Religion

This conference will explore the intersections of religion and/or spirituality and activism as we seek to highlight instances of religious resistance, dynamics of power, and instances of socio-cultural change. Historically, religious individuals and communities have engaged with political and social activism in cultural movements including those focused on civil rights, ecological justice, social reform, gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, partisan politics, and self-determination, among others.

For this conference, we seek papers that analyze or explore dimensions of power associated with cultural instances of religious protest or resistance. Papers are welcome to engage cultural or religious/spiritual perspectives and to address either historical or contemporary instances of activism or protest. Contributors should frame their papers primarily in response to the questions: In what ways are religious practices and/or beliefs deployed within various socio-cultural protests? How and why do certain individuals or groups engage in activism? To what degree are religiously motivated protests effective/ineffective?

Of special interest are papers that develop cross-disciplinary connections, methods, and theoretical approaches to the study of religion. Contributors may engage with more specific themes in their manuscripts, namely:

• Religious attitudes toward various social/environmental justice movements
• Histories or counter-histories of particular activist movements, with a focus on religious engagement
• Dimensions of religious belief or practice within socio-cultural movements
• Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of resistance as a religious and/or cultural phenomenon

Interested graduate students should submit a 250 word abstract as a single Word document, complete with author information, email, and affiliated institution and department to ufrgsaconference2020@gmail.com by December 5, 2019.

If selected, authors will be informed of their acceptance by December 20, 2019. Conference registration will open on December 20 and close on January 15. You must be registered in order to participate, but there is no registration fee.