*UPDATE*
Betsy Olson (UNC Chapel Hill, Geography) and Banu Gokariksel (also UNC) have been in touch with me. The themes set out in their CFP is so similar to mine that we might as well make it a joint effort. I am now referring all interested persons in my original CFP to their paper session. Here it is:
The aim of this paper session is to explore the parameters of post-secular research and theory in Geography. From Habermas to Asad to Butler, post-secular theories and approaches unsettle previously taken-for-granted relationships between religion, the state, and society. The challenge posed by post-secular theory is not to study religion more, or to study religion in isolation, but rather to re-view moments, meanings and events without the assumptions of secularization theory – that is, without assuming that religious practices, values and institutions have been historically or contemporarily irrelevant or marginalized in the functioning of ‘modern’ societies. As a critique of secularization theory, post-secular approaches encourage us to uncover and analyze the lingering and overt presence of religion in our social interactions, our economies, and in the everyday and exceptional practice of politics. Less clear in these broader debates (and, arguably, within geographical scholarship on the topic) is the relevance of space and spatial theory in either the theoretical development or empirical analysis of post-secular approaches.
Our hope with this paper session is to begin consolidating and synthesizing the spatial concerns of post-secular theory by exploring emerging empirical research on new (and old) interrelationships between religion, society, politics, and economy. We would especially encourage contributions from scholars who don’t consider religion to be their central interest, but have perhaps been trying to explain religious influence upon economic, social or political practices. Papers might therefore be either historical or contemporary studies, and could address themes such as:
Please send your abstract of no more than 250 words to Betsy Olson (eaolson@email.unc.edu) and Banu Gökarıksel (banug@email.unc.edu )
MY ORIGINAL CFP:
Debating Secularization: Theory and Practice in Geographies of Religion
Sponsored by the Geography of Religions and Belief Systems Specialty Group
AAG 2013: Call for Papers
Recent work in geographies of religion has suggested a need for the tenets of the subfield to be debated. Lily Kong (2010) argues, for example, that not enough work has been done to examine the theological and metaphysical aspects of geographies of religion and to engage the interdisciplinary enterprise of religious studies. An emerging topic of debate is secularization and whether or not emerging geographies of religion can be seen as post-secular spaces. While Beaumont and Baker (2010) argue that cities with new configurations of faith-based organizations are developing new post-secular approaches to social activism, Kong (2010) cautions against this idea for its over-emphasis on European phenomena. On the other hand, Justin Wilford (2011) argues that religious phenomena, while significant, need to be conceptualized as ‘sacred archipelagoes’ in a sea of secularity, for secularization has in fact affected all facets of modern religious practice. The theoretical underpinnings of geographies of religion and its requisite attachments to the secularization thesis are thus currently under debate.
This session calls for papers that examine the theory and practice in geographies of religion in light of these debates. Papers that will be submitted do not necessarily need to be completely theory-oriented papers; indeed, empirical studies that contribute to these theoretical debates, as well as papers that deal with theological and metaphysical issues, will both be strongly considered. Suggested topics include:
- Geographical studies that either support or refute the secularization thesis
- Theological and metaphysical treatments of religious themes in geography
- Post-secular cities
- Faith-based organizations and their treatment of religion and the secular
- Geographies of religious migration, with a theoretical treatment of religion and the secular
- Interfaith geographies as religious, secular, or post-secular phenomena
- Positionality in the theory and practice of geographies of religion
- Religious geopolitics as religious, secular, or post-secular phenomena
- Non-European geographies of religion and their relation to secular geographies
- Feminist approaches to geographies of religion and the secularization thesis
Papers should be submitted to Justin K.H. Tse at tse.justo@gmail.com no latter than October 20, 2012 for submission to the AAG.
Justin K.H. Tse 