Monthly Archives: February 2012

Alternative Salvations

CALL FOR PAPERS

ALTERNATIVE SALVATIONS

One Day Conference, Sept 18th 2012, University of Chester

The conference will explore how ‘unorthodox’ readings of sacred texts inform salvation experience; how life transformations outside of religious contexts might be considered spiritual; how ideas of this-worldly salvation are politicised; how ideas of salvation are simultaneously secularised and infused with new power; what alternative salvations can be discovered within Christianity and how might they be practised? In particular, we are seeking to explore the ways that alternative religious, spiritual and secular understandings of the notion of salvation already shape, and have the potential to shape, how people live and act in Christian and post-Christian contexts .

This exciting conference breaks new ground in exploring alternative approaches to salvation. Proposals for short papers are invited on any aspect of the theme of ‘alternative salvations’ as outlined here. Papers will normally be 20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes for discussion. Applications to submit a short paper should include:

• Proposer’s name and affiliation

• a title for the paper

• a 200 word abstract

• Details of any audio-visual equipment you will need to deliver your paper

Short paper proposals should be submitted to alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk by no later than 4:00pm on 16th April 2012. Applicants should know the outcome of their proposal by 18th May 2012. Conference costs: £28 (£18 for unwaged and students) inclusive of lunch and refreshments.

If you would like any further information, please contact:

alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk

Thank you!

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Religion and Public Life Program, Rice University

The Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) in the Social Sciences Research Institute at Rice University is offering one two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the social sciences to begin on July 1, 2012 at a rate of $52,000 per year. The fellow will be housed in the Department of Sociology and work primarily with Associate Professor of Sociology and RPLP Director Elaine Howard Ecklund (www.ehecklund.rice.edu <https://www.ehecklund.rice.edu/>) on the Religion among Scientists in International Context study, a six-nation study of how scientists understand religion and science ethics. The fellow will also work with Kirstin Matthews, Science and Technology Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Steve Lewis, C.V.

Starr Transnational China Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy, who are participating with Dr. Ecklund on the RASIC study.

There are no teaching responsibilities associated with the fellowship.

Because of the needs of the study, preference will be given to applicants who speak one or more of the following languages fluently:

French, Italian, Turkish, or Mandarin, in addition to fluent English.

Ability to do high-level statistical analysis or experience conducting qualitative interviews is also an asset to the application. An online application is required, and additional required application materials include a curriculum vitae, a copy of at least one recent social science publication, and a transcript for language courses taken or other evidence of fluency (article published in language, for example).

Please apply online at jobs.rice.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53111.

In addition to the online application materials, three letters of recommendation sent by writers under separate cover will be required.

Letters should be sent to Samuel Kye, RASIC Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Department of Sociology MS-28, Rice University, 6100 Main St, Houston TX 77005-1892. Application review will begin on April 1, 2012.

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Religion and Public Life Program, Rice University

The Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) in the Social Sciences Research Institute at Rice University is offering one two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the social sciences to begin on July 1, 2012 at a rate of $52,000 per year. The fellow will be housed in the Department of Sociology and work primarily with Associate Professor of Sociology and RPLP Director Elaine Howard Ecklund (www.ehecklund.rice.edu <https://www.ehecklund.rice.edu/>) on the Religion among Scientists in International Context study, a six-nation study of how scientists understand religion and science ethics.  The fellow will also work with Kirstin Matthews, Science and Technology Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Steve Lewis, C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow in the Baker Institute for Public Policy, who are participating with Dr. Ecklund on the RASIC study.  There are no teaching responsibilities associated with the fellowship.

Because of the needs of the study, preference will be given to applicants who speak one or more of the following languages fluently: French, Italian, Turkish, or Mandarin, in addition to fluent English. Ability to do high-level statistical analysis or experience conducting qualitative interviews is also an asset to the application.  An online application is required, and additional required application materials include a curriculum vitae, a copy of at least one recent social science publication, and a transcript for language courses taken or other evidence of fluency (article published in language, for example). 

