Call for papers

Conference on “Transnational Religious Movements, Dialogue and Economic
Development: The Hizmet Movement in Comparative Perspective”

University of Turin, Turin (Italy), 10-11 December 2015

Transnational religious actors, and civil society faith-based movements
are a well-established reality of the contemporary world, which is
however still understudied especially at the comparative level. Only
recently, with the rise of transnational radical Islam, have religious
actors started to be regarded as influencing the international and
global systems, sparking a significant scholarly production. As a
consequence, much of the recent literature in this sub-field has focused
on pro-conflict radical and terrorist networks. However, in today’s
Europe there are notable cases of transnational faith-based movements
which are engaged in education and dialogue, as well as in the economic
field, with proposals for interesting new entrepreneurial models merging
free-trade principles and social/moral concerns. This conference aims at
contributing to a better comprehension of this phenomenon.

Its first day will focus on a relevant example of dialogue-oriented
group: the Hizmet movement, inspired by the Turkish preacher Fethullah
Gülen, which is portrayed by many as an example of modern, ‘enlightened’
Islam, oriented towards dialogue and co-operation rather than conflict.
In recent years the movement has been the focus of extensive
international scholarship – both appreciative and critical – dealing
with its founder and his teachings, its schools in Turkey and abroad,
its relations with Turkish politics and society and the role of women
therein. Although many interesting works exist about its development in
countries other than Turkey, so far few coherent efforts have been made
to understand its development at the transnational level. This is true
particularly in relation to comparative works which can highlight the
common points and the differences between the movement and other
religious groups, either within Islam or belonging to other religious
traditions. This conference aims at filling that gap by including papers
addressing the Hizmet movement in its transnational perspective: either
by analysing its activities, development and institutionalisation in
different countries, or by comparing it to other dialogue-oriented
religious movements. Different disciplinary perspectives, from political
science to sociology, anthropology and law, as well as different
methodological perspectives, are welcomed.

The second day of the conference will address more broadly the field of
contemporary religious movements by focusing on the economic and
entrepreneurial activities carried out by faith-based groups and the
economic models which inspired them. The above-mentioned Hizmet movement
is an example of a religious movement successfully engaged in several
entrepreneurial activities, particularly in the education and media
fields. However, religion-related entrepreneurship is widespread also in
the Christian world, as shown for example by the Focolare movement,
which inspired the ‘communion’ or ‘civil’ economy, marked by a strong
solidaristic orientation within the free-market economy. Moreover, some
‘new’ religious movements which are not part of ‘traditional’ religions
also propose interesting entrepreneurial activities in a
neo-communitarian perspective strongly marked by spiritual values. This
section of the conference welcomes contributions about the relationship
between religious movements and economy, both through single-case
studies and broader comparative and theoretical works.

The conference is funded by the University of Turin and the Compagnia di
SanPaolo Foundation, and co-sponsored by the ‘Religion and Politics’
standing group of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR),
the IPSA RC43 ‘Religion and Politics’ Research Group and the Istituto
Tevere based in Rome. It will take place on 10-11 December 2015 and will
be hosted by the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society of the
University of Turin (Italy) at the Luigi Einaudi Campus (CLE).

Prospective paper givers can send a proposal of up to 250 words, as well
as any enquiry, to the scientific coordinator of the conference, Dr.
Luca Ozzano, at the address: luca.ozzano@unito.it, and to the
organization assistant, Dr. Chiara Maritato, at the address:
chiara.maritato@unito.it.

The deadline for paper proposals is 15 September 2015.

EASR 2016 Conference
Relocating Religion
Helsinki 28 June – 1 July 2016
Annual conference of the EASR
Special conference of the IAHR

Welcome to the annual conference of the European Association for the
Study of Religions (EASR) that will be held from 28 June – 1 July 2016,
at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The theme of the conference is
Relocating religion.

Religion has always been a moving concept. Throughout history, it has
changed place, shape, function and content; conceptions of religion have
been dependent on theoretical or political interests and strategies.
Religion can be framed as a means of identity-work, world-building and
well-being, but it can also be perceived as a consumer good or a
security threat. Due to the open, fragile, and inherently negotiable
nature of the category of ‘religion’, rigid definitions produce
simplistic and distorted representations of the complexities involved in
the formation of religious phenomena. At the same time, attempts to
define and redefine religion in various contexts are themselves an
important topic of research. All of this requires interdisciplinary
scholarly imagination and critical new approaches.

In recent scholarship, religious change has been conceptualized from a
variety of theoretical perspectives. When focusing on the modern period,
some scholars speak about the vitalization of religions, secularization
and post-secularity, while others refer to re-sacralization and
re-enchantment. Concurrently, the need for more knowledge and
understanding not only of religion, but also of secularization, secular
positions and non-religion has been underlined. Many of these
perspectives highlight the significance of religious change as a
cultural and social phenomenon. Such perspectives are, however, equally
applicable to the study of religious transformations in other contexts
than the modern period. The conference will offer the opportunity to
explore changes and continuities in the forms, practices and
implications of religion at all levels of societies and cultures, in the
past as well as in the present.

