Calls for Papers

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CFP: Religion on the Move 12-14 September, 2012

Migration is a key concern in secularity studies, regarding the response of non-religious groups to incoming religious practice and the apparent rise of religiosity which appears as religions change and adapt through migration.

Call for Papers: Religion on the Move

How Motion and Migration influence Religion

10th Conference of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion

Szeged, Hungary 12-14 September, 2012

In many ways movement is an important aspect of religion and spirituality. Not only has the significance of motion within the practice of religion and rituality increased (Coleman & Eade 2004), but also, through the movement and migration of people all over the world, religions and religious practices are relocating and changing (Jenkins 2007). Movement is significant for the practice of many religions. It seems that motion has been gaining in importance and that the performative expression and execution of religious practice play a stronger part than they used to do. There might be related to the more participative role of believers in religion and rituality and the enhanced relevance of individuals ‘doing’ religion. The popularity of walking the many pilgrim ways through Europe is an example of that trend, while other expressions of movement like dancing, meditations, processions and other rituals also seem to be more in focus.

A second strand of movement is connected to migration for, by moving, people bring faiths and religious practices to other places in the world where they were not previously known or practised. Nowadays, through mass migrations, refugees, displacements because of war and other translocations, religions and beliefs can expand both spatially and quantitatively. These are processes in which the faiths which are moving are being transformed, and the religion(s) of the areas in which people and their religion are newly settled are likewise affected (examples include Islam in Europe and the new Christians from Africa in Europe). Sometimes beliefs are appropriated through tourism or by ‘spiritual seekers’; aspects of Eastern religion and esoterism have been imported to Western society. In that regard the Internet has become a migratative instrument, in its capacity of ‘posting’ religion all over the globe and into people’s homes, regardless of what religion is practised there. The extension of religion through (digital) migration has an impact on social, cultural and political contexts (Woodhead et al. 2002). The movement of religion might lead to an adaptation to new circumstances, to inculturation, but also potentially to a transformation in the religious constituents of the local culture as well. Sometimes there is openness and religion finds new host communities. Evangelical, Pentecostal, neo-Pentecostal churches have spread across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe (Coleman 2007) and so have Afro-American religions, as Candomblé, Umbanda, or Santeria cubana (Capone 2004; Saraiva 2010). Sometimes the members of the host country become involved in such new practices, but movement may also lead to segregation within host communities and contested situations.

Papers connected to these two research strands on movement and religion are welcomed; one could for example think of the following topics:

• The influence of migration on religion

• Movement as constituative element in religion and rituality

• Effects of globalisation and transnationalism on religion

• Changes in religion through digital movement, via the Internet.

• Movement and spatiality related to the practice of religion

Format: the conference takes place over two days, followed by an excursion on the third day. Paper presentations are limited to 20 minutes each, followed by ten minutes of discussion. In total 20 paper presenters will be selected. Colleagues who do not present a paper are welcome to participate in the conference and its discussions. A business meeting of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion will be held during the conference. Organizers: the conference is organized by the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Szeged together with the Bálint Sándor Institute for Research on  religion and the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF).

Venue: University of Szeged and Gál Ferenc Theological College of Szeged Fee: the conference fee is 60 €, including conference materials, reception, coffee, brunch, excursion. Participants are responsible for travel and accommodation; there is no funding for expenses available.

Application: submit an abstract of your paper of maximum 300 words, together with your name, position, and institutional affiliation to Dr. István Povedák povedak@yahoo.com by March 15, 2012. The selection of the papers will be done in collaboration with the Board of the SIEF Working Group on Ethnology of Religion. The final selection will be communicated by April 1, 2012.

