After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, South Asians were shipped to sugar plantations across the Caribbean as indentured workers. Indentured labor—a colonial scheme of migration and labor—produced the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. In recent decades, Indo-Caribbean groups have been migrating to North America, often finding themselves on diasporic and discursive margins. How can scholars move beyond the tropes of centers and margins, and towards methods and disciplinary directions that allow us a different perspective on diasporic religions? This roundtable invites scholars to think about religion and diaspora from (Indo-)Caribbean perspectives. By raising questions about ethnographic and archival methods, and addressing inter-diasporic dynamics, positionality, and disciplinary approaches in the study of Indo-Caribbean religions, we hope to make space for a larger discussion about navigating and negotiating the geopolitical and demographic assumptions that have come to shape the study of religion in South Asia, the Caribbean, and North America.
Annual Meeting 2024 Program Book
This panel will highlight two new books in the growing field of black queer studies of religion, Jimmy’s Faith: James Baldwin, Disidentification, and the Queer Possibilities of Black Religion and A Blackqueer Sexual Ethics: Embodiment, Possibility, and Living Archive, to explore distinct and overlapping approaches to queerness in the study of black religion. In alignment with blackqueer methods, this panel will engage not only the books of two individual scholars, but the thought of other scholars in black queer studies of religion in order to yield a generative space of communality, possibility, and futuring. The presentations by the two authors will be followed by a guided discussion with the attending scholars to discuss the state of black queer studies of religion and potential futures for this emergent and deeply rooted field of study.
This roundtable brings together several scholars to discuss Loriliai Biernacki’s recent book The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and the New Materialism (Oxford University Press, 2022) in the broader context of South Asian philosophies of materiality. What does it mean for a thing to be “material”? What is the relationship between matter and consciousness? What does it mean to speak of the divine as immanent within the material world? How might premodern thinkers like Abhinavagupta contribute to contemporary philosophies of materiality and the recovery of wonder? Participants will discuss these questions and engage with Biernacki’s book from a variety of perspectives, including Śaiva Tantra, Sāṃkhya, and Jainism, followed by a response from the author.
This panel will be the inaugural panel at the American Academy of Religion (and perhaps anywhere) introducing a new program for Buddhist philosophy: a program of Buddhist critical phenomenology. The overarching goal of such a program is to be intellectually responsive to burgeoning and reinvigorated movements— across the globe, across humanistic and social scientific disciplines, as well as within Buddhist practice communities—that are attentive to the kinds of topics thematized by critical phenomenology, namely the ways that conditioned, historically contingent identity structures and subjectivities shape perception, cognition, and experience for individual people and collectives of people in shared social spaces and lifeworlds.
Papers
Abstract: This paper uses early Yogācāra Buddhist philosophical sources to outline a programmatic basis for a Buddhist critical phenomenology. This paper argues that the early Yogācāra textual tradition’s concept of the “entry into mind only” should be understood as a call for an individual to occupy their own subjectivity as it unfolds in relation to internal and external objects of perception and cognition, where these include one’s own body, thoughts, feelings, and dispositions, and also one’s relations to other beings, to time and space, and to one’s lifeworld. This occupation of one’s own subjectivity should then lead to what early Yogācāra texts call the attainment of “no mind,” which this paper argues is the capacity to live with the reality of one’s social subjectivity and its many implications and entanglements, without being bound by the delusions of that subjectivity.
With regard to spiritual transformation Buddhists have struggled over the relationship between liberatory insight and the operations of karma. That the liberatory process results in the transcendence of the need to attend to karma is both defended and critiqued. We see something similar in the history of critical theory and phenomenology, whereby social theorists like Adorno criticize Husserlian phenomenology for not taking seriously the socially and historically conditioned person. This split is particularly important when attempting to theorize the reproduction and transformation of social behavior. Might the resolution of this tension be located in the potential transformation of sedimented intentionality, a concept foundational to both traditions? This paper will theorize that Buddhism may provide the field of critical phenomenology with a means by which to understand a transformative mechanism for the sedimented nature of intentionality. In turn, Buddhism’s own engagement of collective karma would be augmented by the tradition of social critique within Critical Phenomenology, opening Buddhist conceptions to a robust theorization of social and historical reproduction.
