Call for Papers: Conference ‘Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights’ (24-25 Nov 2016, Maastricht)

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CALL FOR PAPERS
‘Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights’
International MARICAP Conference 2016 24-25 November 2016
Ius Commune Research School Conference
Faculty of Law, Maastricht University
The Netherlands
People marry in different ways: either civilly or religiously, or both. Dissolving a civil marriage is usually not too difficult; dissolving a religious marriage can, however, be quite a challenge, especially for women of migrant or refugee background. A civil divorce pronounced by a civil court will generally not end a religious marriage. Whether a person is ‘still’ religiously married or not, is often determined by the laws of the country where the marriage was concluded or by the rules and norms of the couples’ religious community, or both. This position of being legally divorced yet religiously (still) married can be denoted as being in a state of ‘marital captivity’. Marital captivity refers to a situation wherein someone is unable to terminate his or her religious marriage, i.e. keeping a spouse ‘trapped’ in a marriage against his or her will. A situation of marital captivity can have serious implications for the trapped spouse, usually the woman, such as the inability to re-marry or travel without restrictions.
In the research project ‘Marital Captivity: bridging the gap between religion and law’, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), researchers of the Law Faculty of Maastricht University investigate this phenomenon within the Dutch context. The research project aims (i) to gain insight into the phenomenon of marital captivity in the Netherlands, and (ii) to find legal solutions (national and international) to resolve and prevent situations of marital captivity both in the Netherlands and in the country of origin.
In this international conference we aim to share and exchange ideas, research findings and experiences regarding the phenomenon of ‘marital captivity’ in different geographical areas, besides the Netherlands/Europe. We intend to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue, with contributions drawn from, most importantly, legal anthropology, (international) family law and human rights law, in order to address the issue of marital captivity from an integrated perspective.
The conference committee therefore encourages and invites researchers from various countries and disciplines (e.g. law, anthropology, sociology, political science) to submit papers that will advance empirical and conceptual/theoretical knowledge and understanding of ‘marital captivity’. Proposals should address the issue of ‘marital captivity’, and may include topics, such as:
– Individual (socio-legal) experiences;
– The influence of legal and political contexts (e.g. religion-state relations; multiculturalism-secularism) on the occurrence, continuation or solution of situations of marital captivity;
– The interaction of state and non-state normative orders;
– (Informal) dispute resolution practices of religious communities;
– The use of national legal instruments to prevent or resolve situations of marital captivity;
– Solutions to situations of marital captivity in secular and non-secular countries;
– The implications of limping marital status in a transnational continuum;
– Gender equality and divorce;
– State’s human rights responsibility in respect of religious and cultural practices that are harmful (to women);
– The protection of (women’s) human rights in local settings;
– The extra-territorial application of human rights;
Paper proposals from interested participants with various disciplinary backgrounds that relate to one of the following three panels are particularly appreciated.
Panel 1: Marital captivity in practice This panel aims to identify similarities and differences between different situations of marital captivity, preferably drawing from various (trans-)national, religious, and communal contexts. This panel invites in particular empirical contributions that, for example, describe case studies or examples of manifestations of marital captivity in a specific local, religious or (trans)national context, including investigations and analyses of the (e.g. legal, religious or social) causes and consequences of such situations. A ‘chained spouse’ may, for example, encounter problems within his or her local community or in his or her country of origin, or both. Moreover, attention can be given to solutions that have been investigated by individuals in their quest for a religious divorce, including the results of these explorations.

Panel 2: Solutions to marital captivity Since societies all over the world struggle with marital captivity, this panel invites submissions exploring legal and/or non-legal (informal) remedies employed within religious communities that aim to prevent or resolve marital captivity and its pernicious effects. Examples of solutions may be contractual clauses about the cooperation to a (religious) divorce, tort action, recognition of a (civil) divorce in another country, legislation that furthers cooperation to a religious divorce, penal sanctions etc. How and under what circumstances and conditions are these solutions applied? What are the experiences with their feasibility and effectiveness? What is their impact or what are their benefits or possible drawbacks? Hence, we welcome paper proposals that analyse different solutions to marital captivity, specific to various (trans-) national and religious communities.