Contacts: povedak@yahoo.com; peter.jan.margry@meertens.knaw.nl

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CFP: Exploring the Extraordinary 22-23 September, 2012

The “extraordinary” strikes as an interesting ground between organised non-religion and religion, a ground which cannot be easily claimed by either group. The extraordinary may even be an interesting phenomena for exploring the terrain between these two binary positions, allowing for nuance in the field.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Exploring the Extraordinary 4th Conference
22nd-23rd September, 2012
Holiday Inn, York

Since its inception in 2007, members of Exploring the Extraordinary have organised three successful academic conferences that have brought together researchers from a variety of different disciplines and backgrounds. The purpose of these events has been to encourage a wider dissemination of knowledge and research, and an interdisciplinary discussion of extraordinary phenomena and experience. By ‘extraordinary’ we refer to phenomena and experiences that are considered to be beyond the mundane, referring to those that have been called supernatural, paranormal, mystical, transcendent, exceptional, spiritual, magical and/or religious, as well as the relevance of such for human culture.

We are looking for submissions for our fourth conference, and would like to invite presentation proposals on topics related to the above. Please submit a 300-500 word paper abstract to Dr Madeleine Castro and Dr Hannah Gilbert (ete.network@gmail.com) by the 6th April 2012. Accepted papers should be on powerpoint, no longer than 20 minutes in length, and intended for an interdisciplinary audience. Please include contact information and a brief biographical note.

For more information, and to see past conference schedules, please visit http://etenetwork.weebly.com

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CFP: EASR 12 panel abstract Submission now open

ENDS AND BEGINNINGS, Annual Conference of the European Association of the Study of Religion (EASR)

Södertörn University, Stockholm. 23-26 August, 2012

Religion, it has been claimed, is generated by our desire to escape from the tyranny of time. Through certain thoughts and practices, people have sought to evade the end that our temporal existence so inevitably seems to lead up to. Religion often circles around the promise of a new beginning – a prosperous life in this world or a renewed existence in the hereafter. In the Abrahamic traditions, humankind is placed at the heart of a cosmic drama that is framed by notions of an absolute beginning, an apocalyptic end, and, beyond that, an eternity that obliterates the boundaries of time. Ritualized activities, furthermore, are often performed as expressions or celebrations of ends and beginnings – of seasons, communities or of phases in an individual’s life.

Stolen kiss, collage paintingPicture: Stolen kiss, collage painting by Anna-Karin Brus, 2009. © Anna-Karin Brus.http://www.haka.nu/

All these matters have attracted the attention of scholars of religion, as has the larger question of whether there can be said to be a beginning or an end of religion in general. Can we – in the darkness of prehistory or in the evolution of human cognition – localise a beginning of religion? And, is it – in a time when theories of secularisation, rationalisation and disenchantment are increasingly put into question – still possible to speak of the decline of religion or of its end?
We are pleased to invite scholars of different disciplines to take part in this conference, by which we hope to stimulate theoretical, methodological and empirical progress within the academic study of religion. Ends and beginnings is the 11th annual conference of EASR (European Association for the Study of Religion). It is organized in collaboration with SSRF (Swedish Association for the History of Religions).
Abstract submission deadline: 1 May, 2012

It is now possible to pre-register to the conference. In order to preregister, please use the link below.

We now also accept abstracts for panels, these may be submitted by following the same link below. Abstracts for individual papers will be possible to submit from January 2012. If you have pre-registered you will be sent an e-mail to remind you of this.

Preregistration and Panel sessions

Submit abstracts here

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CFP: Special Issue “Religion & Globalization”

Please note the CFP below for the special Issue “Religion & Globalization”. Areas of interest include  the re-enchantment of the world and the transient nature of religious practice. It would be interesting to see included some work on similar negotiations within secular practices and discourses or other view points on the secular.
A special issue of Religions (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/)

http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/religion_globalization/