Please apply online at jobs.rice.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=53111.  In addition to the online application materials, three letters of recommendation sent by writers under separate cover will be required.  Letters should be sent to Samuel Kye, RASIC Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Department of Sociology MS-28, Rice University, 6100 Main St, Houston TX 77005-1892.  Application review will begin on April 1, 2012.  Rice University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Special issue on ‘Religion and Globalization’: Call for Papers

Special Issue “Religion & Globalization”

A special issue of Religions

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/religion_globalization/

Call for Papers

Whether globalization is considered as a worldwide structured system of interstate relationships (Friedmann, 1998) or as a world “in motion” (Tomlinson, 1999) crossed by human and cultural flows (Appadurai, 1998), it refers indisputably to a new set of environmental conditions for religions. Globalization is creating new dynamics of change including transnational expansions of traditions (Csordas, 2007), deterritorialized sites, cultic areas (even parishes), virtualized and networked “communities” of believers, electronic and mediatized gods (Stolow, 2010), the universalization of cosmopolitan values and the localization of universalized beliefs (Robertson, 1992). Also shifting religious geographies (for example, Christianity turning “southern” and “black”, Islam turning “Asian”, Buddhism turning “white” and “western”) have contributed to a reshaping of global geopolitics (Huntington, 1993), an “ecological” turn in religious beliefs (Taylor, 2005), a worldwide standardization of religious systems (Beyer, 1994, 1998, 1999) and re-enchantment on a global scale (Csordas, 2007). Migrations have been – and still are – major forces for the geographic redistribution of beliefs and cults, while the world is also becoming ‘proselytized’. This does not clarify the very specific modes by which each process of mobility affects the various ways different religions are acted upon by global forces in their specific contexts. Neither does it take into account the fact that global religious changes may have nothing to do with mobility (Friedmann, 1998) but rather with global systems (Beyer, 1994). A global perspective on religious changes and adaptations in the contemporary world requires a prudent examination of different case-studies as not all religions are subjected to the same forces and engaged with similar processes of changes. Indeed, the “great” historical religions do not face global changes like new expanding religious cults or sects do. Analysis must cautiously distinguish between globalizing religions in global conditions, the impact of globalization on religions, and the role of religions in the rise and the shaping of global (economic, political or ideological) forces.

This special issue aims at gathering papers in which scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds (religious studies, anthropology, sociology, political sciences, history, political economy or others) can explore, on an empirical basis and in clearly identified geographic, historical and cultural contexts, the effects of religion on globalization or of globalization on religions. Please contact Prof. Lionel Obadia, anthropologist, University Lyon 2 at: Lionel.obadia@univ-lyon2.fr

Keywords: Globalization, Global and globalizing religions, spiritual transnationalism, migration and missionary activism, mediatization of religions, religion and the Internet,  deterritorialization and new geographies of religions.

Expected deadline: September 30, 2012.

BOOK INFORMATION

Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China: A Case Study of the Influence of Christian Ethics on Business Life

By Joy Kooi-Chin Tong

9780857283535 - HB

This title is also available as an eBook: https://anthempress.com/index.php/ebooks.html

Print friendly information sheet: https://www.anthempress.com/pdf/9780857283535.pdf

Recommend this title to your library: https://anthempress.com/pdf/LIBRARY-RECOMMENDATION-FORM.pdf

The plug:

Inspired by Max Weber’s thesis on the Protestant ethic, ‘Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China’ sets out to understand the role and influence of Christianity on Overseas Chinese businesspeople working in contemporary China. Through its in-depth interviews and participant observations (involving 60 Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the United States), the text discusses how Christianity has come to fulfill an increasingly visible and dynamic function in the country, most notably as a new source of business morality.

Advance Praise for “Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China”

“Exploring relationships between Christianity and Chinese entrepreneurial endeavors, this meticulously researched study will be an informative, significant and engrossing book for anyone with the slightest interest in religion, economic development and/or contemporary China. I’m sure Weber would have enjoyed it.” —Professor Eileen Barker, London School of Economics

“Joy Tong not only captures the dynamism of the Chinese economy today, but also the importance of Christianity in China as a social force and an economic driver. ‘Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China’ is a fascinating case study of a compellingly interesting topic.” —Professor Jack Barbalet, Head of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University

“This well-written and carefully argued book deepens the research on Weber’s Protestant ethic thesis, creatively examining the impacts of religious motivations, ethics and networks on the economic behaviors of Overseas Chinese businesspeople in China, and challenging the presumptuous but unproven claims of Confucian values for the economic miracles in East Asia.” —Professor Fenggang Yang, Purdue University

ABOUT ANTHEM PRESS

www.anthempress.com

Anthem Press is an independent academic, educational and reference publishing house with a strong international focus.  The company’s head office is in London and has sales offices in New York, New Delhi. Anthem’s publications focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences and selected areas in the Sciences.

