ISSR - International Society for the Sociology of Religion

Minutes of the General Assembly of the ISSR

Conference Day 4: 15^th July 2021

1pm-2pm

The President welcomes the audience, reflecting on the outcomes of the digital conference. The agenda is accepted. The minutes of the previous General Assembly (Barcelona, 2019) are accepted.

Report of the President of the ISSR: I. Furseth notes all Council and Executive meetings have been online. The most important issue relates to the transformation of our conference into a digital one, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the work on the digital conference has been done by the Gen. Sec. and a team: Colin Stewart, Enqi Weng, Berenice Goffin and Astrid Baudine, Martial Vildard, and Cecilia Bastos. The President formed a working group to work on evaluate current relationships between Social Compass and the ISSR to pursue Jorg Stolz’ and Olivier Servais’ report (2019); this group is composed of Lori Beaman, Yannick Fer, and Line Nyhagen and will submit a report by the end of 2021.

Report of the General Secretary: V. Altglas underscores the development of the website with the webmaster, especially on the submission of conference sessions and papers, with the next phase focused on the making of the conference program. The organisation of the conference has been particularly challenging, in terms of technology and time zones, but also in relation to volatile behaviours from some participants, defying all attempts of planning.

Report of the Treasurer: The ISSR assets and accounts are presented as well as the work of the treasury team in relation to legal and accounting matters. O. Servais lists 3 ideas submitted to the 1^st Council meeting. 1. To improve discipline around deadlines due to the difficulties of membership and conference fees payment, which are recurrent and increasingly problematic, and generate a huge amount of work and stress for the Treasury and the Gen. Sec. teams 2. He points out the diminution of ISSR assets, demanding a new financial strategy that will be sustainable. 3. The ISSR legal address to be located at the Royal Academic of Belgium. with someone accountable legally in Belgium. Inger thanks Olivier for his work as treasurer for 11 years and welcome Sabrina Pastorelli as new treasurer.

The Society’s Awards are presented by Yannick Fer and Mary-Jo Neitz. The Best book award went to Marian Burchardt, for Regulating Difference: Religious Diversity and Nationhood in the Secular West. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2020. Prizes were given for the ISSR best article:

Daniel Olson, Jong Hyun Jung, Joey Marshall and David Voas (2020), « Sacred Canopies or Religious Markets? The Effect of County-level Religious Diversity on Later Changes in Religious Involvement ».  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 59: 227-246; in ex-aequo with an article of: 

Andrea Rota (2019), « Religion, Media, and Joint Commitment Jehovah’s Witnesses as a ‘Plural Subject’ ».  Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet, The Dynamics of Religion, Media, and Community, Vol. 14.

The ISSR Conference in 2023 is maintained in Taiwan and as such was presented in Barcelona (2019), as the vice-president recalls..

Any other business: Véronique underscores the election results to the Council this year : Olga Odgers (Mexico) ; Mar Griera (Iberic Peninsula) ; Marian Burchardt (Germany); Ingrid Storm (United Kingdom) and notes the feminization of the Council, with for the first time an entirely feminine ISSR Executive.

Minutes of the General Assembly of the ISSR (DOCX)

•  Next ISSR Conference: Welcome to Barcelona!
•  Call for papers
•  Note on Membership
•  Book Award
•  Call for the ISSR Best Article Award
•  Call for the ISSR Student Paper Award
•  Introducing the SISR-ISSR Support FAQ

Next ISSR Conference: Welcome to Barcelona!

Dear all, we are delighted to welcome you to Barcelona for the ISSR conference, on “The Politics of Religion and Spirituality”, 9-12 July, 2019.

You will find practical information on the conference location, transports, accommodation etc. from the Local Committee here.

Call for papers

The call for sessions is now closed. You can access the list of sessions here.

We now open the call for papers, which will run until 16 December 2018.

You may propose a paper by using this link. Before doing that, have a look at the list of sessions, names of convener(s), and abstracts for each of the sessions, and decide to which one you would like to submit your paper.

The proposal (title and abstract up to 250 words) should be only in one language – English or French – in which you would like to present your paper.

Important:

You need to be an ISSR member, or renew your membership to submit a proposal, otherwise you will not be able to access the submission page (see Note on Membership, below).