Call for Papers

Whether globalization is considered as a worldwide structured system of interstate relationships (Friedmann, 1998) or as a world “in motion” (Tomlinson, 1999) crossed by human and cultural flows (Appadurai, 1998), it refers indisputably to a new set of environmental conditions for religions. Globalization is creating new dynamics of change including transnational expansions of traditions (Csordas, 2007), deterritorialized sites, cultic areas (even parishes), virtualized and networked “communities” of believers, electronic and mediatized gods (Stolow, 2010), the universalization of cosmopolitan values and the localization of universalized beliefs (Robertson, 1992). Also shifting religious geographies (for example, Christianity turning “southern” and “black”, Islam turning “Asian”, Buddhism turning “white” and “western”) have contributed to a reshaping of global geopolitics (Huntington, 1993), an “ecological” turn in religious beliefs (Taylor, 2005), a worldwide standardization of religious systems (Beyer, 1994, 1998, 1999) and re-enchantment on a global scale (Csordas, 2007). Migrations have been – and still are – major forces for the geographic redistribution of beliefs and cults, while the world is also becoming ‘proselytized’. This does not clarify the very specific modes by which each process of mobility affects the various ways different religions are acted upon by global forces in their specific contexts. Neither does it take into account the fact that global religious changes may have nothing to do with mobility (Friedmann, 1998) but rather with global systems (Beyer, 1994). A global perspective on religious changes and adaptations in the contemporary world requires a prudent examination of different case-studies as not all religions are subjected to the same forces and engaged with similar processes of changes. Indeed, the “great” historical religions do not face global changes like new expanding religious cults or sects do. Analysis must cautiously distinguish between globalizing religions in global conditions, the impact of globalization on religions, and the role of religions in the rise and the shaping of global (economic, political or ideological) forces.

This special issue aims at gathering papers in which scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds (religious studies, anthropology, sociology, political sciences, history, political economy or others) can explore, on an empirical basis and in clearly identified geographic, historical and cultural contexts, the effects of religion on globalization or of globalization on religions. Please contact Prof. Lionel Obadia, anthropologist, University Lyon 2 at: Lionel.obadia@univ-lyon2.fr

Keywords: Globalization, Global and globalizing religions, spiritual transnationalism, migration and missionary activism, mediatization of religions, religion and the Internet,  deterritorialization and new geographies of religions.

Expected deadline: September 30, 2012.

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CFP: Material Religion in Modern Britain and her Worlds 8-9 June 2012

Not strictly within the NSRN remit, but  there could be some scope for a secular/non-religious comparative paper within the conference.

Material Religion in Modern Britain and her Worlds

8-9 June 2012

University of Glamorgan, Cardiff

This two-day symposium will explore material cultures of religious belief and faith in modern Britain. As Birgit Meyer, David Morgan, Crispin Paine and S. Brent Plate have recently pointed out, studying material objects provides us with an alternative evidence base in the study of modern religious belief (Birgit Meyer et al; 2011). Yet few attempts have yet been made to do so. While many scholars now concede that Britain’s religious landscape is more varied and rich than the narrative of secularisation allows, a tendency remains in the historiography of religion to privilege written sources over material manifestations of religion. This means that all sorts of belief practices have been overlooked. Analysing the material past, we propose, will provide scholars with new and exciting ways of understanding the apparently fraught relationship between modernity and religion. As Jane Bennett points out, objects are culture constructions and lead active lives in our social and cultural landscape. Religious historians have too often been guilty of adopting an implicitly Protestant binary (set up in opposition to Catholicism) in which words are privileged over objects. Yet everyday cultures of Protestant belief in Britain relied on all kinds of material cultures which sustained religion in an age of uncertainty.

Despite Britain’s ‘official’ Protestant past, we are nonetheless keen to encourage papers which explore religious denominations or groups beyond the official cannon and which made up Britain’s multi-faith landscape in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Papers are welcome which consider either formal or informal aspects of religious materiality. We would especially like to encourage papers that consider ‘Britain’s worlds’, including investigations of religious objects in the Empire or commonwealth or geographical locations inhabited by British people.