Panel 3: Marital captivity and human rights law This panel welcomes paper proposals that have primarily a human rights focus to harmful divorce practices within religious communities, be it within a general human rights context or within a specific national context. The panel aims to explore the use of human rights law as a means to enhance the protection of the trapped spouse(s)’s rights, ensure the State’s compliance to its human rights obligations and trigger effective State action in addressing marital captivity and its consequences. Papers covering topics such as women’s rights and religious freedom, the intersection of human rights and diplomatic protection, the State’s responsibility for human rights violations by private persons and the interplay of human rights, secular foundations and religion are highly appreciated.
Submission of abstracts and papers Paper proposals should consist of an abstract of max. 300 words, a title, panel preference, the author(s) name, affiliation, contact details and a short bio, and should be sent by e-mail to: maricap@maastrichtuniversity.nl before May 1, 2016.
Notification of acceptance abstract: May 15, 2016
Presenters shall submit a draft paper before October 1, 2016. Final papers should be between 5000 and 8000 words. Selected submissions will be considered for publication in an edited volume or special issue to a journal.
For questions related to the submission of abstracts and papers and the MARICAP conference programme, please contact one of the members of the MARICAP conference committee.

Co-ordinator research project: Susan Rutten (s.rutten@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 1: Esther van Eijk
(postdoctoral researcher; esther.vaneijk@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 2: Pauline Kruiniger
(postdoctoral researcher; pauline.kruiniger@maastrichtuniversity.nl);
Panel 3: Benedicta Deogratias
(PhD researcher; b.deogratias@maastrichtuniversity.nl)
Practical Information
The international MARICAP conference 2016 is hosted and co-organised by the research school ius Commune under the auspices of the Law Faculty of Maastricht University. The conference will take place in Maastricht (conference venue: Van der Valk hotel), the Netherlands, on 24-25 November 2016.
There are no registration fees. Travel- and accommodation costs are expected to be covered by the participants themselves. Meals and beverages during the conference will be covered by the conference organization.
For more information on the research project, see: http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Faculteiten/FdR/Thema/Capaciteitsgroepen/Privaatrecht/Projecten/EchtscheidingEnReligie/MARICAPEnglish.htm

Book Announcement: Religion, Gender and Citizenship: Women of Faith, Gender Equality and Feminism

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New book just published:

Line Nyhagen and Beatrice Halsaa (April 2016). Religion, Gender and Citizenship: Women of Faith, Gender Equality and Feminism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Through interviews with Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, this book explores intersections between religion, citizenship, gender and feminism. How do religious women think about citizenship, and how do they practice citizenship in everyday life? How important is faith in their lives, and how is religion bound up with other identities such as gender and nationality? What are their views on ‘gender equality’, women’s movements and feminism? The answers offered by this book are complex. Religion can be viewed as both a resource and a barrier to women’s participation. The interviewed women talk about citizenship in terms of participation, belonging, love, care, tolerance and respect. Nearly all want gender equality, but many regard such equality as compatible with different roles and spaces for women. Women’s movements are viewed as having made positive contributions to women’s status, but interviewees are also critical of claims related to abortion and

Line Nyhagen is Reader in Sociology at Loughborough University, UK.
Beatrice Halsaa is Professor in Gender Studies at the University of Oslo, UK.

Reviews:

‘… a landmark contribution [and] essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the relation between religion, citizenship and women’s rights and equality in the 21st century’ (Niamh Reilly, NUI Galway, Ireland).

‘This excellent book reveals the complexity of religious women’s lives in Europe and challenges generalisations made about, as well as by, religious women’ (Kristin Aune, Coventry University, UK).

For more information, see http://www.palgrave.com/uk/book/9781137405333#aboutBook

For a discount flyer (for individuals only), please write to L.Nyhagen@lboro.ac.uk

Call for Manuscripts: The Changing Faces of Catholicism

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Volume 9: The Changing Faces of Catholicism
Forthcoming 2018
Edited by:
Solange Lefebvre (Université de Montréal, Canada) and
Alfonso Pérez-Agote (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)

Catholicism represents an important area of research in sociology as
well as across a number of disciplines. As literature on Catholicism in
certain contexts substantially expands, there still remains the need for
recent qualitative and quantitative data in specific national contexts
via a comparative perspective. In the discussion on secularism and
diversity, there exist open questions on the way culture, heritage, and
religion intersect or differentiate (political regulation of diversity).
Law, education, religious heritage, chaplaincies, collaborations between
state and civil society—these are just a few areas of social life where
these dimensions are rapidly changing. The relation between Catholicism
and the media poses a number of questions as well.

