The latest newsletter of the ISA’s Research Committee for the Sociology of Religion has been posted online. Click here or on the image to download the newsletter from the RC22 website.
Category Archives: ISA-RC22
ISA RC-22 Newsletter #16: Call for Paper Proposals for the 2018 Toronto World Congress
Dear Colleagues,
I have attached a copy of the latest RC-22 newsletter. It is short, focused on the Call for Paper Proposals for the 2018 ISA World Congress in Toronto, Canada.
As usual, the deadline for proposals is early: September 30, 2017, at 24:00 GMT. The ISA uses a computer-based system for accepting papers, so I urge you to submit your proposals early. Computers always seem to fail at the last minute, and I cannot guarantee to fix technical problems for you.
The newsletter also contains information about the Varga Prize — an award for the best new paper by a young scholar. That award provides money plus funding to present the paper at the World Congress.
Please circulate this newsletter widely.
Best wishes,
Jim Spickard
RC-22 President
(If you have trouble viewing the newsletter, there is a copy online at http://isa-rc22.org/newsletters/
Call for Papers: ISA Research Committee on the Sociology of Religion (RC22)
XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology
Power, Violence, and Justice: Reflections, Responses, and Responsibilities
Toronto, Canada, July 15-21, 2018
RESEARCH COMMITTEE 22: SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
Religion, Power, and Resistance: New Ideas for a Divided World
Program Coordinators:
Anna Halafoff, Deakin University, Australia
Sam Han, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Caroline Starkey, University of Leeds, UK
Current environmental, economic, social, and political challenges indicate that people are losing faith in existing power structures and mechanisms for coping with crises. This creates increasingly divided societies, riven by ideological battles for the future of the human and the more than human world. Religion has a place in this picture. Not only is it often a source of divisions; it can also be a source for alternative means of addressing them.
These divisions take new and as yet unclear shapes, which sociologists are only now beginning to comprehend. It is not enough to refer to the struggle between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’, terms that dominated sociology through the 1970s. Nor do the tropes ‘colonialism vs. anti-colonialism’ and the ‘clash of civilizations’ adequately explain what is going on. Nor, arguably, does ‘populism vs neo-liberalism’ fully capture such things as the recent clashes between cosmopolitan and anticosmopolitan actors in the major Western democracies. Each of these has a piece of the picture; none of them captures it all.
What is religion’s role in this situation: as a creator of divisions, as a locus of power, and as a ground of resistance? How does religion influence our divided societies? How is religion influenced in turn?
We invite paper abstract submissions for the following RC22 sessions:
Religion and National Identity
Religion and Secularity
Religion and Non-Violent Social Movements
Religion, Gender and Family Violence
Religion in the East Asian Public Sphere
Religion in the Public Square
Social Theory and Religion
Religion and Migration: Contrasting First and Second Generations
Dynamics of Gender, Religion, and Intersectionality
Prejudice, Exclusion, and Violence in a Transnational World
Media and Religious Radicalization: Gatekeeping and the Construction of Extremism
Gender, Feminism, and Islam and the West
Candlelight Revolution and Religion in South Korea
Religious Texts of Diversity Vs Exclusion
We will also be including the following invited sessions in our RC22 program:
Presidential Address: Whither the Sociology of Religion? (Invited Session)
Session Organizer: James SPICKARD, University of Redlands, USA
Religion and Diversity: An International Study (Invited Session)
Session Organizer: Lori BEAMAN, University of Ottawa, Canada
Diffused Religion. Beyond Secularization – Author Meets Critic Session (Invited Session)
Session Organizer: Roberto CIPRIANI, University Roma Tre, Italy
The Case for an Indeterminate Sociological Theory of Religion (Invited Session)
Session Organizer: Tak-ling WOO, York University, Canada
The ISA CONFEX website site is now accepting paper abstracts between 25 April and 30 September 2017 24:00 GMT.
https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/wc2018/webprogrampreliminary/Symposium459.html
Please address any questions to the Program Coordinators:
Anna Halafoff: anna.halafoff@deakin.edu.au
Sam Han: HanSam@ntu.edu.sg
Caroline Starkey: C.Starkey@leeds.ac.uk
Call for Comments: IPSP report on "Rethinking Society for the 21st Century"
The International Panel on Social Progress invites comments on its first draft until the end of Dec. 2016
Browse the report on https://comment.ipsp.org/
The first draft of the report of the International Panel of Social Progress (IPSP), “Rethinking Society for the 21st Century”, is out now! We welcome comments on the online platform https://comment.ipsp.org/
This report is a product of a global initiative. It is the first comprehensive synthesis of state-of-the-art social sciences knowledge about key issues facing humankind today, and the first collaborative and participatory initiative of its kind.