We hope to encourage an interdisciplinary dialogue by bringing together scholars in history, religion, art/design history, architecture and sociology.

Keynote speakers to be annouced

Possible themes or topics include:

  • Religious objects
  • Religious ephemera
  • The materiality of religious and sacred texts
  • Sacred Dress and Clothing
  • Religious Architecture and the built environment
  • Construction of sacred space
  • Social identity/identities including class, gender and life stage
  • Ideas surrounding materiality and religion
  • Advertising and Consumption
  • Making of religious objects
  • Religious Interiors and the domestic display of material objects
  • Religious aestheticism
  • Iconography

Please send abstracts of 400 words either Lucinda Matthews-Jones [l.matthew-jones@ljmu.ac.uk] or Tim Jones [twjones@glam.ac.uk] by 31st March.

The Conference will be hosted by the University of Glamorgan, Cardiff Campus.

We plan a number of publication outputs from this conference. If you are unable to attend, but would like to express your interest for future events or outputs, please email Lucinda Matthews-Jones [l.matthew-jones@ljmu.ac.uk] with a brief description of your work and a short CV.

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CFP: International Workshop on Religion, Politics and Policy-making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions

For members of the group interested in secularism and religion in the public sphere and distinctions in the role of policy making, this conference has some scope for inclusion.

International Workshop

Religion, Politics and Policy-making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions

Center for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS), University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

June 6-7, 2012

Organizers: Prof Jerry G. Pankhurst (Wittenberg University, USA; visiting Fulbright scholar at the University of Tartu) and Alar Kilp (University of Tartu)

The Center for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS) at the University of Tartu invites your participation in a workshop on Religion, Politics and Policy-making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions. The workshop is meant to highlight new research on the questions of religion and politics in Russia, to foster collaborative relations for future projects, and to provide an opportunity for everyone to learn about high-quality research that is being carried out in this area of inquiry.

The program organizers seek to explore the politics of religious affairs in Russia and the former Soviet countries and to assess the activities and role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and other organized religious groups in domestic and foreign policy. Issues related to religious diversity and religious tolerance in Russia and the neighboring countries are also of interest.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Irina Papkova, Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations at the Central European University, and Viacheslav Karpov, Professor of Sociology at Western Michigan University.

Workshop organizers will actively seek opportunities to publish selected papers in a special issue of a journal or in an edited volume.

Workshop Venue: University of Tartu, Estonia. Tartu is a home to one of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe. It was founded by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus in 1632. Today the University of Tartu is the only classical university in Estonia. It is a leading center of research and training, ranked among the 400 best universities of the world by Times Higher Education. The city of Tartu is a charming university town whose relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere creates a perfect environment for scholarly conversations. Tartu is well-served with bus and train connection with the city of Tallinn and its Lennart Meri Airport. There are also flights to Tartu from Tallinn (Estonian Air) and Helsinki (Flybe, in connection with Finnair). For more information, see: http://www.tartu.ee; http://www.ut.ee.

Who may participate? We invite scholars of Russian religious affairs and scholars with research focusing on the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church both in and outside of Russia. Graduate students carrying out advanced work are welcomed to submit proposals for a presentation.

The workshop sessions will be open to the public. Anyone who has a serious and informed interest in scholarly research on the topical issues is invited to attend the presentations and participate in question and answer sessions.

Cost: There will be no registration fee for this workshop. The sponsoring organizations will host a reception and a dinner but are not able to cover travel or accommodation expenses of individual participants. However, limited travel support is available to participants from the CIS countries. CEURUS will assist as much as possible with information about local accommodations and other arrangements. If you have questions, please contact Britt Ressar at britt.ressar@ut.ee

Proposing a paper: If you are interested in presenting a paper, please consider the topic preferences below and send your abstract (250-300 words) and a succinct statement of your present position and recent publications and grants (if any) to Alar Kilp (alar.kilp@ut.ee).