Please note our team has many commitments in addition to our work in the SISR-ISSR. The influx of members contacting us in the final week of the Call for Sessions to request help accessing their account and/or renewing their membership subscriptions has put serious pressure on our team to manage our commitments. We therefore request that you ensure that you can access your website account and that you have an active membership subscription now. This will ensure that you can submit your paper proposal smoothly and without risk of rejection due to late submission. (see FAQ for difficulties)

Note on Membership

Your ISSR membership last for 2 years. No matter which date you have paid your membership, it starts on the 1st January of the year following an ISSR conference and ends on 31 December of the year of the next conference.  For example, those who paid their membership at the conference in Lausanne, have been ISSR members from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017.

Book Award

The call for nomination is now closed. If you have sent a book to be nominated, you should have received an email from Gen. Sec. Véronique Altglas. If not, please write her as soon as possible.

Call for the ISSR Best Article Award

The ISSR invites nominations for an award for the best article in the sociology of religion. Journal articles published in 2017 or in 2018 in French or English may be nominated by the author(s) or ISSR members by sending a nomination letter and the article in electronic format to the Chair of the ISSR Best Article Award Committee, Yannick Fer. The winner or winners will receive their awards at the 2019 ISSR Conference and will be exempt from paying the conference registration fee.

The deadline for nominations is 31 January 2019.

Deadline for evaluation: 31 May 2019.

Call for the ISSR Student Paper Award

The ISSR invites nominations for an award for the best first published paper by a graduate student or candidate who has received their doctorate in the last five years. Papers published in 2017 or in 2018 in French or English may be nominated by the author(s) or ISSR members by sending a nomination letter and the article in electronic format to the Chair of the ISSR Student Paper Award Committee, Peter Beyer. The winner or winners will receive their awards at the 2019 ISSR Conference. They will be reimbursed their registration fees and up to EUR 1,000 in travel costs incurred for attending the Conference.

The deadline for nominations is 31 January 2019.

Deadline for evaluation: 31 May 2019.

Introducing the SISR-ISSR Support FAQ

The Call For Sessions raised some recurring issues that our members were having with their accounts, subscriptions and logging in post-GDPR. In response, we have created a Support FAQ to inform members on why these issues may be occurring and how to resolve them. We'll continue to update the Support FAQ with any more issues that are affecting multiple members.

Check out the Support FAQ now.

We are hoping to meet you in Barcelona for another excellent ISSR conference. In the meantime, we wish you all the best for the new year.

Jörg, Inger, Véronique and Olivier
ISSR Executive

• Prochaine Conférence: Bienvenus à Barcelone !
•  Appel a Communications
•  Note concernant votre adhésion
•  Prix du meilleur livre
•  Prix du meilleur article de la SISR
•  Prix du meilleur article étudiant de la SISR
•  SISR FAQ Assistance - adhésion et site internet

Prochaine Conférence: Bienvenus à Barcelone !

Chères et chers membres de la SISR, nous sommes ravis de vous accueillir à Barcelone pour la conférence sur le thème « Les politiques de la religion et de la spiritualité » , du 9 au 12 juillet 2019.

Vous trouverez ici des informations pratiques concernant le lieu, les transports, logements etc. de la conférence à Barcelone de la part du Comité Local.

Appel à Communications

L'appel à sessions est maintenant clôt. Vous pouvez accéder à la liste des sessions sur la page suivante.

Nous ouvrons à présent l'appel à communications qui se terminera le 16 Decembre 2018.

Vous pouvez proposer une communication ici. Avant cela, nous vous invitons à sélectionner une session pour laquelle vous allez soumettre votre proposition de communication.

Votre proposition ne devra pas dépasser 250 mots (titre compris) et être écrite dans la langue(anglais ou français) dans laquelle vous faites votre présentation.