Key features include:
- Written by more than 250 leading academics from all around the world
- Takes a holistic approach to social progress: not only the economy, but health, education, gender relations, political participation
- Focuses on the consequences of globalization and inequality, with a normative focus on the pursuit of justice broadly understood
- Identifies scholarly consensus as well as disagreements
- Each chapter concludes with advice to change-makers
The first international collaborative document of its kind, the report highlights the direct relevance of scholarly knowledge to social and political change, and is eventually to be published by Cambridge University Press.
In the meantime, it is open to wide public discussion. We invite comments from all concerned citizens – including, but not exclusively, NGOs, think tanks, and social entrepreneurs. Comments entered on the online platform before the end of 2016 will feed the final version of the report. Please comment, circulate and advertise widely!
ISA-RC22 Newsletter #14–September, 2016
The ISA’s Research Committee 22 (Sociology of Religion) has just issued its 14th newsletter. It is available on the RC22 website at: http://isa-rc22.org/newsletters/ It contains a report from the recent ISA 3rd Forum of Sociology (in Vienna), news about the next ISA World Congress, a guide to how to publish in ISA journals (by one of the journal editors), a report on the state of sociology of religion in Latin America, and a discussion-starter about the current state of theory in the sociology of religion.
Click the picture to download a copy.
(For those who don’t know, RC22 hosts this news and events blog.)
Jim Spickard
RC22 President
University of Redlands
president@isa-rc22.org
RC-22 Reminder: Propose papers for next July’s 3rd Forum of Sociology in Vienna!
Dear Colleagues,
I’m writing to remind you to propose papers for next July’s 3rd Forum of Sociology in Vienna. RC-22 will have at least 15 open sessions, which I’ve listed below. Please go to http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/rc/rc.php?n=RC22 for detailed descriptions and a link to the CONFEX online submission systems.
The deadline is September 30th — just 6 weeks away. All submissions have to go through CONFEX, so I suggest that you get yours in early. The last minute rush for the Yokohama conference created a major traffic jam. Don’t get caught in that! Put your proposal in now!
Vienna is a great place. I was there for a few days this July and enjoyed it tremendously. Program coordinator Vineeta Sinha, her co-coordinator Olga Breskaya, and I have some special things planned around the conference theme: “Religion, Secularity and Post-Secularity: Crafting Meaningful Futures”. We’d love to have you there.
Here are the session topics, with their organizers:
- The Categories of Religion and the Secular in the Post-Secular Discourse (Mitsutoshi Horii)
- Negotiating Religion and Citizenship in Global Context (Olga Breskaya)
- Religion in the Public Sphere (Enzo Pace and Orivaldo Lopes)
- Welfare and Civil Society: The Role of Religion (Per Pettersson)
- The Politics of Religious Heritage: Memory, Identity and Place (Mar Griera)
- From New Age and Spiritualities to Different World Views: Individualized Religious Beliefs, Autonomy Values and Individualized Morality (Tilo Beckers and Pascal Siegers)
- Religion, Gender, and the Internet (Anna Halafoff and Emma Tomalin)
- Topics and Forms of Religious Mobilization in Europe (Sinisa Zrinscak)
- Religious Trends Among Second Generations in Europe (Roberta Ricucci)
- Religious Radicalization (Inger Furseth)
- Religious Engagement and Spiritual Empowerment in Asian Countries: Quest for Human Security and Self-Fulfilment (Yoshihide Sakurai)
- Studying the African Diaspora Significance for Struggles Toward a Better World(Jualynne Dodson)
- World Religions and Axial Civilizations (Steven Kalberg & Said Arjomand)
- Religion, Plus and Minus: Human Rights; Inter-Religious Understanding; Peace and Violence. (NOTE: this will be three sessions, but the CONFEX computer system forces us to treat them as one session for now. Please specify the session in which you wish your paper to appear.)
- Religion and Human Rights (no organizer as yet)
- How to Build Better Understanding among Religions (Miroljub Jevtik)
- Religion, Peace, and Violence (Mohammad Ashphaq)
- A session co-sponsored with RC54: The Body in the Social Sciences: Rhythms and Rituals (Bianca Maria Pirani)
Please pass the word to others who would like to join us.
