RIRNM Conference 2024

International conference: Churches and Minorities: the role of religion in the (re)production of ethnocultural identities

Organizers: 

• ISPMN - Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities,
• Institute of Religious Studies,
• Babeș-Bolyai University – Department of International Studies and Contemporary History,
• Babeș-Bolyai University - Department of History in Hungarian,
• Department for Interethnic Relations, Government of Romania,

Venue of the conference: House of Religious Freedom (B-dul 21 Decembrie no. 14)

Date: 10-11 October 2024

Deadline for abstracts: June 30, 2024.

The working language of the conference will be Romanian and English.

 

Call for applications

Religiosity has been at the center of social scientific research from its beginnings. Classical theories (by founding fathers like Émile Durkheim or Max Weber but also more recent classics) inquired into the social and cultural features of religious belief, authority, ritual practice, and social organization. There is a widely shared consensus on the positive role religion plays in creating and maintaining meaning, order, social cohesion, and solidarity within human societies. More recently there is also a tendency among researchers to focus more on its negative aspects like religious fundamentalism, intolerance, and the endorsement of conspiracy theories inspired by religious imaginary among members of extremist movements.

Having in mind theoretical projects such as ‘civil religion’ (Robert Bellah) and ‘public religion’ (José Casanova) or ‘the anthropology of the good’ (Joel Robbins) we invite contributions to explore the interplay of religious ideas and practices with the production and reproduction of group identities and community membership having particular focus on cases of ethno-national minorities in the Eastern-Central European region. Our preference to the practical and social aspects of religion implies that we invite contributors to delve into the worldly implications and social, political and economic consequences of everyday organization of worship, mission, ritual life, pilgrimage, even aspects involving the materiality of religion rather than focusing on the more abstract and philosophical discussion of creed or theological to subtleties.

Our aims is to focus on three key areas:

1. Renewed interest in positive moral and ethical aspects: This highlights a shift towards examining the beneficial aspects of religion, such as its role in fostering moral values and ethical behavior.
2. Emphasis on practical religiosity by prioritizing the study of practical aspects of religion, our conference aims to explore how religious beliefs and practices manifest in everyday life, rituals, and social interactions.
3. Engagement with concrete historical contexts: encouraging contributions to consider historical contexts adds depth to the exploration of religiosity by examining its evolution over time and its relevance to contemporary and future societal dynamics.

Overall, we would like to strike a balance between theoretical exploration and practical application, offering a comprehensive approach to understanding religiosity within specific historical and cultural contexts. Even if these are our priorities, we will consider each application on its own merit and do not exclude any approach based on theoretical or methodological preconceptions.

The participation of both specialists and practitioners are equally welcome. We expect analytical papers and critical discussion from any fields of social science and humanities. The wide variety of disciplines engaged in exploring the religious phenomena warrants this inclusiveness.

• Presentations can cover but not limited to the following topics:
• Forms of ritual participation and community building;
• Continuity and renewal in religious practices;
• Methodological discussion on religious phenomena (statistical data, phenomenology and more);
• Churches and states: religious institutions during state building in the contemporary period;
• The role of religious institutions in the reproduction of ethnolinguistic community;
• Ritual language and the vernacular: religion and language use;
• Religious communication: language and translation;
• The impact of online communication on religious practices and the public sphere
• Migration and religion: religious practices, diaspora communities, network-ties, and transitional habitus;
• Pilgrimage and nation-building;
• Folk religiosity and local community;
• Religious Institutions and the production of bonding and bridging social capital
• Religion, gender and demographic processes;
• Secular politics and the churches – the position of Churches regarding in secular politics and public policies;
• Religious nationalism and the production of (in)tolerance;
• Policies of churches and minority language use;
• Material culture, religious heritage and religious tourism;
• Mobilization of faith and new religious movements;
• Mission, conversion and apostasy: dynamics of religious recruitment;
• Hierarchy and leadership: making and unmaking of the religious authority (tradition, charisma, and the emerging routine);
• Rituals of life cycle and religious participation;
• Belonging and believing: ways of institutional and community attachment in the religious field;
• The provision of social and educational services by the churches;
• Ethnic and institutional integration in new religious communities;
• Interethnic coexistence and denominational relations;
• Religion and religious representations in the online space;
• Religion and memory. The relationship between religion and memorial sites and their role in the re-establishment of local/ethnic identity in displaced ethnic communities;
• Ritual practices of ethnic and religious minorities, local religion.

Submit an abstract of no more than 200 words together with a short professional biography and institutional affiliation of the author by accessing the following link.

Questions should be directed to: confispmn@gmail.com

Deadline: June 30, 2024.