In this paper, I elaborate on the approach to joy preserved in East Asian Yogācāra texts authored by Xuanzang and his disciple, Kuiji. I argue that these Yogācāra Buddhists propose a contextualist approach that does not presume joy to be an emotion with an essential property but rather perceives joy as always contextualized in lifeworlds at the personal and interpersonal levels. Upon delineating what joy is and how it is experienced, I continue to explore what joy can promise. For regular sentient beings, joy that arises in an egocentric mindset always acts to cohere the lifeworld of ignorance generation after generation; however, since joy does not have an inherent property, sentient beings can always make a collaborative effort to recontextualize joy for inclusion and emancipation. As such, I hope to draw on this analysis of joy to enrich the feminist discussion on happiness as presented in contemporary critical phenomenology.
Respondent
Christian Nationalism continues to pose challenges for everyone trying to understand and address its social, political, and religious influences. One ongoing debate about Christian Nationalism involves the degree to which actual theological content informs Christian Nationalist ideas. Are Christian Nationalist agendas primarily driven by cultural and political forces or are they based on theological understandings that undergird and amplify the cultural influences?
This panel addresses questions about the theological ideas and habits of mind that contribute to Christian Nationalist agendas. Bryan Ellrod examines the theodicy of Christian Nationalism in “Visions of the End at the Texas-Mexico Line: Crises of Sovereignty and Theodicy in Department of Homeland Security v. Texas.” Jared Stacey provides insight into rhetorical uses of hell as a place of violence in “Fight Like Hell: Generating A Praxis of Non-Violence By Contesting White Evangelical Doctrines of Hell As A Site of Violence on January 6.” Mutale Nkonde concludes the panel with a look at how online rhetoric frames theology and ideology in “Hate.com: How The Online Christian Identity Movement Inspires Offline Violence.”
Papers
Drawing on Jon P. Gunnemann’s monograph, *The Moral Meaning of Revolution*, this paper reads White Christian Nationalist responses to Department of Homeland Security v. Texas as a revision of the movement’s theodicy. I begin with an analysis of the court documents that reconstructs the crisis of sovereignty underlying the case. Next, I turn to White Christian Nationalist commentary on the case to draw out this crisis’s theological significance. Here, I contend that although this commentary leaves intact nativist diagnoses of the problem of evil, it relocates the messianic power which is to overcome this evil, espousing state sovereignty over and against federal sovereignty, “America” over and against the “United States.” I conclude by warning that the violence this contest produces will nevertheless be born principally by the migrant bodies it presses to the geographic, political, and theological margins - not by the bodies politic at odds in the courtroom.
This paper examines how evangelical doctrines of hell and the demonic, embedded in conspiracy theories and expressed in prayer, fostered Christian extremist violence on January 6. By this approach, the paper aims to contest the doctrine of hell, common to white evangleicalism, as a rogue theological element with political import towards violence. By this theological approach, the paper challenges accounts of evangelical identity in the US which are organized by the claim it has abandoned theology for partisanship. More essentially, this analysis of hell as a site for violence on January 6 foregrounds a constructive reorientation towards non-violent praxis. By engaging the evangelical apocalyptic theology of Philip Ziegler, the paper offers a theological constellation of Christ, Church, and the Last Day, into which rogue doctrinal elements of hell become reoriented. This reorientation generates a praxis of non-violence, countermanding assumptive evangelical claims to enact divine judgment in social & political worlds.
On June 17, 2015, Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old, unemployed, self-identified white supremacist shot and killed nine Black people as they finished bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Epispiocal Church (AME) which is colloquially known as Mother Emanuel (King, 2017) in Charleston, South Carolina (Robles, 2015) . In his online manifesto Roof claimed his pathway to radicalization was Google, the world’s most popular online search platform (Hersher, 2017). Then during his interview with police officers after the killings Roof said never met another white supremacist in real life. His radicalization had taken place entirely in online environments (Piccolini, 2018). A claim that points to how algorithms have become the delivery system for religious white supremacist content and therefore become complicit in advancing the white extremist hegemonic project (Daniels, 2009). This paper explores how artificial intelligence and religious extremism are shaping and reshaping race relations in the United States.
This Roundtable reflects on the publication, A Cultural History of Hinduism, a six-volume study of Hinduism engaging 55 scholars from South Asian studies published this year by Bloomsbury Academic. The Roundtable brings together a group of volume editors and contributors from the publication and a critic who has not been involved with the project to discuss strategies and challenges in writing today about Hinduism and its histories in multireligious contexts past and present. The aim is to open new directions for considering the diversity of Hinduism and South Asian religious traditions and the complexity of religion as a category in relation to them. The discussion explores the multivocality emphasized in cultural history via topics such as the construction of classicality; empire’s facilitation of cultural interaction; the role of interpretation in religious ideology; practices that shape the global dissemination and consumption of Hinduism; and academic topics suggested by the audience.