Best,
Jim
——————————————————————
James V. Spickard, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
University of Redlands
Redlands, California 92373
jim_spickard@redlands.edu
— President of Research Committee 22 (Sociology of Religion) of the International Sociological Association
RC-22 Call for Papers: 3rd Forum of Sociology, Vienna 10-14 July, 2016
RC–22 Call for Papers: “Religion, Secularity and Post-Secularity: Crafting Meaningful Futures”
The Third ISA Forum of Sociology “The Futures We Want: Global Sociology and the Struggles for a Better World’’ to be held in Vienna, 10-14 July, 2016.
Programme Co-ordinator: Vineeta Sinha (University of Singapore: socvs@nus.edu.sg) Assisted by Olga Breskaya (European Humanities University, Luthuania: olga.breskaya@ehu.lt)
PROGRAM THEME: The world’s current socio-economic and political turmoil has a profound impact on religious expressions, sensibilities and worldviews. Religious expressions and worldviews also affect the surrounding socio-economic and political spheres. Such dramatic changes produce disquiet, tumult and agitation but also open opportunities to question the status and create novel social possibilities.
Sociologists of religion face a number of challenges in understanding these interactions. Among these is the need to develop new theoretical and empirical approaches to our subject. Sociologists have long argued about the continuing place and value of religions in a secularizing and globalizing world . Although the notion of ‘post-secularity’ is hardly new, it has recently emerged forcefully (and somewhat fashionably) in attempts to theorise the visibility and relevance of religiosity in the world today.
CALL FOR PAPERS: We are seeking papers for the following sessions (listed with the organizer’s name(s)):
- The Categories of Religion and the Secular in the Post-Secular Discourse (Mitsutoshi Horii)
- Negotiating Religion and Citizenship in Global Context (Olga Breskaya)
- Religion in the Public Sphere (Enzo Pace and Orivaldo Lopes)
- Welfare and Civil Society: The Role of Religion (Per Pettersson)
- The Politics of Religious Heritage: Memory, Identity and Place (Mar Griera)
- From New Age and Spiritualities to Different World Views: Individualized Religious Beliefs, Autonomy Values and Individualized Morality (Tilo Beckers and Pascal Siegers)
- Religion, Gender, and the Internet (Anna Halafoff and Emma Tomalin)
- Topics and Forms of Religious Mobilization in Europe (Sinisa Zrinscak)
- Religious Trends Among Second Generations in Europe (Roberta Ricucci)
- Religious Radicalization (Inger Furseth)
- Religious Engagement and Spiritual Empowerment in Asian Countries: Quest for Human Security and Self-Fulfilment (Yoshihide Sakurai)
- Studying the African Diaspora Significance for Struggles Toward a Better World(Jualynne Dodson)
- World Religions and Axial Civilizations (Steven Kalberg & Said Arjomand)
- Religion, Plus and Minus: Human Rights; Inter-Religious Understanding; Peace and Violence. (NOTE: this will be three sessions, but the CONFEX computer system forces us to treat them as one session for now. Please specify the session in which you wish your paper to appear.)
- Religion and Human Rights (no organizer as yet)
- How to Build Better Understanding among Religions (Miroljub Jevtik)
- Religion, Peace, and Violence (Mohammad Ashphaq)
- Two sessions co-sponsored by with RC54: The Body in the Social Sciences (organized by Bianca Maria Pirani):
- Rhythms and Ritual
- Body and Synchrony in the Storytelling Era
HOW TO PROPOSE A PAPER: Starting 14 April, 2015, you can submit your proposals online at the International Sociological Association’s website. Paper submissions close on 30 September.
- A link will appear at http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/
- Paper proposals must be in English, French, or Spanish.
- Please also note that you must become an RC22 member to have your paper proposal accepted; you can join the Research Committee through the ISA website at http://www.isa-sociology.org/memb_i/index.htm
- In order to be included in the programme, all participants (presenters, chairs, discussants, etc.) must join the ISA and register for the Forum by the early registration deadline of 1 April, 2016. Without early registration and membership, presenters, chairs, etc. will not appear in the Programme Book or in the Abstracts Book.
IN ADDITION we will have:
- A Distinguished Lecture
- A Presidential Session on the topic: “Where Do We Go from Here? an Agenda for the Sociology of Religion”
- A Business Meeting / Reception / Party for RC-22 members and friends.
(Who says sociologists can’t have fun?)
