Online working groupsGroupes de travail en ligne

Proposals for online working groups at the ISSR/SISR 2023 conference

1. From Soviet past to Facebook present: Actual issues of religiosity in Central and Eastern Europe. 

A joint ISSR‐ISORECEA online working group.

Conveners:

Gergely Rosta 
Organization: Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary
Email: rosta.gergely@btk.pp-le.hu

Isorecea, the association of sociologists of religion in Central and Eastern Europe(CEE), usually has a separate session at ISSR conferences on specific issues of religiosity in the region. As only a small number of colleagues are likely to be able to attend the 2023 conference in Taiwan for funding reasons, we are submitting an online working group proposal this time. We received three paper proposals for our internal call, but we are hopeful that more of our members will join us at the conference. The topics of the proposed papers will cover a wide range from gender roles to scientific atheism to the presence of Occultist communities on Facebook. The three papers are linked by the post-communist region and the qualitative approach. Two of the three papers are also put a special emphasis on the Soviet past. We are planning an open working group with hopefully many participants from CEE and outside the region. Our online working group will cover the following topics: 

Milda Ališauskienė (Vytautas Magnus University) and Liina Kilemit (University of Tartu): Gender Roles and Family Practices among Pagan Women in Lithuania and Estonia: between Reconstruction of Tradition and Memories from Soviet Past? 

The paper discusses the perception of gender roles among pagan women in Lithuania and Estonia, focusing on two case studies. The first case study is the ancient Baltic religious organization Romuva and its teaching and everyday practices among its female members in contemporary Lithuania. The second is the Estonian native faith organization Maausk. This paper aims to analyze the gender roles presented in the teachings of the groups and the way women in both organizations live them. Reconstructive pagan religious groups usually represent a traditionalist worldview, while the impact of feminist ideas is mainly observed within goddess-oriented pagan traditions like witchcraft. The cases discussed in this chapter represent a mixture of the two religious traditions about the perception of gender roles and their lived practices by female members. The paper is based on participant observation and interviews with women members in both organizations, conducted in 2021–2022.

Maria Rogińska (Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland): 

Dominant religions in dialog with scientific atheism: the case of Lithuanian and Ukrainian scientists born in the USSR

The paper concerns the complex interaction of the diverse religious and irreligious contexts in the two CEE countries with different dominant religions –Catholic Lithuania and Orthodox Ukraine –and its influence on the religious imaginary of the natural scientists. This interaction is placed in a context that complicates the picture even more -the common post-Soviet past of both countries. I will explore prerequisites of the Soviet atheistic regime that contributed to the formation of this religiosity, based on interviews with the scientists born in 1930-1960s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of them did not accept Orthodox, Catholic or other institutional religions, but instead created their own privatized religious patterns, using science-related elements in their imaginary. This distinguished them from the other national groups participating in the study. In the paper I propose an interpretation for this phenomenon. I analyze 29 in-depth interviews of a larger sample and focus on the biographies of the older cohort of natural scientists from Lithuania and Ukraine to show how the Soviet political and normative context helped to shape this kind of imaginary. 

María Pinal Villanueva (University of Belgrade): 

From “secret” gatherings to Facebook groups: A study case from an Occultist community in Serbia

The religious field and its practices, like any other social aspect of reality, have always been subject to change due to political and historical circumstances, among others. In the case of the former Yugoslavia (and present-day Serbia) one of those important changes was the introduction of Occultist ideas in the 1970s, in the context of a communist regime. This regime brought with it, among other phenomena, the displacement of religious practices from the public sphere to the strictly private one. It is in this context that some pioneers, among them the psychologist Zivorad Mihajlović Slavinski, began to “import” these Occult ideas for the first time to the region, and spread them publicly. The groups led by Slavinski (Ecclesia Gnostica Alba, Spiritual Technologies) have also changed over time in their practices and activities from their beginnings to the present, without ceasing to have a common thread with their origins and their past. This work examines, through the analytical tools of digital anthropology, the dynamics of these groups in contemporary times, particularly in the field of “digital communities” on the social network Facebook. Understanding the virtual world as an integral part of contemporary life, we will discuss the changes and continuities regarding the notions of community, belonging and religious practices.

