With apologies for cross-posting

Call for papers: Mediating Faiths: Religion, Media and Popular Culture

Edited by Michael Bailey (Leeds Metropolitan University), Anthony 
McNicholas (University of Westminster) and Guy Redden (Lincoln 
University). 

The place of religion in contemporary society is an issue of major 
importance. Yet it has too frequently been considered a ‘survival’, a 
residue of previous socio-cultural formations, rather than a significant 
dimension of the present.  Even in modern liberal societies, such as 
Britain and the United States, religion continues to play a role in 
shaping political ideologies, alliances, institutional practices, public 
policy, communities of interest, ways of life and social identities.  The 
socio-political context of religion has become even more salient in light 
of the recent dynamics of religious fundamentalism and religiously-
legitimated conflict, e.g. the ‘clash of civilisations’ between a 
Christian or secular west and Islam.  Such developments raise important 
questions about how best to mediate between the needs and/or demands of 
different religions, communities and competing belief systems, some of 
which are secular.  The question of religious representation and 
recognition is particularly urgent in multicultural societies where there 
are a diversity of faiths and beliefs, each with their own distinct 
cultural values and traditions.

Meanwhile, it is increasingly common for expressions of religiosity to 
take place outside conventional sacred spaces and, in contexts of mediated 
popular culture, where they can become imbricated with mundane interests 
and concerns of everyday life.  Most religious faiths have come to 
recognise the role the media and popular culture can play in extending, 
promoting, renewing, and re-embedding religious traditions in temporal and 
spatial contexts, in ways that were previously unimaginable.  This is 
particularly true of some new religious movements for which spirituality 
is as much about personal development, experience, and lifestyle as it is 
belief.  On the other hand, some religious groups are reluctant to engage 
with secular-based media, in case this challenges the authority of 
religious institutions in relation to their everyday embodiment of 
spiritual discipline, moral authority and pastoral guidance.  At the same 
time, the media itself may be seen in quasi-religious terms. ‘Media 
rituals’ are just one example of the way in which popular media and their 
audiences can themselves be understood as imagined holy communions, far 
removed from official religious practices and forms of worship.

Given the recent growth in interest in contemporary religious issues, 
beyond specifically theological matters, and the intersections between 
religion, media and culture, it is timely to bring together scholars 
working across a range of disciplinary fields, including anthropology, 
cultural studies, media and film, history, sociology, cultural theory, 
among others, in an effort to facilitate greater understanding of 
religious beliefs, identities, and the changing nature of rituals and 
concepts of the sacred. 

Proposals are welcomed on, but not limited to, the following topics and 
areas:

· Representations of religion across a variety of media forms, including 
film, television, the newspaper press, literature, popular music and new 
media
· Religion, popular culture and everyday life
· Religion, diversity and intercultural relations 
· Religion, politics and social movements
· Religion, censorship and media policy 
· Religious media, audiences and consumption
· Religion and media rituals
· Mediations between the sacred and the secular 
· Virtual and imagined sacred spaces
· New spiritualities and religious movements 
· Religion, media and young people 
· The privatisation and commodification of religion
· Religion and media/cultural/ social theory

Proposals with an international focus are particularly welcome, as are 
those that are concerned with historical and cross-cultural analyses of 
religion.

Proposals of 200-250 words, accompanied by a brief biographical note, 
should be sent by 31st July 2007 to all three editors: Michael Bailey 
([log in to unmask]); Anthony McNicholas, 
([log in to unmask]); Guy Redden ([log in to unmask]).