From June 21-25, 1984, an ecumenical group of ten deaf and hearing women and men from North America gathered at the Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland over four days to dialogue and reflect on liberation theologies’ implications in the context of the struggles of deaf people. The document was promulgated in American Sign Language and written English, and inspired the founding of the group, “Christians for the Liberation of the Deaf Community” an ecumenical group that was active for more than a decade. This panel aims to spotlight this landmark, but often overlooked statement on its 40th anniversary, by reflecting on its past, present and future in intersectional ways with new scholarship on Deafhood, critical disability studies, Deaf Black Gain, LGBT studies, and interfaith studies.
Islam, as a global phenomenon, cannot be fully understood without a nuanced examination of its diverse manifestations. This roundtable seeks to shift the academic focus from the conventional narratives centred around the Middle East, inviting scholars to explore the rich tapestry of Islamic cultures, histories, and practices in Southeast Asia. In their comments, the contributors propose that Southeast Asia should be central to conversations in Islamic Studies. The highly heterogeneous landscapes of Islamic Southeast Asia, and the intricate connections of the region’s Islamic communities to the west and east, compel us to acknowledge the significance of cultural, linguistic, and religious complexity in Islam more broadly. Moreover, a focus on Islam in Southeast Asia allows us to reassess established academic paradigms on religious transmission, conversion and institutional development, which remain often dominated by implicit understandings of centers and peripheries. Offering new paradigms for Islamic Studies, the contributors hope to contribute to the removal of structural barriers that foreclose the consideration of perspectives from Islamic Southeast Asia.
This session delves into the nuanced intersections of religion, gender, and activism, presenting a critical exploration of how feminist religious communities and movements navigate the challenges of gender-based violence and feminist identities. From the performative aspects of ecclesial solidarity campaigns like the World Council of Churches' “Thursdays in Black” to the renegotiation of Coptic women's identities outside Egypt, the dynamics of Catholic anti-gender movements, and the construction of an ecclesiology of Chinese women, the session offers a multifaceted examination of faith's role in both perpetuating and challenging gender norms and violence. Through a blend of theoretical critique, empirical analysis, and comparative study, this session seeks to uncover how religious discourses and practices contribute to or combat the marginalization of women and LGBTQ+ communities. The panelists engage in a conversation on the possibilities for meaningful solidarity, resistance, and transformation within religious contexts across the globe, challenging participants to rethink the relationship between faith, gender, and social justice.
Papers
Much criticism has been lodged at performative allyship, which involves superficial appearances of concern that are oriented toward positive perceptions of the so-called “ally.” The concept of performative allyship uses the term “performative” in a colloquial way that indicates a problematic separation between an utterance and its effect, differing from the scholarly usage of the term. Critique of performative allyship will be used as a lens for analysis of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) “Thursdays in Black” global campaign against gender-based violence. Are there unique elements of this campaign, its global ecclesial context, and the particularities of gender-based violence which render a different perspective on what might initially seem to be simply performative (in the more colloquial sense)? Might participation in the campaign be considered a meaningful “performance” of solidarity, or is it rightly to be dismissed as merely “performative,” benefitting only the public image of leaders who partake?
Contemporary theorizations on the role of women in the Coptic Orthodox Church follow two prevalent narratives: one emphasizing the “wife-mother” archetype as the guardian of family spirituality, and the other idealizing women as “holy-virgins”. These narratives, rooted in institutional and public discourses and based on the idea of a woman considered “virtuous” only if she fits into one of these categories, has been challenged through migration. This paper aims to analyze the role and positioning of Coptic women within their communities outside of Egypt, with specific reference to their identities, memories, and representations and in relation to the discourses produced by the Church and Coptic intellectuals; this is to ascertain how the identity of Coptic women abroad has been renegotiated, in terms of memories and representations, the impact with a society with cultural references different from those of Egypt, and in relation to the new generations born and raised abroad.