Important:

Vous devez être membre de la SISR, ou renouveler votre adhésion pour proposer une communication, autrement vous ne pourrez accéder à la page d'enregistrement des communications (voir Note sur votre adhésion, ci-dessous)

Notre équipe a plusieurs activités professionnelles, autre que celle pour la SISR. Le flux de mails de la part de membres durant les jours qui ont précédé la clôture de l'appel à session pour accéder à  leur profil et/ou renouveler leur adhésion a mis notre équipe sous une pression intense. Nous vous remercions donc de bien vouloir vous assurer des maintenant que vous pouvez accéder à votre profil et que vous avez bien renouvelé votre adhésion. Ceci vous permettra de soumettre votre projet de communication sans difficulté et sans risque de la voir rejetée pour avoir dépassé la date limite (voir FAQ en cas de difficultés).

Note concernant votre adhésion

Votre affiliation à la SISR est valable pour une période de 2 ans à partir du 1er janvier de l’année suivant la tenue d’une conférence. Votre adhésion se clôturera le 31 décembre de l’année de la conférence suivante, peu importe la date à laquelle vous avez réalisé ce paiement. Votre affiliation ne démarre donc pas à la date à laquelle vous avez réalisé votre paiement.

Par exemple, les membres ayant réglé leur cotisation lors de la conférence de Lausanne 2017 ont été membre de la SISR du 1er janvier 2016 au 31 décembre 2017

Prix du meilleur livre

L'appel à nomination est à présent clôt.  Si vous avec envoyé un ouvrage, vous devez avoir recu un email de confirmation du Secrétaire general, Véronique Altglas. Si ce n'est pas le cas, écrivez lui aussi rapidement que possible.

Prix du meilleur article de la SISR

La SISR accorde ce prix à un article de journal en sociologie de la religion. Les articles de périodiques publié en 2017 ou 2018 en français ou en anglais peuvent être nominés par leur(s) auteur(s), en faisant parvenir une lettre de nomination et l'article par email au président du comité pour le prix du meilleur article, Yannick Fer. Le(s) gagnant(es) recevront leur prix à la conférence the la SISR 2019 et seront exemptés de l'inscription à la conférence.

La date limite pour les nominations est le 31 Janvier 2019.

Date limite pour les évaluations: 31 Mai 2019.

Prix du meilleur article étudiant de la SISR

La SISR accorde ce prix au premier article d'un étudiant diplômé/doctorant ou jeune post-doctorant ayant obtenu leur doctorat dans les 5 années précédentes. Les articles de périodiques publié en 2017 ou 2018 en français ou en anglais peuvent être nominés par leur(s) auteur(s) ou des membres de la SISR, en faisant parvenir une lettre de nomination et l'article par email au président du comité pour le prix du meilleur article, Peter Beyer. Le(s) gagnant(es) recevront leur prix à la conférence the la SISR 2019; ils seront exemptés de l'inscription à la conférence et seront remboursés jusqu'a 1,000 euros de frais de transport liés à leur participation à la conférence.

La date limite pour les nominations est le 31 Janvier 2019.

Date limite pour les évaluations: 31 Mai 2019.

SISR Assistance FAQ - adhésion et site internet

Suite au GDPR, l'appel à sessions a soulevé des difficultés pour certains de nos membres en ce qui concerne leur compte, leur adhésion ou leur login. En réponse, nous avons créé un FAQ afin d'assister les membres de la SISR et les aider a résoudre ces difficultés. Nous continuerons de mettre à jour l'assistance FAQ au fur et à mesure. Rendez vous sur notre page Assistance FAQ maintenant.

Nous espérons vous rencontrer à Barcelone à cette conférence qui promet d'être de grande qualité. Dans l'intervalle, nous vous addressons tous nos vœux pour la nouvelle année.

Jörg, Inger, Véronique et Olivier
Comité exécutif de la SISR

Dear members,

This is a reminder: elections for ISSR Officers and Council members is open until 30 June 2019. Please participate and cast your vote (https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/CQTFYXP)!

---

Chers membres,

Nous vous rappelons que les élections des dirigeants et membres du conseil de la SISR sont ouvertes jusqu'au 30 juin 2019.

Participez et indiquez votre vote (https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/CQTFYXP)!

Dear all,

The call for for Session proposals, is open. You may propose a Thematic Session by using this link.

You can submit proposals until 30th August 2018 (200-250 words in English; please also provide a French translation).

The call for paper proposals will be opened in mid-September.

Attention: you do need to be an ISSR member, or renew your membership to submit a session proposal.