The deadline for receiving abstracts for consideration for the program is April 2, 2012.

Abstracts will the evaluated by the workshop organizers for quality of scholarship and appropriateness for the program structure and workshop theme. Authors of abstracts selected to be presented will be notified by April 13 via email.

Full papers by presenters will be due by 25 May, 2012. Send papers via email to Alar Kilp (alar.kilp@ut.ee)

Potential Topics for Workshop Presentations: Below are some areas of special interest, but this is not a complete list of options for the program. Within the overall guidelines of the workshop, all proposals will be given serious consideration even if their topics are not explicitly listed below.

o What is the political and social role and influence of the Russian Orthodox Church (including its role in Russian politics in general, its role in Russian foreign policy/international affairs, contributions to EU-Russia relations)?

o What is the nature of religious or church engagement in various social and political institutions in Russia (schools, marriage, military, prisons, etc.)

o Given Russia’s religious diversity, what is the state of inter-group relations on a scale of tolerance-intolerance or accommodated-alienated? Of special interest is the state of adaptation and acceptance of Muslim groups in Russia.

o What are the issues related to religion in the Russian diaspora in the EU (including the Baltic states) and the Russian “Near Abroad” – religious practices, needs; role of Orthodox churches, Eastern orthodoxy in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia?

o How well have Russian practices and policies lived up to European norms regarding religion? What are the European concerns regarding freedom of religion/religious life in Russia? What is the role of various European institutions: ECHR, Council of Europe, European Parliament, OSCE, etc.?

o To what extent have Russian religious groups been active in European governing institutions like those just named? How much do Russians see these institutions as appropriate venues for their own political or politically relevant pursuits?

o How much and in what ways have Russian religious groups expressed their concerns about problems in religious conditions in Europe, excessive secularity in Europe, and the like?

o To what extent and in what ways is the Russian Orthodox Church engaged in a “politics of family values” on the broader European stage? How are common interests with Orthodox churches of the countries of the European Union enlisted in these endeavors, and how are non-Orthodox churches (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, other Protestant churches, etc.) involved with the Russian Orthodox? Are non-Christian groups, especially Jews and Muslims, involved in these efforts?

o Explorations of additional issues in the area of politics and religion related to Russia will be considered for inclusion in the workshop program.

Additional information: Workshop participants may be interested in a conference at the University of Tartu that is scheduled to take place in the week following this workshop. It is the 2012 annual conference of CIHEC, the Commission Internationale d’Histoire et d’etudes du Christianisme. For more information on this conference, see http://www.history.ac.uk/cihec/our-conferences

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CFP: Alternative Salvations, 18 September 2012

Space for secular and non-religious readings of salvation, particularly for those working in a variety of Christian cultural contexts.
One Day Conference, Sept 18th 2012, University of Chester

The conference will explore how ‘unorthodox’ readings of sacred texts inform salvation experience; how life
transformations outside of religious contexts might be considered spiritual; how ideas of this-worldly salvation
are politicised; how ideas of salvation are simultaneously secularised and infused with new power; what alternative salvations can be discovered within Christianity and how might they be practised? In particular, we are seeking to  explore the ways that alternative religious, spiritual and secular understandings of the notion of salvation already shape, and have the potential to shape, how people live and act in Christian and post-Christian contexts .

This exciting conference breaks new ground in exploring alternative approaches to salvation. Proposals for
short papers are invited on any aspect of the theme of ‘alternative salvations’ as outlined here. Papers will normally be 20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes for discussion. Applications to submit a short paper should include:
• Proposer’s name and affiliation
• a title for the paper
• a 200 word abstract
• Details of any audio-visual equipment you will need to deliver your paper
Short paper proposals should be submitted to alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk by no later than 4:00pm on 16th April 2012.

Applicants should know the outcome of their proposal by 18th May 2012.
Conference costs: £28 (£18 for unwaged and students) inclusive of lunch and refreshments.