As a global religion, with the pope being a religious leader as well as
a head of state of the Vatican, Catholicism has developed, especially
since the 1980s, a new way of conducting diplomatic relations and
interfering with national and international policies. Pope Francis’
papacy is revealing a divided Church on many matters, globally and at
the Curia, between the centre and the local Churches. Catholic leaders
have been involved in many contentious debates on sexuality and gender,
with different legal, social, and religious impacts (biopolitics).
Transnational networks and religious mobility are creating new forms of
popular religion and Catholic movements.

To explore these issues we propose to include articles around the
following themes:

  1. Catholicism and culture
  2. Catholicism and media
  3. Catholicism and international relations
  4. Transnational practices, movements, and popular religion
  5. Catholicism, gender, sexuality, and biopolitics
  6. Catholicism, public policies, and institutions
  7. Catholicism and other religions

The editors will seek out contributors who can address questions raised
in the sociology of religion about Catholicism with authors representing
regional and cultural variation.

Please send all proposals (300 words) to solange.lefebvre@umontreal.ca

Deadlines:

Submission of proposals: June 30, 2016
Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2016
Completed manuscripts (7,000 words): June 30, 2017

Book Announcement: Sufis Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism

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Sadek Hamid is pleased to announce the publication of my new book Sufis Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism. It helps to explain how three globally influential religious paradigms have shaped the religiousity of second and third generation British Muslims as well as contextualising   current debates about religious radicalisation:

 

http://www.ibtauris.com/Books/Society%20%20social%20sciences/Politics%20%20government/Political%20ideologies/Religious%20%20theocratic%20ideologies/Sufis%20Salafis%20and%20Islamists%20The%20Contested%20Ground%20of%20British%20Islamic%20Activism.aspx

 

Contents:

 

Introduction

 

1.     ‘Taking Islam to the People’: The Young Muslims UK

 

2.      ‘Khilafah Coming Soon’: The Rise and Fall of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain

 

3.     ‘Returning to The Qur’an And Sunnah’: The Salafi Dawah

 

4.     Sufism Strikes Back: Emergence of the ‘Traditional Islam’ Network

 

5.     Dawah Discourses: Understanding the Appeal of the Trends

 

6.     Fragmentation and Adaptation: The Impact of Social Change

 

7.     Contemporary British Islamic Activism

 

Conclusion

 

 

Endorsements:

 

 

It is a pleasure to recommend  this book by one of the leading scholars of Islam in Britain. Sadek Hamid has the perfect combination of personal biography and experience, allied to academic rigour and attention to detail that makes this a nuanced, timely, well-informed contribution to debate about Islam in Britain today.

 

 

Prof. Sophie Gilliat-Ray. Author of Muslims in Britain: An Introduction

 

 

Sadek Hamid has written an invaluable study illuminating and evaluating the changing landscape of Islamic activism in Britain over the last thirty years. He devotes a chapter each to four faces of activism: reformist Islamist, radical pan-Islamist, Salafi and neo-Sufi. Their transnational origins, history, evolution and mutual rivalries are mapped and assessed in a measured, non-sensational and accessible manner. He also explores the extent to which they are positioned to respond appropriately to the experiences and questions of a new, media savvy generation of British Muslims. Indispensable for policy makers, academics, students and the general reader.

 

 

Dr Phil Lewis. Author of Young, Muslim and British

 

Sadek Hamid’s book is absolutely essential reading for anyone who wishes to further their knowledge of the dynamics of Islamic activism in Britain. It rescues Islamism from the rhetoric of terrorism and highlights the essential differences between ‘islamicisation’ and ‘radicalisation.’

 

 

Prof. Ron Geaves. Author of Islam in Victorian Britain: The Life and Times of Abdullah Quilliam

 

 

Readership:

 

Of interest to those who teach courses on Islam in the West, Muslims in Europe and Islam in Britain. It will also appeal to students and scholars of Religious Studies, Sociology, Anthropology and Cultural Studies.