Language of the conference is English.

The keynote speakers are:

Giovanni Filoramo, University of Turin
Anne-Marie Korte, University of Utrecht
James R. Lewis, University of Tromsø
Linda Woodhead, University of Lancaster

CALL FOR PAPERS

Call for session proposals:
1 September to 30 October 2015

We invite proposals for closed sessions (with a fixed chair and
speakers) and open sessions (with a chair and a theme).

Notification of acceptance:
15 November 2016 at the latest

Call for individual papers:
15 November to 31 December 2015

Notification of acceptance:
15 February 2016 at the latest

Registration:
15 February to 1 May 2016

Organizers: The conference will be organized by the Study of Religions
at the University of Helsinki in collaboration with the Finnish Society
for the Study of Religion, Comparative Religion at the Åbo Akademi
University and the Donner Institute, Turku.

Welcome: On behalf of the organizing committee, cordially welcome to
Helsinki,

Tuula Sakaranaho, President of the conference
Heidi Rautalahti, Conference secretary

For further information, please, contact:
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/easr-2016/

Call for Papers

Religion, Gender, and the Internet

ISA Research Committee (RC) 22
The Third ISA Forum of Sociology
The Futures We Want: Global Sociology and the Struggles for a Better World
Vienna, 10-14 July, 2016

Session Organizer(s)

Anna HALAFOFF, Deakin University, Australia, anna.halafoff@deakin.edu.au
Emma TOMALIN, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, e.tomalin@leeds.ac.uk
Caroline STARKEY, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, trs6cf@leeds.ac.uk

There is an emerging literature on women, religion and the Internet
investigating a wide range of virtual interactions in different
contexts. The internet is a gendered social space where the inequalities
and prejudices within religions in the offline world can be both
reinforced and challenged. To what extent does “digital religion” offer
a “third space” where traditional authority structures can be challenged
in ways that might not be possible in the offline environment (Hoover
and Echchaibi, 2012)? Or does the fact of the digital divide mean that
access to the Internet is skewed in favour of literate women in
economically privileged positions with access to modern technologies?

We will explore, and encourage submissions on, case studies about
religious and/or spiritual womens’ digital networks, practices and
activism. Is there something new or distinctive about online feminist
religious and/or spiritual engagement? How is the Internet being used in
radicalisation of women and also in deradicalisation strategies? And
what methods and theories are applicable for researching women and
“digital religion”?

Please submit your proposals online at the International Sociological
Association’s website. Paper submissions close on 30 September:

http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/rc/rc.php?n=RC22

3rd International Scientific Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions

LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER: BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Vilnius, Lithuania

23-24 October, 2015

Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University

Call for Papers

Life here and hereafter is considered to be one of the core concerns of an individual throughout the history of humanity. Quest for the meaning of life, role of death, possibilities of life after death are challenged with a broad scope of perceptions, reflections and expressions among various spiritual and religious traditions, emerging spiritualities, groups and individuals.

This conference addresses the topic of life here and hereafter and focuses on beliefs and practices of diverse origins, their formation, spread and expressions. It also focuses on the past and current representations of the phenomenon in specific regions and worldwide, discussing its diverse manifestations and changes concerning institutional and individual religiosities on (trans)national and (trans)regional levels.

The conference welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions from various disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary approaches towards beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter. Of particular interest are those that combine perspectives and methods drawn from all social sciences and humanities on historical, present, and newly emerging approaches towards conceptions, manifestations and representations, as well as research methods, issues and problems, and new directions in studies of this phenomenon.

The 3rd Conference of the Lithuanian Society for the Study of Religions Life Here and Hereafter: Beliefs and Practices will be held on October 23-24, 2015 at Vilnius University, Vilnius. We welcome scholars from religious studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, political science, and other disciplines to contribute to historical and contemporary studies of the role and manifestations of the phenomenon of life here and hereafter, in this way enriching its academic understandings. We expect individual paper proposals as well as panel proposals with three to four presentations.

We invite papers and panels including, but not limited to the following topics:

• Methodological implications, challenges and issues

• Life here and hereafter and their socio-cultural representations

• Death and dying related beliefs and practices

• Divinations, predictions and prophecies

• The role of individuals and institutions in practices related to beliefs in life here and hereafter

• Life here, hereafter and cultural memory

• Life here and hereafter: religious and secular approaches

• Life, dying and afterlife in traditional religious groups and churches in the past and in the 21st century

• Life here and hereafter within contemporary spirituality, individual religiosity, combined forms of organized and individual religions

• Institutional arrangements, development and changes of beliefs and practices within the domain of life here and hereafter

• Afterlife and social imagination

• Life here and hereafter in the public sphere

• Life here and hereafter in the popular culture

Please submit a 250-300 words abstract of your presentation accompanied by a short CV by e-mail to: religiousstudieslt@gmail.com by July 1, 2015. If you are interested in another topic related to the study of life here and hereafter, we encourage you to organize a session/panel. In this case, please submit a 200-300 words proposal by July 1, 2013 to the same email address.

The authors of accepted proposals will be notified by July 15, 2015.