Religion & Gender Vol 2, No 1 (2012)

Dear colleagues,

Religion & Gender Vol 2, No 1 (2012) has just been published

Religion, Gender and Multiculturalism

Edited by Chia Longman, Eva Midden and Nella van den Brandt

Open access at www.religionandgender.org

Table of Contents

Editorial: Gender and Religiosity in Multicultural Societies Chia Longman, Eva Midden, Nella van den Brandt

Articles

Deference or Interrogation? Contrasting Models for Reconciling Religion, Gender and Equality Moira Dustin

“Is the Headscarf Oppressive or Emancipatory?” Field Notes on the Gendrification of the ‘Multicultural Debate’

Sarah Bracke, Nadia Fadil

Preparing for Life: Gender, Religiosity and Education Amongst Second Generation Hindus in Canada Cathy Holtmann, Nancy Nason-Clark

Religion and Diasporic Dwelling: Algerian Muslim Women in Ireland Yafa Shanneik

Gender, Colonialism and Rabbinical Courts in Mandate Palestine Lisa Fishbayn

Within, Without: Dialogical Perspectives on Feminism and Islam Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Fatima Husain

Digital Multiculturalism in the Netherlands: Religious, Ethnic, and Gender Positioning by Moroccan-Dutch Youth Koen Leurs, Eva Midden, Sandra Ponzanesi

Book Reviews

Review of Barbara Baert (ed.), Fluid Flesh: The Body, Religion and the Visual Arts , Leuven: Leuven University Press 2000 Susan Casteras

Review of Maja Figge, Konstantze Hanitzsch and Nadine Teuber (eds.), Scham und Schuld. Geschlechter (sub)texte der Shoah, Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag 2010 Bettine Siertsema

Review of Glenda Tibe Bonefacio & Vivienne S.M. Angeles (eds.), Gender, Religion, and Migration: Pathways of Integration , Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2010 Teruyuki Tsuji

—-

Dr Burkhard Scherer

Reader in Religious Studies

Canterbury Christ Church University, U.K.

Executive Editor “Religion and Gender”, www.religionandgender.org <https://www.religionandgender.org/>

Call for Papers: SSSR Annual Meeting, Nov 9-11 2012: “Religion, Race, & National Identity”

CALL FOR PAPERS
SOCIETY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION
NOVEMBER 9 - 11, 2012
Hyatt Regency, PHOENIX, AZ
“Religion, Race, and National Identity”

For much of human history, religion has been tightly connected to peoplehood and to territory - to blood and land.  Collective identity was a blending of faith with deep relational ties, in today’s terms, religion and race/ethnicity.  To be a part of a people was to be located in a particular geographic place and social space, and bound by one’s god(s).  While the rise of universalist monotheisms, and then modern society, challenged some aspects of these overlapping social realities, the rise of the nation-state did not disrupt it completely, as the existence of state churches and communalist national identities in Europe testify.  Even in - perhaps especially in - our globalized, post-industrial society - ethno-religious connections form deep national
identities that have produced social conflicts, wars, and even genocide in such disparate places as South Asia, the Balkans, the Horn of Africa, and the Nordic countries.  These connections also can foster a deep sense of belonging in a world often seen as spinning out of control.

One story about the U.S. posits that the “first new nation” rejected these ascribed bases for national belonging, and was open to all
ethnicities, cultures, and religions.  As the story goes, American identity is an idea and an ideal to which one assented, not a tribe into which one was born.  And yet an enduring issue in American life has been race.  From the founding of the U.S. republic and the Constitution’s 3/5th clause, to the Civil War, to Martin Luther King’s “beloved community,” to the election of President Barack Obama and recent debates over immigration, race has been a structural fact and a cultural controversy in American life.  And from John Winthrop’s “city on a hill,” to Great Awakenings, to millions of immigrating Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, to debates over school prayer, evolution, and claims as to whether the U.S. is a “Christian Nation,” religion has been an integral part of our national consensus even as it is often a source of deep conflict.  These two staples of social life, race and religion, have been consistent axes around which American identity has revolved, as much in the 21st century as in the 18th.

Arizona has recently been at the center of a number of political issues surrounding issues of race, immigration, and American national identity.   Many call recent Arizona policies implicitly racist, while others argue that the state is acting in the best interests of American territorial and cultural integrity.  Clearly, issues of blood and land remain salient in American life and politics.  As such, Phoenix becomes a setting in which we can confront the relations among religion, race, and national identity with the perspectives of social science.

