Call for papers for panel at the EASR Conference, Relocating Religion, Helsinki 28 June – 1 July 2016.
Panel: “Illegitimate Influence” and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Concept “Manipulation”
Organizers: Christiane Königstedt (University of Leipzig) and Anna Strhan (University of Kent)
In the study of new and minority religions, scholars have observed that processes of influence or manipulation are frequently referred to in terms that connote illegitimate influence, for example, as ‘mind control.’ Such labeling is often paired with terms such as ‘cults’ or ‘extremist’ that equally denigrate the group in question, along with its alleged methods that turn smart people into witless victims. Scholars who have engaged with this language have often been seen as naïve, and this polarization has inhibited debates about the possibility of influence as such. There are conceptions and uses of these notions in different academic disciplines and since the differentiation of legitimate and illegitimate influence are political and ideological, they demand careful reflection, perhaps most obviously in relation to debates about “religious freedom” and the autonomy of individuals. This panel aims to engage with existing conceptions in order to develop more nuanced understandings of the social and cultural contexts in which respective allegations are made, how these relate to particular understandings of religion, as well as the varieties and range of influence. We invite papers addressing manipulation, social influence or other related subjects in the form of case studies or theoretical discussions, including interdisciplinary approaches.
Please submit abstracts for this panel using the online submission system, under the ‘Abstract for Open Session’ heading by 31 December 2015: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/65198/lomake.html
If you have any queries about the session, please feel free to contact the organizers directly: Christiane Königstedt ([log in to unmask]) and Anna Strhan ([log in to unmask]).
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