Call for Papers - Religious and Sexual Nationalism in Eastern Europe: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

Deadline for submitting abstracts: May 15, 2014
Deadline for submitting full papers: October 15, 2014

The Amsterdam Centre for the Study of Lived Religion invites proposals for articles for the volume Religious and Sexual Nationalism in Eastern Europe: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. One of the prominent and fiercely contested issues in Eastern European societies regards the position of religion and homosexuality. The volume will focus on the strategic and ideological assumptions, interests, and effects of present-day constructions of (homo)sexuality and religion in public arenas of Eastern Europe. In recent decades the public perception of both religion and sexual diversity has changed fundamentally in Eastern Europe. Whereas several Western societies consider the acceptance of sexual diversity the litmus test of tolerance and essential to human rights, other societies see homosexuality as a threat to their national and cultural identity. In many of Eastern European societies (e.g. the Western Balkans), religion plays a dominant role in strengthening particular cultural identities as appears for example in the problems around gay pride parades. Sexual and religious nationalisms emerge in collective identity markers in political debates and popular culture. This volume will look at the cultural discourses at work and explore the cultural differences in several contexts of Eastern Europe and the cultural and political role of religion in conflicts about sexual diversity. An integrative approach that aims to chart and evaluate the dynamics of religion, nationalism, and homosexuality in different multi-layered political and religious contexts is therefore required. The aim of this volume is to develop a theoretical and empirical framework that will allow a critical and systematic exploration of the oppositional pairing of religion and homosexuality as it is related to the public arena of different national and religious contexts of Eastern Europe.

We also invite scholars from other Western European countries to contribute to the volume.

Areas of interest for this volume include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Submission of proposals: May 15, 2014
Notification of acceptance: June 15, 2014
Completed manuscripts (7,000 words): October 15, 2014

Please send all proposals (300 words) to sexualnationalism@livedreligion.org.

Amsterdam Centre for the Study of Lived Religion
e-mail: sexualnationalism@livedreligion.org.