Book Announcement: history christian social teaching

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Dear friends and colleagues,
Beste vrienden en collega’s,
Liebe Freunde und Kollegen,
Please find attached the information about my latest book on sociologist and Bishop of Haarlem Mgr. Joannes Aengenent (1873-1935). He was one of the major social theorists between the World Wars and important for the Catholic Social Movement in the Netherlands (German summary included). I am happy to announce that the work has been accepted as my second dissertation in History of church and dogma at Tilburg University, and for a Sacrae Theologiae Doctor/Dr. Div.

In de bijlagen vinden jullie informatie over de presentatie van mijn nieuwste boek over de socioloog en bisschop van Haarlem Joannes Aengenent (1873-1935). Hij was een van de theoretici in het interbellum over de sociale problemen van zijn tijd en speelde een belangrijke rol in de opbouw van de katholieke sociale beweging. Het boek is geaccepteerd als mijn tweede promotie in de kerk en dogmageschiedenis aan de Universiteit Tilburg en voor een kerkelijk doctoraat.

Im Anhang finden Sie Information bzgl. mein neuestes Buch über den Soziologe und Bischof von Haarlem Joannes Aengenent (1873-1935). Er war ein wichtiger Sozialtheoretiker und Organisator der katholisch-sozialen Bewegung in den Niederlanden im Interbellum (deutschsprachiger Zusammenfassung im Anhang). Das Buch wurde ausserdem angenommen als zweite Dissertation in der Kirchen und Dogmengeschichte der Uni Tilburg und ein Kirchliches Doktorat STD/Dr. Theol.

Warm greetings,
Hartelijke groet,
Herzliche Grüsse,

dr. Erik Sengers

sociologist of religion
Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus

CFP: Practices of Transformation

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*Call for papers!*

International Conference

PRACTICES OF TRANSFORMATION:

THE ORGANISED CULTURAL ENCOUNTER

27- 28 October 2016

Venue: Roskilde University, Department of Communication and Arts

Roskilde, Denmark

Keynotes by:

Professor Sarah Pink, RMIT University, Melbourne

Professor Gill Valentine, The University of Sheffield

Professor Awad Ibrahim, University of Ottawa

Professor Emma Renolds, Cardiff University

 

SUBMISSION OF PAPER PROPOSAL AND PRACTICAL INFORMATION

If you are interested in participating in the conference, please send an abstract (no more than 250 words) and a short biography (no more than 100 words) by 2 May to Helle Bach Riis (hriis@ruc.dk) and Lise Paulsen Galal (galal@ruc.dk). Successful applicants will be notified by 3 June, 2016.

https://organisedculturalencounter.wordpress.com/

Organised cultural encounters (OCEs) are activities that through particular intervention strategies aim at creating transformation. They may be cultural exchange programmes, reconciliation projects, community cohesion initiatives, interfaith dialogue meetings or various projects related to integration of immigrants. These interventions are organised around differences considered to be identity formative and divisive, in particular ethnicity, religion, nationality or ‘culture’, sometimes also including other socio-cultural categories that are seen as intersecting axes of differentiation or diversity (gender, sexual orientation, class, age, (dis)ability). Setting up these kinds of encounters is a widespread practice that aims at facilitating for instance integration, tolerance and community cohesion in the context of culturally diverse societies. Thus, OCEs are invested with much hope for transformation not only of the attendees, but also in the society, societies or contexts addressed by the encounter. Organisers (implicit or explicit) lean on assumptions concerning the nature of differences, encounters and social change.

Call for Manuscripts: Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion

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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Volume 9: The Changing Faces of Catholicism
Forthcoming 2018

Edited by:

Solange Lefebvre (Université de Montréal, Canada) and
Alfonso Pérez-Agote (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain)

Catholicism represents an important area of research in sociology as
well as across a number of disciplines. As literature on Catholicism
in certain contexts substantially expands, there still remains the
need for recent qualitative and quantitative data in specific national
contexts via a comparative perspective. In the discussion on
secularism and diversity, there exist open questions on the way
culture, heritage, and religion intersect or differentiate (political
regulation of diversity). Law, education, religious heritage,
chaplaincies, collaborations between state and civil society—these are
just a few areas of social life where these dimensions are rapidly
changing. The relation between Catholicism and the media poses a
number of questions as well.
As a global religion, with the pope being a religious leader as well
as a head of state of the Vatican, Catholicism has developed,
especially since the 1980s, a new way of conducting diplomatic
relations and interfering with national and international policies.
Pope Francis’ papacy is revealing a divided Church on many matters,
globally and at the Curia, between the centre and the local Churches.
Catholic leaders have been involved in many contentious debates on
sexuality and gender, with different legal, social, and religious
impacts (biopolitics). Transnational networks and religious mobility
are creating new forms of popular religion and Catholic movements.