2. A comparative approach to conspiritualities. Social imaginaries, mistrust and mobilizations 

Conveners:

Manéli Farahmand
Institution: University of Fribourg, Department of Social Sciences/ Cross-Cantonal Center of Information on Beliefs (CIC)
Email address: maneli.farahmand@unifr.ch 

Mischa Piraud
Institution: University of Lausanne, Capitalism, Culture and Societies Lab (LACCUS)/ Cross-Cantonal Center of Information on Beliefs (CIC)
Email: mischa.piraud@cic-info.ch

Robert Schäfer
Institution: University of Basel, Department of Social Sciences, Sociology
Email: robert.schaefer@unibas.ch

Pascal Tanner
Institution: University of Lausanne, Institute for Social Sciences of Religions (ISSR)
Email: pascal.christoph@gmail.com

In contemporary times, religion is undergoing critical change as part of processes of individualization, deinstitutionalization, and mediatization. The transformation of people’s diverse worldviews also intersect with global challenges occurring in ecology, health, inequality, and diversity. Covid-19 pandemic crisis has added a significant dimension of uncertainty in religious/spiritual changes. The congruence between deinstitutionalization and Covid-19pandemic have constituted fertile ground for the spread of “conspiritualities”, understood as a hybrid of alternative spiritualities and conspiracy theories (Ward & Voas, 2011; Asprem & Dyrendal, 2015). Covid-19 pandemic has had undeniable effects on lifestyles and religious/spiritual practices or beliefs. A synthesis of neo-spirituality and conspiracy theories has appeared in marginal or dissident social groups with millennial and politico-spiritual universe. Massive shift towards digital means has actually made visible and available new (or previously less perceptible) religious/spiritual discourses. The pandemic has appeared as giving rise to a variety of attitudes in religious/spiritual context. Those attitudes can be analyzed through notions such as dialogue, resilience, resistance, social mobilizations or mistrust. The workshop “A comparative approach to conspiritualities. Social imaginaries, mistrust and mobilizations” proposes to discuss contemporary conspiritualities in different contexts, both religious and geographical. It will also rise theoretical issues related to conceptual framework. As an open working group, we invite scholars to present qualitative or quantitative contributions that include empirical outcomes and/or theoretical discussions on conspiritualities as central aspect, either as web movements diffusing social imaginaries or as public mobilizations. 

Ward, Charlotte, und David Voas. 2011. “The Emergence of Conspirituality”. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 26(1):103–121.

Asprem, Egil, und Asbjørn Dyrendal. 2015. “Conspirituality Reconsidered: How Surprising and How New is the Confluence of Spirituality and Conspiracy Theory?”, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 30(3):367–382.

Call for Papers

We invite ISSR members to submit a paper for the July 3, 2023, online workshop “A comparative approach to conspiritualities. Social imaginaries, mistrust and mobilizations”. This open working group invites scholars to present qualitative or quantitative contributions that include empirical outcomes and/or theoretical discussions on conspiritualities. Covid-19 pandemic has had undeniable effects on lifestyles and religious/spiritual practices or beliefs. A synthesis of neo-spirituality and conspiracy theories has appeared in marginal or dissident social groups with millennial and politico-spiritual universe. This workshop will discuss them in different contexts, both religious and geographical. Title and abstract up to 250 words should be in the language in which you would like to present your paper (English or French), and should be sent to: maneli.farahmand@unifr.ch, mischa.piraud@cic-info.ch, robert.schaefer@unibas.ch, pascal.christoph@gmail.com until 28 April 2023. 

Nous invitons les membres de la SISR à soumettre un abstract dans le cadre de l’atelier en ligne du 3 juillet 2023: “Une approche comparative des conspiritualités. Imaginaires sociaux, méfiance et mobilisations”. Ce groupe de travail ouvert invite les chercheur·e·s à présenter des recherches qualitatives ou quantitatives basées sur des méthodes empiriques et/ou incluant des discussions théoriques sur les conspiritualités. La pandémie de Covid-19 a eu des effets indéniables sur les modes de vie, les pratiques et discours religieux/spirituels. Une forme hybride entre néo-spiritualité et théories du complot est apparue dans des groupes sociaux en marge et/ou dissidents, avec une empreinte millénariste et politique. Cet atelier discutera de ces nouveaux hybrides dans différents contextes, tant religieux que géographiques. 