If you would like any further information, please contact: alternativesalvations@chester.ac.uk

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CFP: New York Conference on Asian Studies (Asian Religions in the West and Asian American Religions)

Perhaps some room for an NSRN panel or presentation; particularly to address challenges to the epistemological models implied in the secularity thesis and structures of modernity and enlightenment thought, assumptions about belief as a central tenet to religion and critiques of secular ideologies outside mono-theistic traditions. The ongoing visibility of religious practices and role of new technologies as tools in this challenge is also another possible avenue of exploration in the conference themes.

NEW YORK CONFERENCE ON ASIAN STUDIES

September 28-29, 2012

State University of New York at New Paltz

Asian Religions in the West and Asian American Religions: Contesting Identities and Praxis

Graduate students and scholars working in all areas and disciplines of Asian Studies and Asian American Studies are invited to submit proposals on papers that engage the theme of “Asian religions in the West and Asian American Religions”. Topics may include, but are not limited, to the following:

–Contesting established gender and social roles

–Resistance to established canons and epistemological models

–Contesting identities and the politics of identity

–Performance of identities and ritual constructions of community

–The role and impact of globalization

–The role and impact of new media, social media, cyber-space and cyber-communities

–Invented traditions and their political, social, historical, or cultural repercussions

Proposals should include the name, institutional affiliation, and e-mail address of the presenter, the title of the paper, and an abstract not exceeding 250 words in length. Please submit individual paper proposals to Cuong T. Mai at (cmai@uvm.edu), by March 15, 2012.

More information here

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EASR 2012 Ends and Beginnings: Abstract Registration Open

ENDS AND BEGINNINGS, Annual Conference of the European Association of the Study of Religion (EASR)

Södertörn University, Stockholm. 23-26 August, 2012

This years theme address moments of ending and beginning in the everyday practices of religious ritual and promises of new beginnings offered by the hereafter or a renewed existence. Scholars of secularism and nonreligion may find the the conferences larger question of whether there can be said to be a beginning or an end of religion in general of interest and hope that this perspective can be offered.

More details can about the conference be found on the EASR 2012 website and for pre-registration

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CFP for special issue on ‘Gender, Religion and Migration’ in new e-journal Religion and Gender

Perhaps there might be some interest for applications which include a persective on secularism and nonreligion in this special issue of Gender, Religion and Migration.

The special issue on Gender, Religion and Migration will look at the intersectional dimension of gender, ethnicity and religion where religion in particular plays a central role in providing a sense of belonging for migrants and represents a source of identification during the migratory experience. The special issue will focus on the ways in which gender roles are constructed and reproduced through religion within migrant communities in urban contexts and brings together leading scholars in the field of migration to explore how geographical mobility shapes gendered religious identities. For too long social sciences and migration studies have paid insufficient attention to the importance of religion in the everyday lives of many migrants and Levitt’s (2008) call for more ‘empirical, grounded’ research on migration and religion aims at filling this particular gap in the literature .

Mobilizing religion may serve a range of diverse purposes during the migratory experience and, indeed, migration may in turn shape the different ways in which religion is reproduced on an every day basis if compared with the country of origin of the worshippers. Religion can also provide a trans-national source of identification; for example, it may play a significant role in enabling migrants to imagine themselves within collectivities that span beyond the nation-state. In other words, religious worship may fulfil many functions for migrants, not only spiritual, but also material and social such as civic participation and commitment towards the parish for church goers (Levitt 2008). Hence, for migrants in particular, religion can potentially provide a means for both maintaining and expressing continuity of faith and practice while negotiating integration within a new environment (Stanczak, 2006).

The special issue On Gender, Religion and Migration will build on the symposium at Middlesex University, held in 2011, to explore comparisons and contrasts across different religious communities which could include for example, Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Hindi, etc.

