ESA Mid-Term Conference “Religions and Identities in the European Migration Crisis”

30 August -1 September 2018

TURIN (IT) University of Turin, Campus Luigi Einaudi

Deadline: January 10th, 2018

The relation between immigration, citizenship, integration/participation in host societies, and religion has been for quite some time central to the interest of scholars. Over time, the increase of migrations from non-European countries has further enriched the debate, drawing attention to various religious traditions. The growth in the number of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists (as well as other religious affiliations) has re-directed scholars to the question of whether religious belonging (leading to convinced behavior) improves or hinders the process of integration of immigrants and, above all, of their children in the host society. At the same time, migration patterns have become quite complex. Migration from Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe has intensified and traditionally emigrant countries, particularly in Southern Europe, have also become destination countries. In addition, refugees and asylum seekers, associated with what has been usually termed as the “Mediterranean Crisis”, have prompted a profound social and political crisis across different European countries, contributing to anti-immigrant feelings. The issue of religious pluralism has thus become linked to wider interrelated issues such as citizenship rights; “deserving” and “non-deserving” migrants; how states and other institutions, including old and new religions, and in particular educational institutions, are managing the rising number of migrants; relations between different types of secularities and religious identities; understandings of cultural identities and so on.

The aim of the ESA RN34 mid-term conference is to respond to such challenges by welcoming papers that may contribute to:

• clarifying the relations between migrants and faiths in host societies;
• understanding the role played by ethnic churches/mosques/worship associations in the broader integration process;
• investigating about how native Europeans develop their identity in response/ relationship to the religious identities of the newcomers;
• addressing the relations between the European Convention on Human Rights and the role of regional and local authorities in managing religious pluralism;
• scrutinizing the issues of anti-religious racism, right-wing extremism, radicalization and fundamentalism;
• interrogating the treatment of various religious identities and different secular identities in host societies;
• exploring the relations between religions and gender in the context of migration;
• examining the implications for how immigrants, belonging both to first- and second-generations, (re)configure religious arrangements in the context of anti-immigrant discourse;
• contributing to an innovative research agenda on to what extent religions matter in migrants’ daily life.

Other topics related to the theme of the conference are also welcomed.

Beside papers, session /panel proposals are welcomed too.

PhD students and post-doc fellows are particularly encouraged to submit a paper. There is a possibility to propose also a poster session, including work in progress. The best poster will get a small, but nice prize.

A specific workshop will be organized on “Mixed-methods in exploring religiousness within diaspora communities” for  non-academic researchers.