Dear members of the ISSR/SISR

In order to take part in the Lausanne conference 4.-7. July, you have to pay your membership due and your conference fee.

A number of you have paid none or only one until now. We have therefore extended the deadline to May 20th. Until then, registration is still possible.

Please check if you have done both. If you have not yet paid both the membership due and the conference fee until May 20th, you will be taken off the program.

If there is any problem with this, e.g. if you come from a country from where money transfers are difficult, we have to have heard from you before May 20th for you to stay on the program.

You need firstly to regulate your membership status (https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/membership) and then register for the conference and pay the conference fee (https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/pay).

Also, as the deadline is very close we strongly advise you to pay your fees by PayPal and not by bank transfers.

If you have questions concerning membership dues or conference fees, please contact
Bérénice Goffin ()

If you have practical questions about making registration on the web-site please contact Siniša Zrinščak ()

Thank you for your help and understanding. We are very much looking forward to seeing you in Lausanne.

Best wishes

Jörg Stolz

Dear members,

The elections for ISSR Officers and Council members is now open. In 2019, the term for some of our ISSR Officers and Council members expire (see below). For your information, you will find a list of the committee members here: https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/officers-committees.

We invite all of you to vote to elect new members of the Council for which, when possible, two candidates for each role have been nominated.

Please participate and cast your vote (https://fr.surveymonkey.com/r/CQTFYXP)!

Please find a short presentation of each candidate (https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/election-2019-candidates). Note that each individual vote will only be accessed by the General Secretary and the Assistant General Secretary.

The voting poll will be opened until 30 June 2019.

The results will be announced before the conference.

Les résultats seront annoncés avant la conférence.

34^th ISSR Conference Religion, Cooperation and Conflict in Diverse Societies, Lausanne (Switzerland), 2017

33^rd ISSR Conference Sensing religion, Louvan-la-Neuve (Belgium), 2015

32^nd ISSR Conference Rethinking community. Religious continuities and mutations in late modernity, Turku/Åbo (Finland), 2013

31^st ISSR Conference Religion and economy in a global world, Aix-en-Provence (France), 2011

30^th ISSR Conference The challenges of religious pluralism, Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 2009

29^th ISSR Conference Secularity and religious vitality Leipzig (Germany), 2007

28^th ISSR Conference Challenging Boundaries: Religion and Society, Zagreb (Croatia), 2005

27^th ISSR Conference Religion and generations, Turin (Italy), 2003

26^rd ISSR Conference Interpreting Religion Today: Competing Processes and Paradigms, Ixtapan de la Sa (Mexico), 2001

25^nd ISSR Conference Journeying, Leuven (Belgium), 1999

24^st ISSR Conference Religion, the City and Beyond, Toulouse (France), 1997

23^th ISSR Conference The Regulation by Religion of Nature and Body, Québec (Canada), 1995

22^th ISSR Conference Religion, Culture and Identity, Budapest (Hungary), 1993

21^th ISSR Conference Religion and Economy, Maynooth (Ireland), 1991

20^th ISSR Conference The State, The Law and Religion, Helsinki (Finland), 1989

19^rd ISSR Conference Secularization and Religion: The Persisting Tension, Tübingen (Germany), 1987

18^nd ISSR Conference Religion and Modernity : Survival or Revival ?, Leuven / Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), 1985

17^th ISSR Conference Religion and the Public Domain , London (GB), 1983

16^th ISSR Conference Religion, Values and Daily Life, Lausanne (Switzerland), 1981

15^th ISSR Conference Religion and Politics, Venice (Italy), 1979

14^th ISSR Conference Religious, Secular and social class symbolism, Strasbourg (France), 1977

13rd ISSR Conference Religion and Social Change, Lloret de Mar (Spain), 1975

12^nd ISSR Conference The Contemporary Methamorphosis of Religion, Scheveningen (Netherlands), 1973

11^st ISSR Conference Religion and Religiosity, Atheism and Non-belief in Industrial and Urban society, Opatija, (Yougoslavia), 1971

10st ISSR Conference Types, Dimensions and Measuers of Religiosity, Rome, Italy, 1969