Anti-gender movements employ conservative Catholic ideologies to oppose same-sex unions, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, and feminism. As these movements’ visibility is growing in the U.S. and Europe, they seek to marginalize, abuse, and restrict the rights of certain citizens. Hence, this presentation seeks to answer the following questions: How do anti-gender groups employ Catholic values as resources for their anti-feminist and pro-family ideologies? What kind of communicative and digital media strategies do they employ to spread their messages? The study employs a mixed-method approach combining interviews and analysis of social media accounts of anti-gender groups. The analysis suggests that these groups use Catholicism to enforce a “us versus them” dynamic that promotes hate speech and violence against women and LGBTQ+ people, but also immigrants and non-white people. In conclusion, the presentation suggests using literature on social movements and media activism to understand the connections between religion, politics, gender, communication, and violence.
The Protestant church in mainland China presents a striking and impressive phenomenon: women represent approximately 70% of its believers. These women have played pivotal roles in shaping the history of Christianity in China. However, they find themselves marginalized within the church's power dynamics and theological discourse. In this paper, by drawing inspiration from the ecclesiological understandings of Letty Russel and Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, and exploring why and how these Chinese women stayed in the feminized church with male-centric ecclesiology and made their own contributions to the church, my aim is to unravel the unique path of Chinese Christian women have approached the formation of new communities in which being church takes place in a way that is meaningful for them, endowed with spiritual gifts, advocating for partnership leadership and use this kind community as a way to employ subtle resistance and subversion to the patriarchal and hierarchy in the church.
The three papers in this session all consider issues of human agency and fate in the _Mahābhārata_. Brian Black’s paper compares the two framing dialogues that introduce the story, finding that one places emphasis on the text’s ontological status and universal appeal, and the other on the genealogical history and the divine plan. He argues that the two frames work together to support the _Mahābhārata_’s claim to inclusivity and universality. Veena Howard’s paper highlights Queen Gāndhārī’s perspective, shifting the focus from heroism to the value of bodily existence, sensuality, and love. Tejas Aralere’s paper considers the roles of Draupadī, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and Śikhaṇḍī. Though perhaps fated to be central figures in the bloody conflict, their actions also contribute to establishing peace from multiple fronts, he argues.
Papers
It is well known that the Mahābhārata has two frame dialogues that introduce the main story. While some characteristics of the Mahābhārata, such as its Vedic status and authorship, are emphasised in both frame stories, other characteristics are developed in one frame story, but not the other. I will argue that the Ugraśravas narration establishes the text’s ontological status, while also presenting the story as having universal appeal. In contrast, Vaiśampāyaṇa’s narration presents the main story in historical terms, as a chronicle of the king’s own family, as well as in cosmological terms as the unfolding of a divine plan. Addressing the creative tensions between these hermeneutical lenses, I will argue that they work together to support the Mahābhārata’s claim to inclusivity and universality.
This paper focuses on Queen Gāndhārī’s mapping of the battlefield in the “Book of Women” (Strī Parva,). After providing an overview of the narrative placement of this book, I will show how Gāndhārī’s divine vision of the battlefield reverses the gaze from masculine prowess and callous heroism to the reality of destruction and pain as experienced by women. Second, Gāndhārī, who narrates her vision to Lord Kṛṣṇa, does not recapitulate his message in the Bhagavad-Gītā of rising above emotions, rather, she elevates these emotions through the detailed description of the bodies of the dead. Gāndhārī’s lament affirms the value of body and arouses concern for war and violence. Finally, Gāndhārī reveals the cruel reality of the bodily dismemberment of the slain warriors and the unrestrained lament of the surviving women. Through the female divine sight, the Mahābhārata provides a new insight into the value of bodily existence, sensuality, and love.
This paper suggests that although one could argue that they were “fated” to serve in their roles within Kṛṣṇa’s masterplan for Pāṇḍavan victory, that the epic points to these three Pāñcālans’ as crucial in resolving the Kuru-Pāñcāla conflict by ending multiple multigenerational conflicts. They ultimately make peace possible by ending the looming individual conflicts of their predecessors, thereby contributing to the restoration of the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālī-Draupadī on Hastinapura’s throne. Without the Pāñcālan allies, the Pāṇḍavas would not have had a common enemy in the Kauravas, and it’s only through their marriage to Draupadi that they are forced by her - directly and indirectly – to emerge from hiding, return to Hastināpura, and wage war. While their actions certainly help precipitate and conclude the war, I also argue that their actions contribute to establishing peace from multiple fronts.