This collection of articles aims to bring together empirical research from different academic disciplines, including sociology, geography and anthropology and using a range of methods to engage with and research different religious communities. We welcome papers that present a comparative approach to studying religion in migration.

In particular, we are looking for papers that tackle the following:

• Comparisons across religious groups

• Intersectional dimensions of gender, ethnicity and religion

• Construction of gender through religion in urban contexts

• Religion as a trans-national source of identification and the role of gender in negotiating local integration through religion

• Religion as a source of civic engagement differently negotiated in migrant women and men

• Role of religious organizations in providing integration opportunities while ensuring continuity of social practices with the country of origins for migrant women and man

• Role of religion in the intergenerational negotiation of belonging in the host country and outcomes in challenging traditional gender roles

If you are interested please send a 200 word abstract, along with a short biographical note, to Dr. Ryan and Dr Vacchelli at the addresses below by Monday 27 February

Please note that if your abstract is accepted, full papers will be needed by June 2012.

Dr. Louise Ryan and Dr. Elena Vacchelli, Middlesex University,

Contact: l.ryan@mdx.ac.uk and e.vacchelli@mdx.ac.uk

Call for Papers for special issue on ‘Gender, Religion and Migration’ in new e-journal Religion and Gender http://www.religionandgender.org
 
The special issue on Gender, Religion and Migration will look at the intersectional dimension of gender, ethnicity and religion where religion in particular plays a central role in providing a sense of belonging for migrants and represents a source of identification during the migratory experience. The special issue will focus on the ways in which gender roles are constructed and reproduced through religion within migrant communities in urban contexts and brings together leading scholars in the field of migration to explore how geographical mobility shapes gendered religious identities. For too long social sciences and migration studies have paid insufficient attention to the importance of religion in the everyday lives of many migrants and Levitt’s (2008) call for more ‘empirical, grounded’ research on migration and religion aims at filling this particular gap in the literature . 
Mobilizing religion may serve a range of diverse purposes during the migratory experience and, indeed, migration may in turn shape the different ways in which religion is reproduced on an every day basis if compared with the country of origin of the worshippers.  Religion can also provide a trans-national source of identification; for example, it may play a significant role in enabling migrants to imagine themselves within collectivities that span beyond the nation-state.  In other words, religious worship may fulfil many functions for migrants, not only spiritual, but also material and social such as civic participation and commitment towards the parish for church goers (Levitt 2008). Hence, for migrants in particular, religion can potentially provide a means for both maintaining and expressing continuity of faith and practice while negotiating integration within a new environment (Stanczak, 2006).
The special issue On Gender, Religion and Migration will build on the symposium at Middlesex University, held in 2011, to explore comparisons and contrasts across different religious communities which could include for example, Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Hindi, etc. 
This collection of articles aims to bring together empirical research from different academic disciplines, including sociology, geography and anthropology and using a range of methods to engage with and research different religious communities. We welcome papers that present a comparative approach to studying religion in migration.
 
In particular, we are looking for papers that tackle the following: 
 
•	Comparisons across religious groups
•	Intersectional dimensions of gender, ethnicity and religion 
•	Construction of gender through religion in urban contexts
•	Religion as a trans-national source of identification and the role of gender in negotiating local integration through religion 
•	Religion as a source of civic engagement differently negotiated in migrant women and men
•	Role of religious organizations in providing integration opportunities while ensuring continuity of social practices with the country of origins for migrant women and man
•	Role of religion in the intergenerational negotiation of belonging in the host country  and outcomes in challenging traditional gender roles
 
If you are interested please send a 200 word abstract, along with a short biographical note, to Dr. Ryan and Dr Vacchelli at the addresses below by Monday 27 February:
 
Please note that if your abstract is accepted, full papers will be needed by June 2012.
Dr. Louise Ryan and Dr. Elena Vacchelli, Middlesex University,
Contact: l.ryan@mdx.ac.uk and e.vacchelli@mdx.ac.uk