Upcoming Meetings

Maes, Claire. “Framing the Pandemic: An Examination of How WHO Guidelines Turned into Jain Religious Practices.” Religions 13, no. 5 (May 2022): 377. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050377.


ABSTRACT:

This paper identifies and examines a Jain narrative that frames Jain tenets as being in line with some of the most impactful COVID-19 measures. It demonstrates how during the early stages of the pandemic (i.e., mid-March 2020 to January 2021), some Jains drew parallels between various Jain principles and the WHO guidelines, finding agreement, for instance, between the muhpattī (“face cloth”) and the public face mask and the dig-vrata (a Jain vow of restraint) and social distancing. This paper shows how some also viewed several unintentional consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (such as not being able to go shopping during the lockdown) as being in line with Jain practices (here the practice of aparigraha or non-possessiveness). By means of an analysis of two Jain writings on the WHO guidelines, I demonstrate how some Jains framed several COVID-19 measures within a distinctive Jain worldview. I argue that the equation of Jain practices with the WHO guidelines should be understood within the ongoing universalization and scientization of Jainism, processes that present Jainism as a universal and scientific solution to global disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.


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https://pdx.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0scOqtrjsoHtBRqiwGhHsl0dxAJS57z_dc


Ben-Lulu, Elazar. “‘Casting Our Sins Away’: A Comparative Analysis of Queer Jewish Communities in Israel and in the US.” Religions 13, no. 9 (September 2022): 845. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090845.


ABSTRACT:

Every year, diverse Jewish communities around the world observe Tashlich (casting off), a customary atonement ritual performed the day after Rosh Hashanah. This performative ritual is conducted next to a body of water to symbolize atonement and purification of one’s sins. Based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in two egalitarian Jewish congregations in Tel Aviv and in New York City, I show how Tashlich performance is constructed as a political act to empower gender and sexual identities and experiences, as well as the socio-political positionality of LGBTQ Jews in various sites. By including new blessings, the blowing of the shofar by gay female participants, and by conducting the ritual in historical and contemporary queer urban spaces, the rabbis and congregants created new interpretations of the traditional customs. They exposed their feelings toward themselves, their community, and its visibility and presence in the city. The fact that the ritual is conducted in an open urban public space creates not only differing meanings and perceptions than from the synagogue, but also exposes queer politics in the context of national and religious identities. Furthermore, this comparative analysis illuminates tensions and trajectories of Jewishness and queerness in Israel and in the US, and sheds light on postmodern tendencies in contemporary urban religious communities as a result of the inclusion of the LGBTQ community.


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https://pdx.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0scOqtrjsoHtBRqiwGhHsl0dxAJS57z_dc


ABSTRACT:
This paper focuses on the artistic-political renderings of the sacred feminine deity of the Romani people, Sara Kali. While her genealogy is shrouded in mystery and controversy, Sara Kali is regarded as the uncanonised saint protector of oppressed, disenfranchised and vulnerable peoples, as well as the protector of pregnant women. Venerated by some Romanies in both spiritual registers of sainthood and audacious political activism, Sara Kali epitomises motherly love and feminine strength. The argument posited in this paper is that Sara Kali fosters a culture of commemoration, materialised in contemporary artistic productions whose political underpinnings resist the unbridled Romaphobia and its venomous consequences. We argue that the cultural artistic memory of Sara Kali becomes a political tool in empowering Romanies to express their identity concerns as well as centuries of oppression and injustice.

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https://pdx.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu2ppz0iE9KvLhXOOkb_p06hftjHJI5C

ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the benefits of ethnographic film for the study of religion. It argues that the exploration of gaps between colloquial descriptions of divinities and their practical manifestation in ritual is instructive of the way religious categories are conceptualized. The argument is developed through an analysis of selected scenes from the documentary AVATARA, a meditation on goddess worship (Śaktism) among the Khas ethnic majority of the Hindu Himalaya (Himachal Pradesh, India). Centering on embodiments of the goddess in spirit possession séances, it points to a fundamental difference between the popular depiction of the deity as a virgin-child (kanyā) who visits followers in their dreams and her actual manifestation as a menacing mother (mātā) during ritual activities. These ostensibly incongruent images are ultimately bridged by the anthropologically informed edition of the material caught on camera, illustrating the added advantage of documentary filmmaking for approximating religious experiences.

REGISTER:
https://pdx.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdu2ppz0iE9KvLhXOOkb_p06hftjHJI5C

Past Meetings

Brunnekreef, Jolanda. “‘The Witch’s Mirror’: A Review of Scholarship on Witchcraft and a Reassessment Based on the Intersectional Lived Experiences of Dalits and Adivasis.” Religions 14, no. 3 (March 2023): 401. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030401.


