to violent extremism.  It will seek to review the way in which Muslim actors in France and in other countries have made use of this institution even though it does not belong to their own religious tradition.

 Appel_com_anglais

Jim Beckford FBA

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

University of Warwick

The making of Muslim chaplaincies in prisons – Comparative approaches

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The making of Muslim chaplaincies in prisons –
Comparative approaches

International symposium

Date of symposium: Thursday 24 and Friday 25 November, 2016 in Paris.

Organisers: Céline Béraud (EHESS, Centre d’études en sciences sociales
du religieux) and Claire de Galembert (CNRS, Institut des sciences
sociales du politiques, ENS Cachan) This symposium is organised as part
of the ‘post-terrorist attack’ research financed by CNRS. Scientific
committee: Jim Beckford (University of Warwick), Sophie Gilliat-Ray
(Cardiff University), Irène Becci (Université de Lausanne), Franck
Frégosi (Institut d’études politiques d’Aix-en-Provence), Mar Griera
(Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Solenne Jouanneau (Université de
Strasbourg).

In France, prison chaplain activities are currently under hitherto
unforeseen scrutiny in the scope of public action and academic fields.
Pioneering research by Jim Beckford and Sophie Gilliat-Ray (1998) on
managing religious diversity in English prisons paved the way for works
in different national contexts: in particular, Germany (Becci, 2012;
Harms, 2014); Canada (Gagnon, 2008; Beckford & Cairns, 2015); Spain
(Martinez-Arino, Garcia-Romeral, Ubasart-Gonzalez, & Griera, 2015);
France (Beckford, Joly and Khosrokhavar, 2005; Sarg & Lamine, 2011;
Sarg, 2016; Béraud, Galembert and Rostaing, 2013 and 2016); Italy
(Rhazzali, 2010; Fabretti, 2015); Norway and Sweden (Furseth et Kühle
2011); Holland (Ajouaou et Bernts 2015); Switzerland (Becci Bovay &
Kuhn, 2007; Schneuwly-Purdy, 2011).

This renewed interest in an institution that seemed to be on the verge
of falling into disuse little more than two decades ago in France, can
be explained by the upheaval that the religious profile of inmates has
undergone in the past three or four decades. This shift, in evidence in
French, but also British, German, Dutch and Belgium prisons (Roy, 2015),
has made the accommodation of religious diversity – particularly Islam –
unavoidable. Moreover, Islamic chaplains have been seen as a policy tool
for preventing radicalisation. It has resulted in particular from the
interest shown by public authorities in this institution as a potential
instrument for preventing prisoners giving over to religious extremism.
In the aftermath of the killings perpetrated by Mohammed Merah and Mehdi
Nemouche and the 2015 terrorist attacks, Muslim chaplains have benefited
from major backing from the French State, to such an extent that it has
become the most-financed religion in prisons in 2016.

In a context where there is widespread interest in the role chaplains
could play in the fight against the swing to violent extremism, this
symposium will seek to review the way in which Muslim actors in France
and in other countries have made use of this institution even though it
does not belong to their own religious tradition. How have public
policies against prison radicalisation stimulated the
institutionalisation of Muslim chaplaincy in prisons? And how are they
also making it more complicated?

Full call: see Appel_com_anglais