Call for Session Proposals: 3rd Forum of Sociology in Vienna, July 2016. Research Committee on the Sociology of Religion
RC 22: Research Committee for the Sociology of Religion Call for Sessions:
“Religion, Secularity and Post-Secularity: Crafting Meaningful Futures”
The Third ISA Forum of Sociology “The Futures we want: Global Sociology and the struggles for a better world’’ to be held in Vienna, 10-14 July, 2016. (International Sociological Association)
Programme Co-ordinator: Vineeta Sinha (socvs@nus.edu.sg)
PROGRAM THEME: The world’s current socio-economic and political turmoil has a profound impact on religious expressions, sensibilities and worldviews. Religious expressions and worldviews also affect the surrounding socio-economic and political spheres. Such dramatic changes produce disquiet, tumult and agitation but also open opportunities to question the status and create novel social possibilities.
Sociologists of religion face a number of challenges in understanding these interactions. Among these is the need to develop new theoretical and empirical approaches to our subject. Sociologists have long argued about the continuing place and value of religions in a secularizing and globalizing world . Although the notion of ‘post-secularity’ is hardly new, it has recently emerged forcefully (and somewhat fashionably) in attempts to theorise the visibility and relevance of religiosity in the world today. This raises serious questions that deserve sociological attention. Among these:
- Do recent developments signal to some extent the passing of a ‘secularist’ moment?
- What is meant by ‘post-secularity’?
- Are we living in a post-secular age? Or are we merely looking forward to one?
- If so, what would religion look like is such a context?
- What effect religion could religion have in a rapidly changing world?
The objective of these thematic sessions is to theorise the complex religious landscapes in the present and to contemplate if, where, how and with what effect religions will manifest and organize themselves in a rapidly changing socio-political landscape.
CALL FOR SESSION PROPOSALS: We invite RC 22 members to propose sessions that deal with these complex issues. We especially welcome sessions that include cross-cultural and cross-national comparisons. Besides the thematic topics above, we also seek sessions that contribute to other recent debates within the field. Here are some ideas:
- any of the thematic ideas listed above
- religion in the public sphere
- popular religion
- religion, gender and feminism
- urban forms of religiosity
- material religion
- religious commodification and consumption
- religious revivalism and religious innovation in a global context
- other topics of interest.
Both thematic proposals and non-thematic proposals should address the multiple, complex and sometimes opposing strands and arguments on their topics in the social-scientific study of religion.
HOW TO PROPOSE A SESSION:
- If you wish to propose a session before February 2nd, please send an abstract (no more than 300 words), your full name, institutional affiliation, e-mail and a short bio to Vineeta Sinha (socvs@nus.edu.sg)
- Starting 2 February, 2015, you can submit your proposals online at the International Sociological Association’s website. A link will appear at http://www.isa-sociology.org/forum-2016/
- Session proposals must be in English, French, or Spanish.
Please also note that you must become an RC22 member to have your session proposal accepted; you can join the Research Committee through the ISA website at http://www.isa-sociology.org/memb_i/index.htm
In order to be included in the programme, all participants (presenters, chairs, discussants, etc.) must join the ISA and register for the Forum by the early registration deadline of 1 April, 2016. Without early registration and membership, presenters, chairs, etc. will not appear in the Programme Book or in the Abstracts Book.
The Research Committee on the Sociology of Religion (RC22) is the section of the International Sociological Association tasked with advancing theory and research in the sociology of religion, in the context of world sociology. Please visit our website at www.ISA-RC22.org for information about us and about our programs. Visit the ISA’s website at www.isa-sociology.org for information about our parent organization. Information about the Third Forum of Sociology can be found at http://www.isa-sociology.org/vienna-2016/
List of Members of the New ISA-RC22 Board
Dear RC22 friend and colleagues,
Please find below the new membership of the 2014-2018 RC22 board. Congratulations to all of them for their election and I am glad to see that with such an astonishing new board, RC22 will certainly be looked after very well. Please welcome them in their new capacity.
Adam Possamai
Past President, ISA-RC22
Board 2014-2018
President: James SPICKARD, University of Redlnads, USA
Vice-President: Per PETTERSSON, Upsala University, Sweden
Secretary/Treasurer: Eloísa MARTIN, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Board Members
Africa:
- Lovemore NDLOVU, Zimbabwe
- Michael OKYEREFO, University of Ghana, Ghana
Asia/Australia/Pacific:
- Yoshihide SAKURAI, Hokkaido University, Japan
Seyed Hossein SERAJZADEH. Kharazmi University of Tehran, Iran
Europe:
- Olga BRESKAYA, European Humanities University, Lithuania
- Miroljub JEVTIC, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Latin America:
- Eloísa MARTIN, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Hugo José SUAREZ, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México
North America:
- Jualynne DODSON, Michigan State University, USA
- Ephraim SHAPIRO, Columbia University, USA