ABSTRACT:

This article explores intersectionality of identities within Dalit and Adivasi traditions through a review of contemporary research on practices of witchcraft. Witchcraft practices occur all over the Indian subcontinent and form focal points of intersectionality beyond fixed structures and stereotypes. By approaching witchcraft through the perspective of the lived experience of the ones involved, we gain better understanding of the individuals involved, of the larger socio-economic context and of the practice itself without falling into the trap of recasting stereotypes. By approaching witchcraft from the perspective of lived experience, it becomes clear that the occurrence of witchcraft is the outcome of complex intersectional power structures, such as gender, caste, class and religion/spirituality. However, the approach accomplishes even more by addressing diversity, ambiguity and dynamics within intersectional (power) structures. The knowledge drawn from the approach of lived experience of Dalits and Adivasis leads to new academic discourses such as ‘Dalit and Adivasi Studies’, ‘Critical Caste Theory’, ‘Dalit Feminism’ and the ‘Dalit Queer Movement’. These discourses provide new counter-hegemonic knowledge, adding to and challenging academia.

Becci, Irene, and Alexandre Grandjean. “Is Sacred Nature Gendered or Queer? Insights from a Study on Eco-Spiritual Activism in Switzerland.” Religions 13, no. 1 (January 2022): 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010023.


ABSTRACT:

Among eco-spiritual activists in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, gendered notions such as “Mother Earth” or gendered “nature spirits” are ubiquitous. Drawing on an in-depth ethnographic study of this milieu (2015–2020), this article presents some of the ways in which these activists articulate gender issues with reference to nature. The authors discuss the centrality of the notion of the self and ask what outputs emerge from linking environmental with spiritual action. We demonstrate that activists in three milieus—the New Age and holistic milieu, the transition network, and neo-shamanism—handle this link differently and thereby give birth to a variety of emic perspectives upon the nature/culture divide, as well as upon gender—ranging from essentialist and organicist views to queer approaches. The authors also present more recent observations on the increasing visibility of women and feminists as key public speakers. They conclude with the importance of contextualizing imaginaries that circulate as universalistic and planetary and of relating them to individuals’ gendered selves and their social, political, and economic capital.

Kara, Yunus, and Hacer Saroğlu. 2021. “Reflections of Deep Ecology Approach in the Ahimsa Doctrine.” Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences 20 (2): 362–71. doi: https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.832444.


ABSTRACT:

Experiencing environmental crises and destruction of nature brought along the reorganization and questioning of nature and human relations. Conditions such as excessive consumption of resources, depletion of natural resources, leaving non-human living and/or inanimate beings in the background have opened the way for humanity to be in harmony with nature. Emphasizing that the relationship between human and nature should proceed with the principle of reciprocity, the deep ecology movement states that all humanity is responsible for ecological destruction. From a holistic point of view, deep ecology advocates that all living and/or inanimate beings have an innate core value. The principle of ahimsa, which is at the center of the belief of Jainism, shares many common aspects with its deep ecology approach. The principle of ahimsa is based on the adoption of a nonviolent life and no harm to any living and/or inanimate being. The traces of deep ecology are seen in Ahimsa teachings, which are in the belief of Jainism, paying attention to every kind of relationship with nature, and advocating a life without violence. In this study, it is aimed to include Ahimsa Teachings in Jainism on the axis of the deep ecology approach.


Howard, Veena R. ""The Nonviolence Conundrum: Political Peace and Personal Karma in Jain and Hindu Traditions."" Religions 14, no. 2 (2023): 178. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020178.


ABSTRACT:

Debates on war and peace within Jain and Hindu traditions revolve around the fear of incurring individual bad karma from violence, potentially inhibiting the individual’s journey to spiritual liberation. Generally, the religious culture of both Jain and Hindu traditions elevates nonviolence to one of the highest moral principles. Jainism embraces ahiṃsā (non-harming) as the central doctrine, and Hindu traditions exalt non-harming as one of the highest disciplines and virtues (dharma). However, a personal spiritual commitment to nonviolence creates tension with the humanistic value of striving for an ethic of social justice and peace. Maintaining social harmony sometimes requires confrontation or targeted violence. It is not surprising that while both traditions laud ahiṃsā for personal peace, they also deliberate on the challenge of using necessary violence to maintain an orderly society. Despite sanctioning limited violence (hiṃsā) in acute situations, various texts and myths express a general suspicion for using war or other aggressive methods to solve social and political problems.


The Online Religious Studies Academic Journal Reading Group began in Spring 2023 with the intention of creating a regular open-access academic journal reading group focused on religious studies. Meetings are always free and open to anyone with a sincere interest in religious studies. For questions, reach out to Korvin Ahimsaka here. 

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