Call for papers: Conference for the Study of Religion

2 – 4 October, 2013

Venue: University of South Australia, City West Campus

Hawke Building, Bradley Forum, Level 5

50 – 55 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia

The Australian Association for the Study of Religion and The International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding invite you to the AASR Annual conference with the theme:

The Paradox of Liberation and Religion

The relationships between religion and society and religion and the individual are multivalent. Religion can be mobilised as a source of empowerment, whilst at the same time curtailing individual and social freedom. For example, Muslim dress is often typecast in the West as a symbol of oppression of individual freedoms, while the veil can be imbued with notions political, social and spiritual liberation. Religion can also be a source of power over individual and collective spheres. The institutionalisation of religion within state apparatus can result in the extension of religious freedoms to some, and the oppression of others. We invite speakers from a broad range of disciplines to engage with the paradoxes of liberation and religion in their various formations.

Contributors are invited to engage with, but are not confined to, the following themes:

- How religion is mobilised to justify forms of social, political and individual oppression and liberation

- The complexities and contradictions of secularism as sources of personal and social liberties

- Inter-religious dialogues between Islam and other critical traditions of thought

- Intersections between religion and power

- Relationships between gender, sexuality and religion

- Religion in the media and popular culture

- Struggles for the recognition of religious formations and expressions

Call for Individual or Panel Presentations

• Individual paper proposals (200-300 word abstracts)

• Panel proposals (200 word for the panel concept and 200-300 words on each panel paper).

• For each paper, please provide a bio (up to 50 words) of the presenter(s).

Presentations of 20 minutes with 5 minutes for questions

Please submit your abstract by July 31st 2013 to MnM-Centre@unisa.edu.au