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Power/Religion: A Revanche of Reaction or a Metaphor of Revolution?

Power/Religion: A Revanche of Reaction or a Metaphor of Revolution?

Venues: Helsinki (University of Helsinki) and St Petersburg (European University at St Petersburg and Russian Christian Academy for Humanities)

Date: September 10-15, 2013

After a short-lived belief in the secularization of societies, religion has returned to the political arena with a vengeance. It is one of the most controversial but also determining political issues in today’s world. But is religion a reactionary force or does it involve revolutionary potentiality? This three-day international conference addresses questions pertaining to the relationship between power, politics, and religion.

Schedule

Wednesday September 11

Conference venue: Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki (Address: Fabianinkatu 24)

10:00 Opening words

10:15 – 10:45 Roland Boer (University of Newcastle), “Translating Religion and Politics: An Alternative Model.”

10:45 – 11:15 Niko Huttunen (University of Helsinki), “How Fantasy Becomes True: Paul between Political Realism and Eschatological Fantasy.”

11:15 – 11:45 Sergei Prozorov (University of Helsinki), “Pussy Riot and the Politics of Profanation.”

11:45 – 13:15 Lunch

13:15 – 13:45 Chin Ken Pa (Chung Yuan Christian University), “W. T. Chu’s Jesus the Proletarian.”

13:45 – 14:15 Olli-Pekka Moisio (University of Jyväskylä), “Max Horkheimer on Religion as a Resistance and Hope.”

14:15 – 14:45 Sergey Kozin (University of Newcastle), “Bakhtin: Between Hammer and Anvil, Christianity and Marxism.”

Coffee break

15:15 – 15:45 Sanna Tirkkonen (University of Helsinki), “Power, Religion and Justice: Foucault on the Cult of Dionysus.”

15:45 – 16:15 Lars T. Lih (McGill University) “Shield of Aeneas: Ancient and Modern Narratives of World-historical Mission.”

16:15 – 16:45 Philip Chia (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) “Occupy Central: Scribal Resistance in Daniel, the Long Road to Universal Suffrage”

16:45 – 17:00 Discussion

Thursday September 12

Conference venue: European University at St Petersburg (Address: #3 Gagarinskaya Street)

14:00 Opening words

14:15 – 14:45 Joseph Bartlett (Indiana University), “Extremism for Love: Horkheimer beyond the Age of Islamic Terror.”

14:45 – 15:15 Jouni Tilli (University of Jyväskylä), “‘We should obey the nation state and God rather than men’: Lutheran Metanoia and the Politics of Obedience.”

15:15 – 15:45 Mika Ojakangas (University of Jyväskylä), “From Political Theology to Theological Politics.”

Coffee break

16:15 – 16:45 Youzhuang Geng (Renmin University of China), “The Rhetoric of Icons: from Image to Voice.”

16:45 – 17:15 Markku Koivusalo (University of Helsinki), “The Theological Structure of the 20th Century Extreme Political Thought”

17:15 – 17:45 Artemy Magun (European University, St Petersburg), TBA

17:45 – 18:00 Discussion

Friday September 13

Conference venue: European University at St Petersburg (Address: #3 Gagarinskaya Street)

11:00 – 11:30 Christina Petterson (Humboldt University of Berlin), “‘Der Mensch muß immer im Streit seÿn’: Zinzendorf and the ideology of Language.”

11:30 – 12:00 Elisa Heinämäki (University of Helsinki), “What is Radical about Radical Pietism?”

12:00 – 12:30 Ali Al-Hakim (The I.C. – University of Middlesex), “Shi’ah’s Standpoint between Revolutionaries and Quietists.”

12:30 – 12:45 Discussion

12:45 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 17:30 special section for additional Russian participants (in Russian), venue: Russian Christian Academy for Humanities (#15 nab. Fontanki floor 5)