Key dates
Submission of paper and session/panel proposals – July 1, 2015
Notification of acceptance and opening of the registration – July 15, 2015
The final date of the registration for the conference – September 15, 2015
Final program – September 20, 2015

Fees

Conference fee (50 Euro) may be paid by bank transfer or in cash (not by card) at the registration desk.

The costs of travel and lodging should be covered by the participants.

Special events
Participants of the conference will be offered excursion in Vilnius city.

Organisers: dr. Eglė Aleknaitė (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Milda Ališauskienė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Audrius Beinorius (Vilnius University), assoc. prof. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University), dr. Rasa Pranskevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University), prof. Egdūnas Račius (Vytautas Magnus University), assoc. prof. Annika Hvithamar (Copenhagen University).

Any conference related queries are to be sent to the conference email address. More information is available at https://en.religijotyra.lt/

Call for Papers: Postgraduate Conference - Re-thinking Boundaries in the Study of Religion and Politics

Proposal Deadline: 19th June 2015

11-12 September 2015

Linklater Rooms, University of Aberdeen

A common approach to the study of religion and politics frames the
inquiry using boundaries. Such boundaries include religion/secular,
private/public, belief/practice and theism/atheism, to name just a few.
It may be argued that these categorisations are analytically useful in
understanding social phenomena because, for example, what is ‘religious’
should be analysed in relation to what is ‘secular.’ Another approach
may instead point to the problem with the construction of such binaries
in that empirically these distinctions become blurred, so that framing
an action, for example as ‘public’ or ‘private’, does not reflect the
diversity of human experience. The various approaches to the study of
these boundaries meet different critiques. For one, it may be argued
that the use of these categories does not always provide adequate
contextual, historical or empirical consideration, and may then fall
victim to generalisation. On the other hand, it may also be argued that
the way these boundaries have been constructed should be critically
addressed to shed light on the reasons they are often sustained
analytically despite their empirical blurriness. Therefore, the
conference aims to provide a space for participants to engage in a
constructive dialogue on how to think about these boundaries. The
committee is trying to move beyond noting the blurriness between these
categories of thought, and instead seek to examine the consequences of
these boundaries by creating a space for interdisciplinary dialogue.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• What kinds of boundaries do scholars of religion work with?
• What are the political/social/cultural/theological consequences and
  implications of critically approaching these boundaries?
• What does such an examination say about the subject of post-secularity?
• What kinds of frameworks help to bridge together a critical analysis
  of these boundaries whilst taking into account agency and the life
  experiences of individuals?
• What is the dynamic relationship between these boundaries when
  thinking about them as categories of analysis and also of action?
• How is such an examination important in depicting relations between
  religion and social and cultural outlooks, including politics, law,
  education and theology in contemporary societies?
• What is the political and how might our understanding of politics
  develop from examining these categories?
• In relation to the conference theme, what does faith-based mean?

The conference organisers welcome postgraduate researchers interested in
exploring how closer attention to the ways in which such boundaries are
constructed can be meaningfully questioned to engage with working
research questions. Methodological approaches may include both empirical
studies (both qualitative and quantitative) and theoretical analysis.
The conference invites those studying in a variety of disciplinary
fields within the Humanities and Social Sciences with the intention of
creating interdisciplinary engagement. Additionally, the conference
welcomes applications from those studying contemporary contexts within
any geographical area.

We welcome presentations on any of the following:

· Research papers for submission to academic journals
· Research findings or excerpts from a PhD thesis
· Methodological or research design ideas for a PhD thesis
· Masters papers in the final stages with a view to continuing into a
PhD programme

Delegates will benefit from hearing lectures given by scholars in the
field. They will also gain further presentation experience, receive
feedback on their work and establish networks with other early career
researchers with overlapping research interests. Scholars from the
University of Aberdeen will provide feedback on presentations.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

· Abby Day (Goldsmiths University of London, University of Kent)
· Timothy Fitzgerald (University of Stirling)

Additionally, part of the conference will be organised as a workshop to
give participants the opportunity to take part in theme-specific talks.
These workshops will be facilitated by University of Aberdeen academics.
Details will follow once all proposals are received.

Tentative themes will be:

1) approaching the category of Islam from empirical to analytical,
2) gender and non-belief,
3) religion and politics as categories of the modern state.

Please submit your proposal of a maximum 250 words and a short CV to
Sarah Hynek at r01seh11@abdn.ac.uk by the deadline of 19 June 2015.

Proposals that arrive after this deadline without a particular reason
will not be accepted. The conference is free of charge (lunch and
refreshments will be provided). Hotel accommodation on the evening of 11
September will be reserved and the costs covered. Attendees are expected
to arrange and pay for their own travel expenses.

Presenters will be allotted 15 minutes for their presentation and 15
minutes for discussion. Those in the early stages of research presenting
their methodology or research design will be allotted 10 minutes to
present and 10 minutes for discussion.

Please do not hesitate to contact the email address indicated above
should you have any inquiries. We look forward to receiving a proposal
from you.

Conference Committee

Sarah Hynek
Yutaka Osakabe