La proposition (titre et résumé de 250 mots maximum) doit être rédigée dans la langue dans laquelle vous souhaitez présenter votre communication (anglais ou français), elle devrait être envoyée à : maneli.farahmand@unifr.ch, mischa.piraud@cic-info.ch, robert.schaefer@unibas.ch, pascal.christoph@gmail.com avant le 28 avril 2023.

3. L’utilisation (dé)sacralisée de la transe dans nos sociétés contemporaines occidentales /  The (de)sacralized use of trance in our contemporary Western societies Aurélie

Conveners:

Aurélie Giovine
Institution: UC Louvain, Belgium
Email: aurelie.giovine@uclouvain.be

Julie Hermesse
Institution: UC Louvain, Belgium
Email: julie.hermesse@uclouvain.be

Ce panel s’intéressera à l’utilisation qui est faite aujourd’hui, dans nos sociétés contemporaines, des pratiques de transe et plus précisément de leurs utilisations«sécularisées» et «rationnalisées» dans un contexte écologique du quotidien. En effet, pratiques corporelles aux multiples formes, les phénomènes de transe s’inscrivent «communément» dans des contextes religieux associés notamment à des rites de possession ou à des logiques chamaniques qui interrogent la relation à l’invisible. Aujourd’hui, sous l’effet d’une globalisation, la pratique de la transe s’invite dans nos sociétés occidentales qui tendent à en faire un outil (dé)sacralisé au service de la personne elle-même.Devenu lieud’expérimentationpersonnelle, les transes sont utilisées par les «transeurs» avec des objectifs très individualisés: se «découvrir soi» à travers une altérité «autre », répondre à des besoins curatifs, améliorer ses relations sociales, se «déconnecter» de la réalité du quotidien…Si l’expérience de la transe reste subjective et singulière à chaque vécu, elle se caractérise généralement par une dissolution du corps et une perte des repères spatio-temporels. Les transes ouvrent ainsi un espace liminal (et à la fois reliant) entre la personne et son environnement matériel, entre son corps et son esprit,entre sa personne et les «autres» à travers une «autre» matérialité, celle du sensoriel, du corporel. Ce panel aura ainsi pour vocation d’ouvrir un espace de discussion autour de cette utilisation «occidentalisée» de la transe et des questions qu’elle soulèvenotamment les logiques individuelles sous-jacentes à son utilisation volontaire et quotidienne: Quelles transformations peut apporter l’usage de la transe concernant la corporéité de la personne et son rapport à autrui? Quel impact celle-ci peut avoir sur la manière de penser notre rapport à soi, notre être-au-monde, notre identité? Qu’en est-il du concept même d’altérité?Peut-onparler d’une remise en question denos ontologies occidentales«traditionnellement» admises ?Mots clés: transe, sécularisation, liminalité, écologie, identité, altérité, ontologies

This panel will focus on the use that is made today, in our contemporary societies, of trance practices and more precisely of their “secularized” and “rationalized” uses in an ecological context of daily life. In fact, trance phenomena, which are bodily practices with multiple forms, are “commonly” inscribed in religious contexts associated in particular with possession rites or shamanic logics that question the relationship to the invisible. Today, under the effect of globalization, the practice of trance is invited in our western societies which tend to make it a (de)sacralized tool at the service of the person himself. Having become a place of personal experimentation, trances are used by “trancers” with very individualized objectives: to “discover oneself” through an “other” otherness, to respond to curative needs, to improve one’s social relations, to “disconnect” from the reality of daily life…If the trance experience remains subjective and singular to each experience, it is generally characterized by a dissolution of the body and a loss of spatio-temporal reference points. Trances thus open a liminal space (and at the same time connecting) between the person and his material environment, between his body and his spirit, between his person and the “others” through an “other” materiality, that of the sensory, of the body. The purpose of this panel will be to open a space for discussion around this “westernized” use of trance and the questions it raises, particularly the individual logics underlying its voluntary and daily use: What transformations can the use of trance bring about concerning the corporeality of the person and his or her relationship to others? What impact can it have on the way we think about ourselves, our being-in-the-world, our identity? What about the very concept of otherness? Can we speak of a questioning of our “traditionally” accepted Western ontologies? 

