How can we interpret the apparent vitality of various forms of religious observance, particularly in the past decade? Does it signify, as some argue, the failure of the Western development model, which assumed that modernisation, bringing higher levels of education and relative liberation from poverty, would automatically foster secularisation? Alternatively, in the context of the demise of secular ideologies, does religion’s revival represent recognition of the need for social cohesion, or fear of the liberal Enlightenment paradigm? Or does it simply reflect the fact that the majority of the world’s population still experience high levels of what Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart call ‘existential insecurity’, which encourages recourse to spirituality?
It is apparent that religion and politics are intimately intertwined. Religion is centrally involved in the negotiation of differences which is increasingly a necessary feature of the plural societies of the 21st century. It can also be argued that religion predates politics as a form of social organisation. Earlier religious identities were translated into ethnic or political identities as part of the historical process of state formation. Shared religious faith was a key component in the construction of collective national identities. Even today, nationalists mobilise – and instrumentalise – religious identities. In Central and Eastern Europe in the past 15 years, religion has sometimes provided the only distinguishing feature in the attempt to re-establish national identities in the vacuum which followed the demise of Communist ideology as social glue, even where the galvanising power of that ideology was frequently long gone.
This special issue will explore this process of social change, focusing on the particular ways in which women function as signifiers of religious or secular identities, often through externalities such as the donning of apparel or the manifestation of behaviour considered ‘appropriate’ by the relevant (usually male-dominated) religious or secular authorities. The journal solicits papers that explore questions about whether religion can be seen as liberating and empowering or repressive in relation to women’s rights and status within their particular cultures.
All religions, as well as secular institutions, are worthy of scrutiny in terms of their treatment of women and attitudes to gender equality. Furthermore, this question elicits diverse and often contested views. What does it signify, for example, when a Christian church leader in Britain intervenes in a dispute involving an employee’s wish to wear a cross on top of her uniform? Or when heads of state move to ban students (France) or teachers (Germany) from wearing a headscarf in school, or to ban the burka altogether (Netherlands)? Can such actions be seen, as is often claimed, as a bid to support individual women’s rights? Is it about the assertion of religious freedom? Or is it rather an expression of the struggle for (secular, political) worldly power and influence between church and state? And conversely, what does it mean for the women concerned themselves? Do they see it as an expression of the search for meaning in a world that has lost its way with the failures of both communist and capitalist ideologies in terms of social justice and gender equity? Or is it a manifestation of the longing for some sense of collective belonging in societies where traditional extended family ties and community bonds have loosened? Is wearing a cross a declaration of individual faith, a badge of collective identity, or simply a fashion statement? Is wearing the hijab in Europe a form of self-empowerment, liberating women from the invasive scrutiny of the male gaze in a Westernised culture seen as decadent and over-sexualised? Or does it signify social subordination to political religions inimical to women’s independence from group norms? Both arguments have been passionately defended. Why do questions of women’s clothing and comportment so inflame the political debate, particularly when it concerns women’s self-determination as opposed to group control of women’s bodies, appearance in the public space, and sexuality? What do such debates really represent? Is there a moderate position to be taken?
This call for submissions solicits articles on a diverse range of positions
and
stances regarding current trends in questioning the secular, whether
they focus on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or New Age
spirituality, but mainly concerning developments within Europe.
All articles will be subject to the usual review process. Articles should be prepared according to the guidelines for submission in the back cover of the journal and at the worldwide web address. Alternatively the Manual of Style is available on request from the address below. Articles should be sent to the Managing Editor of the journal, Hazel Johnstone. The closing date for submissions is 15 June 2007.
European Journal of Women’s Studies
Attn. Hazel Johnstone, Managing
Editor
Gender Institute/London School of Economics
Houghton
Street
London WC2A 2AE
UK
or email