International Islamophobia-Conference in Salzburg/Austria

Jointly Sponsored by the Department of Political Science at University of Salzburg and Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at the Center for Race and Gender in University of California Berkeley.

October 09th and 10th, 2014
CfP Abstract Deadline: June 10th, 2014

https://jahrbuch-islamophobie.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/International-Islamophobia-Conference-in-Salzburg.pdf

Comparative approaches to studying Islamophobia

While in the Anglo-Saxon world, Islamophobia has been studied mostly in a comparative setting with racism, and Islamophobia in the United States has often been analyzed by looking at experiences of anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, and Orientalism, many authors in central Europe and especially in German speaking countries put their focus of a comparison with insights from anti-Semitism-studies. All of these comparative approaches to investigating Islamophobia entailed not only serious questions of the possibilities and borders of comparing these phenomena, but also heavy reactions in public debates linked to the collective memory of the Holocaust, modern anti-Semitism and the history of slavery and colonialism.

This conference aims not only to reflect these public debates and their inherent implications, but also to bring together divergent approaches to the study of Islamophobia as well as to a comparative approach in Islamophobia Studies. Case studies as well as theoretical reflections are welcomed. Submit a 300 word abstract and a 50 word short biography (to be used for advertising materials) to Dr. Farid Hafez at fh2300@columbia.edu

Conference Deadlines:

Abstract Deadline: June 10th, 2014
Acceptance Letters: July 10th, 2014
Final Paper Submission Deadline: August 30th, 2014 Final Program September 15th, 2014

Registration:
Links: UC Berkeley Islamophobia Con, Jahrbuch für Islamophobieforschung

Venue: University of Salzburg, Rudolfskai 42, A-5020 Salzburg (details and possible funding for coverage of stay following).

Papers presented at the conference will have the possibility of being published.

Swiss Metadatabase of Religious Affiliation in Europe (SMRE)

Religious Affiliation in Europe - an Empirical Problem

The role of religion in European societies has become a prominent topic of public and academic debate. In the context of contemporary European societies questions concerning religion figure large when it comes to identities and social integration. The role of the different Christian traditions, the degree of secularization and the status of more recently immigrated religious minorities, especially of Muslims, are contested.
Consequently, statistics on religious affiliation are frequently used (or mis-used) as political arguments. Data on religious affiliation are regularly brought forward in debates about the strength, predominance and acceptance of various religious groups.

Despite the growing importance of this statistical information, social science research has thus far paid little attention to the question of religious affiliation and its precise measurement. In fact, social scientists (as well as politicians) use figures on religious affiliation which, to the surprise of an empirically minded researcher, vary greatly. Moreover, for Europe as a whole as for important European countries such as France and Great Britain it is currently impossible to give reliable figures on the religious affiliation of its population.

The Swiss Metadatabase of Religious Affiliation in Europe (SMRE) has been set up to change this situation. Over the course of three years, data from a wide range of sources have been collected by two researchers from the University of Lucerne. These data were integrated into a new database designed especially for this purpose. The SMRE-base is part of the subproject #4 of the university research program Religion und gesellschaftliche Integration in Europa (REGIE) at the University of Lucerne, which funded its first phase of development. The new metadatabase includes statistics on religious affiliation for 42 European countries (including Turkey) covering two periods of reporting, namely 2000 (1996-2005) and 2010 (2006-2015).

The following pages introduce you to the project, its metadatabase and the essential findings from a first comparative analysis of our data.

https://www.smre-data.ch/

POST-DOCTORAL POSITION, RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, TWO YEARS (7-2014-6/2016)

This is a call for applications for one full-time post-doctoral position in European studies and politology of religion, based at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The researcher will work in the framework of a project funded by the Belgian scientific agency (FNRS), under the supervision of the principal investigator François Foret. Prospective candidates are hereby invited to submit their application as described below. The deadline for submitting applications is 15/5/2014, for a start on the 1/7/2014.

Presentation of the project “Importing God, exporting secularism? How the European Union deals with religion”

The European Union is commonly presented as an exceptionally “godless”
part of a world where religion still matters very much. However, under external pressures (from diplomatic crises to migrations), the EU would have to take religion back in by entering a post-secular era. The project aims at discussing these assumptions. The purpose is to see whether the resurgence of religion on the European agenda is internally- or externally-driven, what are its incentives and outcomes. Three working packages investigate the notion of European secularism; and how this European secularism is challenged from outside and within two EU policy sectors, foreign affairs and immigration.

Workloads linked to the post-doctoral mandate will include various contributions to the project, among others: state of the art of the debate about European secularism and « multiple modernities »; organizational analysis of political and policy structures of the EU dealing with migration and foreign affairs; interviews with civil servants, political representatives and members of civil society; management of online surveys; supervision of parliamentary debates and qualitative case studies.

The post-doc will be considered as a full member of the team and will co-sign some publications in peer-reviewed supports. He/she will have to fulfil the requirements but will also have opportunities for self-development in order to prepare subsequent steps in a scientific career. Experience in teaching will be considered. Management and communication tasks are also included.