09^th ISSR Conference Clergy in Church and Society, Montreal (Canada) , 1967

08^th ISSR Conference La religion dans le passage d’une société pré - technique à une socié té industrielle et urbaine, Barcelona (Spain), 1965

07^th ISSR Conference L’appartenance à l’Eglise. Aspects psychologiques et sociologiques, Königstein (Germany), 1962

06^th ISSR Conference La religion et l’intégration sociale, Bologna (Italy), 1959

05^th ISSR Conference Vocation de la s ociologie religieuse, sociologie des vocations. Paroisses urbaines, paroisses rurales, Leuven (Belgium), 1956

04^rd ISSR Conference Sociologie religieuse, sciences sociales, L'Arbresle, Lyon (France), 1953

03^nd ISSR Conference Milieux modernes et vie religieuse, Breda (Netherlands), 1951

02^st ISSR Conference C ommunications sur invitation, Leuven (Belgium), 1949

01^th ISSR Conference Fondation de la Conférence Internationale de Sociologie Religieuse, Leuven (Belgium), 1948

The conference registration is now open!

Dear all

The registration for our conference in Barcelona, 9th-12th July 2019 is now opened! Check the conference website for all practical information you may need (https://issr2019barcelona.com).

The program draft will be online by the end of the month.

The registration closes after May 15th. Please note that paper presenters must register before registration closes, otherwise their right to present their paper is withdrawn.

IMPORTANT!

As academics, we’re socialized to organize our work according to deadlines. Even when we know months in advance of an important one, we tend to complete a task within a few days of the due date or, in some cases, well after the due date. Last December, three quarters of proposals (hence more than 300) were submitted 3 days prior to the deadline. 

This generates a very important flow of emails in a short period of time and we would be grateful for you to allow 5 working days for a response on our part. Don’t worry, we will process the registration of everybody who contacted us before 15 May.

Alternatively, in order to avoid these last hours of panic, we strongly advise you to register well before the deadline.

Book Award 2019

The ISSR Book Award Committee has unanimously selected Beheading the Saint: Nationalism, Religion and Secularism in Quebec, by Geneviève Zubrzycki (University of Chicago Press 2016). We congratulate the author, who will receive her prize in Barcelona during the conference.

---

L’inscription à la Conférence est maintenant ouverte!

Cher tous

L’inscription à la conférence de Barcelone, 9-12 Juillet 2019 est à présent ouverte. Reportez-vous au site de la conférence pour toute information pratique dont vous auriez besoin (https://issr2019barcelona.com).

La premiere version du programme sera en ligne a la fin du mois.

L’inscription sera close le 15 Mai. Notez que ceux qui font une communication doivent s’inscrire dans les délais ; après le 15 mai nous devrons retirer leur communication de la conférence et de son programme.

IMPORTANT!

En tant qu’universitaires et chercheurs, nous sommes habitués à organiser notre travail selon des deadlines. Même lorsque nous les connaissons plusieurs mois à l’avance, nous avons tendance à finir ce que nous avons à faire quelques jours avant la deadlines ou, dans certains cas, bien après celle-ci. En décembre, les trois quart des communications (donc plus de 300) ont été soumises dans els trois jours précédant la deadline. Ceci génère un flux conséquent d’emails sur une très courte période et nous vous serions reconnaissants de bien vouloir patienter et nous donner un lapse de 5 jours hors weekend pour vous répondre. Ne vous inquiétez pas cependant, nous procèderons à l’inscription de tous ceux qui nous ont contacté avant le 15 mai. Mais pour éviter les dernières heures de panique, nous vous conseillons vivement de ne pas attendre la deadline pour vous inscrire.

Prix du meilleur livre 2019

Le comité SISR du meilleur livre a choisi à l’unanimité le livre de Geneviève Zubrzycki, Beheading the Saint: Nationalism, Religion and Secularism in Quebec, by (University of Chicago Press 2016). Nous en félicitons l’auteur qui recevra son prix à Barcelone lors de la conférence.

Dear ISSR members,

The Council has set aside limited funds to assist participants in ISSR conferences coming from countries with non-convertible currencies. Those who wish to request financial assistance from the ISSR are asked to submit their application to the General Secretary () by January 31st, 2019. Please refer to the guidelines (https://www.sisr-issr.org/en/conferences/financial-assistance) for your application.