4. New Uses, Old Places: The Transformations of Religious Buildings in Contemporary Europe 

Conveners:

Agnieszka Halemba
Organization: Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland
Email address: a.halemba@uw.edu.pl 

Carlo Nardella
Organization: University of Milan, Italy
Email address: carlo.nardella@unimi.it

Barbora Spalová
Organization: Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Email address: barbora.spalova@fsv.cuni.cz

Workshop Theme 

New Uses, Old Place is an international workshop that aims to discuss and advance the understanding of a broad range of topics concerning the change, reuse and adaptation of religious buildings in contemporary Europe from social science perspectives.

The New Uses, Old Places workshop aims to:

• • Share, explore and develop methodologies and theories that can be used to analyse phenomena pertaining to the social and spatial transformation of religious architecture and heritage.
  • Facilitate conversations across disciplines, research projects and countries, while trying to establish some degree of comparability.
  • Lead to collaboration on a future application for international research funding.

Call for Papers 

In contemporary European life, religion is viewed and experienced in many different ways. In some regions, it remains a key aspect of society and an important resource engaged in debates about the future and the past, while in others it appears as a forgotten dimension and an issue barely present in public life. Yet, religious architecture is still highly visible almost everywhere. Cathedrals and churches, monasteries and convents, as we as non-Christian religious places, are as much part of the European landscape as government, cultural and commercial buildings. While persisting in their symbolic materiality across Europe, numerous religious buildings in recent decades have undergone a deep redefinition, sometimes a complete transformation in function and meaning due to a combination of factors. One of them is the limited liturgical use that many churches find today in speonse to dwindling religious membership, declining participation rates and loosening ties to religious and spiritual services. High maintenance and renovation costs, declining levels of volunteering, charitable giving and public financial support are other intervening variables. As a result of these changes, complex entanglements of social, cultural, political and economic forces have emerged. An example is when churches, although still functioning as places of worship, are used mainly as tourist attractions or heritage sites. In other cases, religious buildings that have lost their liturgical functions are still employed as places to express a sense of belonging and objects of community concern. At the same time, the transformation of former churches into mosques and other non-Christian worship sites, as well as their conversion to purely commercial and residential uses, create the potential for conflict and tensions amongst church members and the larger society in general. The conversion of existing buildings from secular to religious use and the creation of modern facilities that allow different religions to share the same space for their ritual and the worship practices are other cases in point.

What marks these and other shifts in use and meaning is not so much the mere transfer of the ownership or management of an edifice between various religious and secular actors, but rather the reciprocal social and power relationships that the involved actors, whether religious or not, exert on one another. This leads to compromises, negotiations and conflicts. The redefinition of a religious building´s use in this sense understood not as a neutral practice but as a powerful process through which various social actors contest, collaborate and/or reimagine the relationship between the religious and the secular. Does all this constitute a new phenomenon or a continuation, in different modes and conditions, of long-standing trends? What forms did these transformations take in the past, and what can we expect in the future? What macro-social process lay at the basis of those changes, and what are their broader social and political consequences? What are the roles for buildings still socially recognized as religious in a secularized public space? 

We welcome papers that discuss research guided by either qualitative or quantitative approaches on how religious buildings are adapted, adopted or converted to a variety of different uses across Europe – an beyond. As it is not the first time in history that religious buildings have been subjected to modifications, we also welcome historical analyses. The following is an open list of presentation topics:

• • Mix of religious and secular uses
  • Innovative changes in worship-related use
  • Complete replacement of the religious use with a secular one
  • Transfer of ownership and its consequences
  • Preservation of religious buildings as heritage
  • Multi- or shared religious sites
  • Legal regulations affecting the reuse of former religious buildings
  • Social memory and religious architecture
  • The affective force of religious buildings
  • Ethnographic approaches to religious materiality repurposed to serve new functions
  • Immersive technologies for remote access to religious sites