Work environment and conditions
The research will be developed at the Centre d’étude de la vie politique (CEVIPOL), the main political science research unit of the ULB, and at the Institut d’études européennes (IEE), one of the oldest Jean Monnet Centres of Excellence in Europe. It will rely on a supportive interdisciplinary environment made of political scientists, internationalists, lawyers and historians working on European integration and interactions between religion and politics. The post-doc will evolve in a dynamic international network of collaboration with other universities (Cambridge, Georgetown, Geneva.). Travels and short research stays may be included in the activities. The hired person will have an office and relevant resources at the IEE-ULB. Living in Brussels for the two years period is required. The working contract will be managed by the university according to Belgian standards, in the conditions defined by the FNRS.

Following these conditions, “postdoctoral researchers must hold, since at the most 7 years on the date of the hiring, a doctoral academic degree obtained after the defense of a thesis”. The successful candidate must be in “international mobility”, meaning that he/she should not have lived or worked in Belgium more than 24 months in the last three years.
According to the experience of the candidate, the net salary will be around 2200 euros per month plus social security.

Your Profile:
- Ph.D. in political science or a directly related field (international relations, sociology.) with a focus on religion and politics - Proved expertise in EU politics at doctoral level
- Strong record in qualitative research and fieldwork (interviews, observation, documentary analysis.). Quantitative skills are an extra asset. - Experience with working in an international environment
- Very good command of English and preferably French
- Ability to work in a team, to meet deadlines and to combine autonomy with respect of guidelines

How to apply
The candidate will be selected on the basis of the quality of his/her CV, research achievements, motivation and congruence with the project.
The following application documents are to be consolidated into a single PDF file sent per email to: Michela Arcarese (marcarese@ulb.ac.be)
- a one-page motivation letter explaining the candidate’s interest in collaborating to the project
- a curriculum vitae listing all academic qualifications, relevant research experience and previous publications - name, mail and phone number of three referees to be contacted if necessary
- a copy of the PhD and master diploma The position is for two years, from July 2014 to end of June 2016.

A phone or face-to-face interview may be organized if necessary Applications are welcome till 15/5/2014. Short-listed candidates will be informed in the second half of May and the final decision will be taken in early June. For further inquiries, please contact Prof. François Foret (fforet@ulb.ac.be).

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Dr Suha Shakkour and I are editing a volume on Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion to be published by Bloomsbury in 2015. The volume will simultaneously be published in hardback, paperback and e-book versions and will be aimed at both student and academic audiences

An number of academics are contributing to this book project which we hope we lead to a benchmark text for students and colleagues studying both ‘religion online’ and ‘online religion’. We are now seeking a few more chapters and this is an invitation to colleagues with relevant research expertise to send us an expression of interest. Further details are appended below.

Best wishes,

Sariya

Call for Chapter Contributions

Last date for submission of abstracts 31st March 2014

Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion

https://www.derby.ac.uk/digital-methodologies-in-the-sociology-of-religion

In November 2012, Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor and Dr Suha Shakkour of the Centre for Society, Religion & Belief (SRB), University of Derby organised a one-day conference on Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion. This conference was funded by a grant from Digital Social Research (DSR). We have secured a contract with Bloomsbury for the publication of an edited volume on Digital Research Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion. This is be published simultaneously in hardback, paperback, and as an e-book in 2015. While we have already considerable high-quality contributions from the conference speakers, in order to enhance the depth and breadth of the book we are seeking a few additional contributors. Further details are provided below:

Context: Within an era of a growing reliance on digital technologies to instantly and effectively express our values, allegiances, and multi-faceted identities, the interest in digital research methodologies among Sociologists of Religion comes as no surprise (e.g. Bunt 2009; Cantoni and Zyga 2007; Cheruvallil-Contractor 2012, 2013 and Ostrowski 2006; Taylor 2003). However the methodological challenges associated with such research have been given significantly less attention. What are the epistemological underpinnings and rationale for the use ‘digital’ methodologies? What ethical dilemmas do sociologists face, including while protecting participants’ interests in digital contexts that are often perceived as anonymised and therefore ‘safe’? Implementing such ‘digital’ research also leads to practical challenges such as mismatched expectations of IT skills, limited access to specialized tools, project management and remote management of research processes.

The textbook we are editing will enable undergraduate and graduate students to understand the realities and complexities of undertaking digital research. With the above in mind, only one-third (as a maximum) of your chapter should relate to the findings and context of your research. Instead the chapters should focus on methodology and must consider the following questions:

a. Why and how did you decide to adopt a digital methodology in your research?

b. Please describe your chosen methodology – how did you theorise for it?

c. Please describe the practicalities of using this methodology

d. What obstacles did you face?

e. Choose one or two of these main obstacles and focus your chapter around these

f. While each chapter should consider the ethical implications of undertaking digital research, this should not be the main focus of every chapter - there are many different obstacles that students will face, and this book must cover as many of these as it can. Note also, that depending on how different the ethical implications in each of the chapters are, we may set these apart within each chapter in a ‘boxed text’ format. Therefore, it does not need to sit neatly in the rest of the paper.

g. What were the successes / benefits of using this methodology?