Dear members of the ISSR,

Please find the ISSR newsletter below.

Listen to keynotes: I hope you have safely returned from our conference in Lausanne.  If you haven't been able to join us this time, or want to listen to them again, the contributions of keynote speakers have been recorded during the 2017 ISSR conference and are now available here.
Warsaw in 2019! As you probably know, the next conference will be in Warsaw, Poland in 2019, organized by Artur Wysocki, Maria Sroczynska and their team. All information will be sent to you as soon as possible by mail and put on our website.
ISSR news on Facebook: The ISSR now has a Facebook page, where you can post and read news about publications, conferences, job and research opportunities.
Membership: If you have not yet paid your dues for 2017-18, you can do so on the ISSR website, here.

Call for workshop proposals
In light of its mission to foster international exchange in the sociology of religion, the ISSR invites proposals for international workshops on innovative research topics in the field to be held in 2018 or 2019. ISSR will provide co-funding to a maximum of EUR15,000.
Eligibility:
Proposals may be submitted by a group of a minimum of three ISSR members in good standing, who come from at least three different countries;
Proposals should include confirmed and significant co-funding from at least one other source (e.g. universities, research institutes).
Application Submissions:
Proposals shall consist of
a concise explanation of the scientific purpose and potential publication plans (three pages maximum);a list of potential participants to be invited and/or to be addressed through an open Call for Papers;a detailed budget plan and timeline of organization;confirmation letter(s) from co-funding source(s).Reporting:
Winners of the grant have to send a written and financial report on the workshop not later than 6 months after the workshop has taken place.
Deadline:
Proposals should be sent in electronic format to the Chair of the ISSR Workshop Committee, Yoshihide Sakurai () by the 15 February 2018.

Best wishes
    V. Altglas, ISSR General Secretary

Download PDF

In 2017, the term for some of our ISSR Officers and Council members will expire. According to the ISSR Constitution (Article 17), Council members (formally: directors) are eligible for consecutive re-election only once, unless they assume the function of President, Vice-President, General Secretary, or Treasurer. Nominations are open for all Council and Executive positions listed in the table below, irrespective of whether the incumbent (listed) is eligible for re-election or not.

This means that we need in any case candidates for the Benelux countries, Germany, and Brasil and South America.

We encourage ISSR members from respective countries/regions think about their candidates and to encourage them to be nominated.

Elections will be held in April 2015. All nominations must be sent to the General Secretary no later than 15th March 2017 ().

We remind you that in general:

For the position of General Secretary and Treasurer, candidates must:

• Submit their Curriculum Vitae of up to 500 words in both languages
• Submit 2 letters of support from ISSR members in good standing

For the position of Council member candidates must:

• At the time of election, reside/work in the country or region that they are to represent
• Submit their Curriculum Vitae of up to 300 words in both languages
• Submit 2 letters of support from ISSR members in good standing from the respective country/region

The call for papers is now closed

The Council has set aside limited funds to assist participants in ISSR conferences coming from countries with non-convertible currencies or having other financial difficulties to attend. Those who wish to request financial assistance from the ISSR are asked to submit their application to the General Secretary ().

Applications must contain:

• a letter explaining the inability of the applicant to pay for participation in the Conference and certifying that the applicant will give a paper and remain in residence for the duration of the conference.
• an abstract of about 3 pages of the paper the applicant wants to give at the conference.
• a letter from the head of the applicant's academic department or research centre certifying that financial assistance cannot be obtained from the applicant's department, research centre or from national and international foundations.
• a short curriculum vitae of the applicant.

Evaluation criteria:

• the inability of the applicant to pay for the entire costs of participation must be plausible
• the proposed paper must be of good quality.
• a paper that has already been published in French or English will not be accepted.
• other things being equal, priority will be given to those who have never received financial assistance to participate in an ISSR conference.
• Procedure:
• Applicants who are informed that their application has been approved in principle must submit the full text of their paper in English or French (between 5,000 and 6,000 words) to the General Secretary no later than June 15th, 2017.
• Successful applicants must become members of the ISSR/SISR and must submit their papers for consideration by the Editorial Committee for publication in Social Compass.
• Payment of financial assistance will be made only when the applicant sends the remaining part of the original ticket (not a photocopy) to the Treasurer () after the conference.

