CFP to a special issue in The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology
What is the role of religion in our everyday life? Challenging Weber’s idea of disenchantment and rationalization, scholars have noted that the role of religion has been reconfigured and reformulated, with the result that religion no longer enjoys monopoly over truth and good life (Uberoi 1978; Asad 2003; Casanova 2009). Increasingly, various domains of our lives such as the social, economic and political seem to work with their own notions of truth and good life, often challenging the religious frames. Yet, religion continues to manifest and mediate our lives in newer ways. Scholars like Meredith McGuire (2008) and Nancy Ammerman (2020) have proposed that we should shift our analytical lens from the quintessential sites such as temples, mosques and churches and look for how ‘religion’ happens in the lives of lay people on an everyday basis. They find that ordinary people are not strictly following the doctrinal requirements of a single faith but borrow from various kinds of traditions available to them. Inspired by this approach, the special is seeking to understand the changing nature of religiosity in South Asia and how individuals are negotiating with the religious traditions today.
The aim is to explore the everyday life of religions in South Asia as people are engaging in, to use a phrase from Durkheim, profane activities. I am seeking papers engaging with traditions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and so on.
If you are interested, please send a title and 300-word abstract along with a short bio of 25 words by 15th February 2025 to saidalavi.pc@snu.edu.in
The abstract should outline the key argument and it’s structure along with a reflection on the theme.