To explore these issues we propose to include articles around the
following themes:
1. Catholicism and culture
2. Catholicism and media
3. Catholicism and international relations
4. Transnational practices, movements, and popular religion
5. Catholicism, gender, sexuality, and biopolitics
6. Catholicism, public policies, and institutions
7. Catholicism and other religions

The editors will seek out contributors who can address questions
raised in the sociology of religion about Catholicism with authors
representing regional and cultural variation.

Please send all proposals (300 words) to solange.lefebvre@umontreal.ca

Deadlines:
Submission of proposals: June 30, 2016
Notification of acceptance: September 30, 2016
Completed manuscripts (7,000 words): June 30, 2017

Symposium: Art Approaching Science and Religion, 12 May 2016, Turku

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We warmly welcome you to participate in the symposium Art Approaching
Science and Religion, organized by the Donner Institute and the
knowledge laboratory AmosLAB. The symposium aims at bringing together
the fields of art, science and religion.

How can science and religion be explored from the perspective of the arts?

Thursday, 12 May 2016 at the Sibelius Museum
Biskopsgatan 17, Åbo/Turku, Finland

08.45 Opening of the Symposium: Bengt Kristensson Uggla

09.00 Kent Bloomer: “[The Greeks] called it KOSMOS which means ornament”
Response: Pauline von Bonsdorff

11.00 Melissa Raphael: The Creation of Beauty by its Destruction:
Idoloclasm in Modern and Contemporary Jewish Art
Response: Ruth Illman

12.30 Lunch (at own cost)

14.00 Serafim Seppälä: The Temple of Non-Being
Response: Catharina Raudvere

16.00 Mark C. Taylor: The Aesthetic Turn
Response: Esa Saarinen

17.30 Concluding remarks

The lectures are free of charge. Welcome!

Organizers: The Donner Institute, AmosLAB, The Hjelt Foundations

Symposium website: http://www.amoslab.fi/?page_id=214

You also find the event on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1119482044782732/_____

Inform Spring Seminar – Registration Now Open!

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INFORM SPRING SEMINAR
New Religious Radicalisms

Date – Saturday, 21 May 2016; 9.30am – 5.00pm
Location – New Academic Building, London School of Economics

Registration is now open and can be done using a credit/debit card through PayPal or by posting a booking form and a cheque payable to ‘Inform’ to Inform, Houghton St., London WC2A 2AE. Tickets (including buffet lunch, coffee and tea) paid by 25 April 2016 are £38 each (£18 students/unwaged). Tickets booked after 25 April 2016 will cost £48 each (£28 students/unwaged). 

 

Religion has a long history of radicalism and teachings and/or practices considered extreme by some, or even most. The point of radicalism is that it is a significant departure from norms or traditions. From the extreme acts of mortification of the self by some ascetics to the theologically and politically radical position of the Protestants protesting against what they considered errors inherent in the then dominant Roman Catholic Church, the history of religion is a history of extremes and opposition. It has always provided commentary on the worldly (as well as the other-worldly).

A recent example is the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by an armed group protesting against the federal management of land, including grazing rights – a political issue. However, the main initiator of the occupation, a Mormon, stated he was compelled to lead this initiative after praying for, and receiving, divine inspiration. Several key figures in this stand-off have cited Mormon scripture as justification for opposing and challenging the federal government. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has strongly condemned the action.)

Usage and understanding of the terms radical and extreme have changed over time, often to reflect the norms and politics of the era. This seminar will explore new religious radicalisms, and new forms of opposition, with the aim of developing new understandings of such world views.

Speakers will include:

Professor Susan J. Palmer, Dawson College, Montreal

Michael Williamson, London International Christian Church

Dr Alexandra Plows, Research Fellow, Bangor University

Dr Tristan Sturm, Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast

Shamsher Singh, National Sikh Youth Federation

Professor Eileen Barker, Founder and Chair of Inform