CALL FOR PAPERS

ASSOCIATION FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

2007 Annual Meeting

 

New York City – 10-12 August

 

STRIVING FOR A BETTER WORLD: RELIGION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

 

Religious groups have unequal access to social, economic, and political power.  Moreover, religious collectivities address existing social arrangements in various ways drawing from unique worldviews.  Consequently, many societies and religious communities are sharply divided between competing perspectives, with some viewpoints beating out the competition.  The 2007 theme focuses on how different religions attempt to implement their vision of a better world by either sanctifying or challenging the status quo and the consequences of their efforts for their own communities and their relationships with the secular world. 

 

Papers and discussions are invited on a broad range of issues in the sociological study of religion relating to the meeting theme, including but not limited to the following:

 

Ø      Religions’ access to power, privilege, and prestige

Ø      Religious competition throughout history

Ø      Religious violence

Ø      Degrees of religious participation in community advocacy and social services

Ø      Religious cooperation vs. denominationalism in the pursuit of social change

Ø      Tensions between religious groups and secular society

Ø      Religious groups’ political involvement and agendas

Ø      Religious challenges to institutional arrangements, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality

Ø      Competing religious understandings of and explanations for social change

Ø      Clashing versions of a better world within religious communities

Ø      Ways religious insiders and outsiders work to overcome long-standing conflicts

Ø      Successes and failures of religious groups in their attempts at social change

Ø      “Alternative” religious movements

And, as always, we seek an inclusive mix of substantive, theoretical, and methodological approaches.  Therefore, proposals for sessions and papers that fall outside the formal theme are also welcomed.

DEADLINES:         -Session Proposals are due by 31 January 2007

                             -Paper Abstracts are due by 28 February 2007

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: (1) Submit your proposal by email as a Word attachment. Include the names, affiliations, and email addresses of all authors on the same sheet as your abstract/proposal. (2) Limit paper abstracts to a maximum of 150 words. (3) Membership in ASR is required for program consideration (one author, for multi-authored papers).  See the ASR website (www.sociologyofreligion.com) for information.

PROGRAM CHAIR: Rachel Kraus, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN  47306. E-mail: ASR2007@bsu.edu.

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