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, as well as the title of the chapter, name of the presenter, institutional affiliation, and preferred address to Dr Sariya Contractor (s.contractor@derby.ac.uk) and Dr. Suha Shakkour (s.shakkour@derby.ac.uk) by 5pm on Thursday 31st March 2014. Shortlisted contributors will be notified by 17th April 2014 and will be expected to submit full chapters (5000 words) by 21st June 2014. We particularly encourage chapters on Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Non-religious groups and on the New Religious Moments

CALL FOR PAPERS - ESA RN 34 MIDTERM CONFERENCE

We’re pleased to announce that the registration for the second bi-annual conference of the ESA Sociology of Religion Research Network in Belfast (3-5.September 2014) is now open.

See below for more information, including a reminder of key dates and deadlines, including 18 April for the submission of abstracts and 30 June for the end of reduced, early-bird registration fees.

Conference website: https://belfast2014.esareligion.org/

Dates & Deadlines in 2014

· March 14 Submission of abstracts and online registration starts (Please email your abstracts, both in the text of the email and as a Word attachment, to belfast2014. Abstracts can be submitted both for papers and the postgraduate posters and should not exceed 250 words.)

· April 18 Submission of abstracts ends

· May 9 Acceptance of abstracts

· June 30 Early-bird registration ends

· September 3 – 5 Conference

Contact: belfast2014

Details on fees and registration at:https://belfast2014.esareligion.org/fees/

Call for Papers of the section „Sociology of Religion“ for the sections’ session at the 37th Congress of the German Society of Sociology „Crises of Routines – Routines of Crisis“, October 6-10, 2014, in Trier (Germany)

Crisis of Religion or Crisis of Secularity?

In recent years a considerable amount of scholars speak of a return of the religious, of the religions, and even of the gods (Graf 2004). Hints at the growing public importance of religions in the context of new conflicts are as well taken as arguments as the examples of new phenomena of religiosity, spirituality or religious community building. This discussion given, the theory of secularization, which for decades had prevailed as paradigm, is often already classified as dead (Stark 1999), predominantly however as out-dated, obsolete or at least as being in a big crisis. And do not the further existence of religions and their public visibility support the existence of a post-secular society and arise at least doubts on the assertiveness of the secular (Habermas 2009)?

But some indications irritate and point also today in the direction of secularization. For example the number of members of religious organizations is as well shrinking as the portion of people, who classify themselves as religious. After all also the discussions on religion at the political level seem to run rather in the direction of a stricter separation between State and Church, or between Religion and Politics. And how are the disputes on Islamic fundamentalism and the abolishment of the transfer of state money to the Churches to be qualified? Are they religious communication, do they hint at the above mentioned greater public visibility of religion, or do they represent something totally different, which has only little to do with religion? Maybe this is about parallel development, that signify as well a crisis of religion as a crisis of the presumption of secularization – or none of both? Here arise the question, whether perhaps on the one and on the other side routines of interpretation (secularization, secularity, return of religions, post-secularity) have got fixed, that in society cannot be proved any more?

The announced session recur at this debate with regard to the question, whether presently we have to do with a crisis of religion or/and with a crisis of the in Europe up to now largely accepted presumption of secularity. Contributions are called for, that either theoretically or empirically deal with this question and submit an appropriate answer. Possible are case studies and internationally comparative studies for Europe. Especially desirable are contributions from this year’s guest country of the congress, Poland. Precisely Poland constitutes an interesting case which allows to test as well the maintenance of the social significance of religion as secularization (Hainz et al. 2014).

Meaningful abstracts of one to two pages are called for, that show as well the research approach, the theory used as the expectable answer to the core issue of the session. These abstracts are to be submitted until April 24, 2014 via e-mail to both following addresses: pickel@rz.uni-leipzig.de / m.hainz@hfph.de

Converties à l’islam. Parcours de femmes au Québec et en France, Géraldine Mossière, Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2013.

https://www.pum.umontreal.ca/catalogue/converties-a-lislam
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Mossiere+G&search-alias=books&text=Mossiere+G&sort=relevancerank

La conversion de femmes occidentales à l’islam est un phénomène intrigant, même s’il reste relativement marginal. Le peu que nous en connaissons est déformé par les préjugés et l’incompréhension. Mais qu’en est-il en réalité ?

L’anthropologue Géraldine Mossière, qui s’intéresse aux comportements religieux actuels et à ce qu’ils révèlent des sociétés modernes, a tenté de percer le mystère de Québécoises et de Françaises converties qui se sont confiées à elle au cours d’une enquête passionnante.

Dans cet ouvrage, elle invite le lecteur à découvrir les trajectoires personnelles et singulières de femmes converties, mais aussi à mieux comprendre la démarche de l’ethnographe dans cet univers exclusivement féminin.

Géraldine Mossière est anthropologue et professeure adjointe à la Faculté de théologie et de sciences des religions de l’Université de Montréal.