Deadline:

The deadline for submitting an application for financial assistance is January 31st, 2017.

Only those applicants who meet these conditions in full will be eligible for financial support from the ISSR. Applicants are also reminded that requests for funding cannot be met in full.

Final decisions rest with the Programme Committee.

ISSR Best Article Award
The ISSR invites nominations for an award for the best article in the sociology of religion. Journal articles published in 2015 or in 2016 in French or English may be nominated by the author(s) or ISSR members by sending a nomination letter and the article in electronic format to the Chair of the ISSR Best Article Award Committee, Matthias Koenig (). The winner or winners will receive their awards at the 2017 ISSR Conference in Lausanne and will be exempt from paying the conference registration fee. The deadline for nominations is 31/1/2017.
 
ISSR Student Paper Award
The ISSR invites nominations for an award for the best first published paper by a graduate student or candidate who has received their doctorate in the last five years. Papers published in 2015 or in 2016 in French or English may be nominated by the author(s) or ISSR members by sending a nomination letter and the article in electronic format to the Chair of the ISSR Student Paper Award Committee, Peter Beyer (). The winner or winners will receive their awards at the 2017 ISSR Conference in Lausanne. They will be reimbursed their registration fees and up to EUR 1,000 in travel costs incurred for attending the Conference. The deadline for nominations is 31/1/2017.

The ISSR invites nominations for an award for the best book in the sociology of religion. Books published in 2014-2016 in French or English (except edited books) may be nominated by the authors or ISSR members by sending a nomination letter and four copies of the book to the General Secretary Office (Siniša Zrinščak, Faculty of Law, Trg m. Tita 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia).

The deadline for nominations is 15 September 2016.

Winner(s) will receive their awards at the 2017 ISSR Conference in Melbourne. They are exempt of paying the conference fee.

On May 10th 2016 Thomas Luckmann died of cancer. He was certainly one of the most prominent sociologists of religion whose theory has been received all over the globe. Born in Jesenice, Slovenia, he went to school in Vienna.

Dear SISR Colleagues

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP). You can find more about the IPSP and its ways of working here: https://www.ipsp.org/.  You will see that it exists to ‘harness the competence of hundreds of experts about social issues’ and to ‘deliver a report addressed to all social actors, movements, organizations, politicians and decision-makers, in order to provide them with the best expertise on questions that bear on social change’.

We Grace Davie (University of Exeter, UK) and Nancy Ammerman (Boston University, US), are the Coordinating Lead Authors (CLAs) for the chapter on religion, entitled ‘Religions and social progress: Critical assessments and creative partnerships’.  Altogether we are a team of twelve.  Here is our Abstract:

This chapter starts from the premise that some 80 percent of the world’s population affirms some kind of religious identification, a proportion that is growing rather than declining. Emphasizing the significance of belief and practice in everyday lives and local contexts, we analyze the impact of religion and its relevance to social progress in a wide variety of fields. These include the family, gender and sexuality; differences and diversity; democratic governance; violence and peace-making; health and economic well-being; and care for the earth.

We argue that researchers and policy makers pursuing social progress will benefit from careful attention to the power of religious ideas to motivate, of religious practices to shape ways of life, of religious communities to mobilize and extend the reach of social change, and of religious leaders and symbols to legitimate calls to action. All of that, however, can be put to either good or ill, for which reason assessment of particular religions in specific contexts is essential.

Running through the chapter are five interconnected themes: the persistence of religion in the twenty-first century; the importance of context in discerning outcomes; the need for cultural competence relative to religion; the significance of religion in initiating change; and the benefits of well-judged partnerships. The continuing need for critical but appreciative assessment and the demonstrable benefits of creative partnerships are our standout findings.
 

The IPSP process – see https://www.ipsp.org/process – mirrors that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and includes a period of public comment in the autumn of 2016.  The ‘Commenting Platform’ is now open – see comment.ipsp.org.  It would be hugely helpful if members of SISR could take part in this.  The IPSP website will indicate how you access our chapter and how you make your comments.  Or if you prefer you can simply send us (; ) an e-mail.