Papers and discussions are invited on a broad range of topics in the social scientific study of religion relating to the meeting theme,
including, but not limited to:

* Religion and the politics of immigration
* The ‘culture wars’ and religious commitments
* Religion and American political culture
* Religion and global migration
* Race and religious practices
* Multiracial churches and efforts at diversity
* Religious justifications of and challenges to racial inequality
* Theories of religion and social power
* Religion and multiple arenas of social conflict
* Religion and the election season of 2012

As always, we seek an inclusive mix of substantive, theoretical, and methodological approaches.  Therefore, proposals for sessions and papers that fall outside the formal theme are also welcome.   All session and paper proposals must be submitted via the on-line
submission system that will be available on the SSSR’s web site, www.sssrweb.org, beginning January 15, 2012. In addition to the session proposer’s full contact information, a session proposal requires a session title and an abstract of not more than 150 words describing the goal of the session and how the proposer expects the session to contribute to scientific knowledge about religion.

Paper proposals require the name(s) of the author(s), first author’s full contact information, an abstract of not more than 150 words that succinctly describes the question(s) motivating the research, the data and methods used, and what the paper contributes or expects to contribute to the knowledge or understanding of religion. The submission deadline is March
1, 2012.

Submissions Open: January 15, 2012 (see https://www.sssrweb.org)
Submissions Close: March 1, 2012
Decision Notification: April 5, 2012

Please direct questions to: Ryan T. Cragun, Program Chair, University of Tampa 401 W Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33603 ,
(813) 434-1458 rcragun@ut.edu; ryantcragun@gmail.com

Call for Papers: Symposium on Digital Religion

Organized by the Donner  Institute, 13-15 June 2012 in Ã…bo / Turku, Finland at the Ã…bo Akademi University

The conference “Digital Religion” aims to explore the complex relationship between religion and digital technologies of communication. Digital religion encompasses a myriad of connections between religion and digital technologies of communication and the goal of the conference is to approach the subject from multiple perspectives.

Developments in digital technologies are having a noticeably growing impact on the very character and nature of contemporary religious life and practice across the globe. Digital technologies of communication – epitomized in the continuing development and proliferation of the Internet and online modes of communication – are providing religious communities of virtually all strands with new means, environments and arenas within and through which to interact, express, and communicate their message in ways unknown to previous generations.  For many religious communities, this development has undoubtedly brought a whole host of challenges. Many religious communities today find themselves struggling with how to come to terms with a rapidly expanding
Internet-based communications environment that challenges traditional understandings of religious mediation and religious authority.

Nevertheless, there are also religious communities that have faced the challenges head on and come to thrive thanks to the new technologies or whose very existence is dependent on e.g. the Internet. From a scholarly perspective, this development is intimately connected to ongoing debates about the impact of accelerating processes of mediatization and digitalization on contemporary religious life and practice. Though religion has colonized many different forms of digital media, it has also doubtlessly been altered by the media. This process is, however, complex and moves in several directions. Though digital technologies no doubt transform religion and the contemporary religious landscape, religion too can be argued to have an impact on the digital
world.

Subjects for papers include but are not limited to the following:

  • Theoretical, methodological and historical approaches to “digital religion”
  • Empirical studies of “religion on line”, “online religion”, and the relation between “online” and “offline” religion
  • New media and transnational religious networks
  • Challenges and/or opportunities for religions by digital media
  • The Internet as an arena for religious/spiritual community
  • Authority and legitimacy in digital religion
  • Technological development and religious change
  • Religion and digital media: appropriations, configurations, impacts
  • Digital religion: generational, demographic, and geographical aspects
  • Religious communicational strategies and digital technologies

Keynote speakers: Ass. Prof. Heidi Campbell, Texas A & M University, Texas; Prof. Mia Lövheim, Uppsala University, Sweden; Prof. Jolyon Mitchell, University of Edinburg, UK; Dr. Marcus Moberg, Åbo Akademi University, Finland; Dr. Alexander Ornella, University of Hull, UK; Prof. Michael Pye, Phillips-Universität Marburg, Germany; Dr. Sofia Sjö, Åbo Akademi University, Finland

Application: Please send your application to give a paper, with a short abstract included, to the Donner Institute no later than February 15 2012. 20 minutes will be reserved for your lecture followed by 10 minutes for discussion.

Finally, we would like to inform you that the lectures will be published, in English, French or German, in volume 25 of the Donner
Institute series Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis. The published version of your lecture may be longer than the one you present at the symposium. We will be happy to receive a digital and publishable version of your lecture already at the symposium but no later than October 31 2012.

Registration: The registration fee is 150 €. (75 € for accompanying person) The fee should be paid by the end of April 2012. The registration fee includes an excursion and a banquet organised in connection with the symposium.

