The Call for Papers is now open for our 2022 SocRel Annual Conference, taking place online between 4-6th July. Papers can be submitted via our online portal here, while you can find more information on aspects including registration and bursaries to support postgraduate, early career, retired, low income or unwaged SocRel members to present at the conference here.
The deadline for papers is March 4th 2022
Our keynotes include Dr Gladys Ganiel (Queens University, Belfast),Professor Philip Jenkins (Baylor University), along with newly confirmed Professor John Holmwood (University of Nottingham) with more to be announced soon!
SocRel Annual Conference 20224–6 July 2022 – Online
Theme – Disruption, Crisis, and Continuity in Religion
Religion in some form has been a near constant in human history, with some traditions stretching back millennia into the 21st Century, but this is a history cut through with crisis and disruption. These echo into the modern day, along with newly emerging conflicts and ruptures in society alongside rapidly shifting perceptions of religious life and institutions, including both a decline of religious engagement in the West alongside the ongoing impact of religious fanaticism on the global landscape. Religion has been described as distinct by virtue of providing a “chain of memory” and tradition that links the believer to a global and historic community through shared ideology, symbolism, and practice, yet many religious traditions emphasise the importance of rupture and discontinuity in the lives of (particularly new) believers. In amongst this, religion has long been seen as something to which people turn in times of crisis (are there really “no atheists in foxholes”?) or cling to as the point of stability and hope in a period of disruption, while religious groups are often at the heart of crisis response – whether in offering immediate support or long-term campaigning. Yet religious belief can also trigger a ‘spiritual crisis’ as sacred meaning systems are disrupted and begin to collapse, while institutional responses have at times led to the emergence of emergence new crises in the lives of individuals and communities. With the events of the past two years and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic not only causing large scale social disruption and loss but also unparalleled institutional change, we may also ask how religious communities have responded to this new, global upheaval. Meanwhile, the discipline of the study of religion itself is potentially going through a period of disruption and even crisis, with faculties and funding being cut across the country as its popularity among younger generations continues to decline. We encourage papers on any issue around the topics of disruption, crisis, and continuity in religion, or indeed in the study of religion itself, including within your own research or teaching experience.
Papers may cover topics such as:
- (Non-)religion and crisis response
- Disruption and (de-)conversion
- Continuity and transformation in contemporary religion
- (Non-)religious memory in modernity
- (Non-)religion and conflict/resolution
- (Non-)religion and personal disruption (for example migration)
- The impact of crises on (non-)religious belief and practice
- Including issues such as COVID-19, the climate crisis, Black Lives Matter and racial justice, LGBTQ+ issues and gender/sexuality justice, institutional abuse, religious persecution, persecution by religious groups, conflict, extremism and radicalisation, personal spiritual/emotional/other crises, and any other form.
- The future of the Study of Religion
Abstracts (250 words), Special panel proposals (500 words)and Bursary applicationsmust be submitted here by 4th March 2022
Key Dates:Abstract submission: Open nowEarly bird registration opens: Open nowAbstract submission closes: 4 March 2022 Decision notification: 31 March 2022Presenter registration closes: 7 April 2022Registration closes: 30 June 2022