Address: Donner institute, PB 70, FIN-20501 Ã…bo / Turku,  Finland
E-mail: donner.institute@abo.fi
Tel.: +358 20 786 1450

The Religious Studies Project: Podcasts and Resources on the Contemporary Social-Scientific Study of Religion

The Religious Studies Project, in association with the British Association for the Study of Religions and with some support from the University of Edinburgh, launched in January 2012. This is a website and podcasting project, featuring a weekly audio interview (of around 30 minutes) with leading scholars of Religious Studies (RS) and related fields. So far, these have featured James Cox, Armin Geertz, Carole Cusack, Donald Wiebe and Graham Harvey speaking on topical issues, novel approaches and important scholars and methodologies of Religious Studies in the 21st Century. Future interviews include Grace Davie, Jay Demerath, Callum Brown, Linda Woodhead and many more.

In addition, the website also features weekly articles from postgraduate students and other scholars on the themes of the interview that week, in addition to other useful resources and articles relevant to teachers and students of religion in the modern world.

If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute please contact editors@religiousstudiesproject.com

Website: www.religioustudiesproject.com
Twitter: @ProjectRS
Facebook: The Religious Studies Project
iTunes: The Religious Studies Project

Yours sincerely,
Christopher Cotter, David Robertson, Louise Connelly (editors)
University of Edinburgh

IAHR African Trust Fund Research & Publication Grant Applications for 2012


 

The IAHR African Trust Fund herewith young scholars in particular of any ethnic/national origin, working and/or studying in any higher academic or research institution on the African continent (and nearby islands), whose research project needs financial support or whose publication in an African publishing house (scientific journal) requires a subsidy.

Grant Amount: The total grant allocation for 2012 is US$4000. There will be two awards at the level of US$1000 and four awards at the level of US$500.

Eligibility Criteria: Applicants have to be scholars resident in Africa and associated with any higher academic or research institution within this context. We especially encourage applications from members to the IAHR member associations, namely the African Association for the Study of Religion (AASR), the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa (ASRSA), the East African Association for the Study of Religion (EAASR) and the Nigerian Association for the Study of Religion (NASR).

Evaluation Mechanism & Criteria: Applications will be evaluated by the Board of Trustees of the IAHR African Trust Fund, and the board will consult specialists in the relevant fields when needed. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  1. The originality, quality, importance and impact of the proposed study as it relates to the historical, social and comparative study of religion in the African continent (and nearby islands).
  2. Adherence to the best practices of research methodology and theory employed.
  3. The relevance of the study to the African continent (and nearby islands).

Submission Deadlines: Applications are open till 15th March 2012. Grant-winning applicants will be announced on 30th March 2012. Note that all grants will be awarded to the successful applicants in April 2012.

Conditions of Grants: Applicants who receive the grant should submit a copy of the publication or a research report (of no less than 5 pages) that summarises the project’s findings to the IAHR African Trust Fund. The publication or completed research project should acknowledge the support received in the form of an IAHR African Trust Fund Grant. The IAHR African Trust Fund will be allowed to reproduce or report the summary and parts of the report on the IAHR website, annual reports, and any other document or medium for the purpose of informing its stakeholders on the study findings. In all these publications, the authorship of the research will be clearly attributed to the applicant.

Application Form: Send a brief covering letter addressed to the IAHR African Trust Fund stating that your submission is for consideration for the IAHR African Trust Fund Grant and include the following required materials:

  1. Name of Applicant
  2. Email, Telephone Number and Mailing Address of the Applicant
  3. Name of University, Department, Research Centre or Institute
  4. Name(s) of IAHR African Member Association(s)
  5. Title of Research/Publication Proposal
  6. A research proposal of not more than four single-spaced pages detailing the aims/objectives, specific research questions, methodology and theoretical issues, the rationale and plan of research ( time frame), and a detailed, one-page budget should be attached, indicating the amount being applied for and the exact purposes for which it will be used. If application is for only publication purposes, also indicate to what specific journal or book and evidence of what sum is required for such publication.
  7. Brief curriculum vitae and a statement of qualifications that specifically addresses the research project.
  8. Include two letters of reference from senior scholars, one of whom MUST be a member, preferably an executive member of the IAHR member associations.

Completed applications forms are to be submitted as an electronic copy file in PDF or MS Word format in an attachment via email to the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees, Dr. Afe Adogame [A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk].

Please include in the electronic copy file the applicant’s last name e.g. Elizabeth.pdf / Elizabeth.doc. The subject line in the email should read “IAHR African Trust Fund Application 2012” – Note, no hard copies will be accepted.

For more information on the IAHR African Trust Fund Applications, please contact the Secretary of the African Trust Fund Board of Trustees at A.Adogame@ed.ac.uk