Neighbourly Love in European Migration Debates: The Politics of Using the Bible

Karin Neutel

September 20, 16h15–18h00 [CET]
Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62152616728
Meeting ID: 621 5261 6728

Recent political discussions about migration and Islam have seen a resurgence of claims about Europe’s Christian identity and values. While many assume these claims to be theologically empty, and to constitute a ‘hijacking’ of religion, this paper will demonstrate how they are often accompanied by biblical references, particularly on the themes of the neighbour and neighbourly love. These references raise questions, not only about the continuing political relevance of the Bible, but also about the task of Biblical Scholars to engage with the Bible’s relevance in today’s political climate.

Karin Neutel is Associate Professor in New Testament Studies at Umeå University. Her research focuses on contemporary uses of the Bible in social and political contexts, with a focus on debates about migration and about male circumcision. She has a doctorate from the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and has worked as a researcher at the VU University – Amsterdam, the Max Weber College at Erfurt University, and the University of Oslo.

Democratic Citizenship and Community-based Participatory Research

Annalisa Caputo

October 13, 16h15–18h00 [CET]
Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62152616728
Meeting ID: 621 5261 6728

Our research project aims to investigate the idea of ‘democratic citizenship’. First, what is meant by ‘democratic citizenship’? What is democratic citizenship education? What does it mean to educate for democratic citizenship? In democratic citizenship education, are citizens seen only as ‘objects’, that is to say, only as ‘learners’? And from our perspective, are citizens only considered ‘objects’ for academic research? If not, how can citizens really be seen as producers of knowledge? Are all of us producers of knowledge? Is it possible also to include subjects normally considered marginal, for instance, children, people with intellectual disabilities, prisoners and foreigners? If so, how? And if not, is the implication that democratic citizenship is not for everyone?

Annalisa Caputo is Associate Professor in Philosophical Hermeneutics at the University of Bari (Italy), with qualification as Full Professor in Theoretical Philosophy. Since 2004 she has been in charge of a course in Languages of Philosophy at the University of Bari, and since 2016 in charge of a course in Teaching Philosophy. She is also Visiting Professor of Philosophical Anthropology at the School of Theology of Apulia. Caputo is founder and Editor in Chief of Logoi.ph—Journal of Philosophy. She is principal investigator of the interdisciplinary research project An ABC of Democratic Citizenship. Community-Based Participatory Research through Sciences & Humanities.

Religion and Populism in Latin America: The Populist Potential of Christianity

Ole Jakob Løland

November 15, 16h15–18h00 [CET]
Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/62152616728
Meeting ID: 621 5261 6728

With its high levels of economic inequality and its recent history of political scandals, Latin America can be regarded as a heartland of populism. Being the global region with the highest percentage of Christians, Latin America serves as a highly relevant case for the populist potential of contemporary Christianities. Three recent figures stand out as illustrative examples: First, some aspects of Pope Francis’ theology arguably contain typical elements of Latin American populism. Second, the populist discourse of Venezuela’s former president Hugo Chávez exemplifies how Christian metaphors and legacies can sustain an inclusionary populism of the left. Third, Christianity has been deployed for more exclusionary purposes in the right-wing populism of Brazil’s president since 2018, Jair Bolsonaro.

Ole Jakob Løland is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He has published on biblical reception, political theology and Latin American Christianity. Over the last four years, he has undertaken an investigation of the first Latin American Pope, the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis, also in relation to populism. His most recent book, co-authored with colleagues, is Global Christianity. Current Trends and Developments (2022).

About the Seminar Series

The seminar series on populism and religion focuses on theoretical, philosophical and theological dimensions of populism. Certain conceptions of politics – including political community, political processes and political decision-making – characterize typical formulations of populist thought. A fundamental conviction of this seminar series is that we must investigate these very conceptions if we want to engage in dialogue that goes beyond plain-sense descriptions or explanations of certain facts, and which deeply addresses questions about how society is – and ought to be – organized. Descriptive language and references to facts cannot by themselves account for all the questions posed by society, let alone provide the answers.

We welcome to our seminars a range of intellectually interested parties, including senior and junior scholars, doctoral students, and beginners. In order to reach the broadest possible audience, the default language of our seminars is English, but occasional seminars may be hosted in Danish, French, German, Norwegian, or Swedish.

Tilly Goes to Church: The Religious and Medieval Roots of The European State

Conversation with Professor Anna Grzymala-Busse.

21 September @ 18:00 (CET)
Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/69241752382?pwd=Qnp4dzRndHJTNGVIbkh1Ykp3WmQ2dz09

Religion in Praxis Podcast. Hosted by Dr. Tornike Metreveli.

Anna Grzymala-Busse is a Professor of Political Science from Stanford University. She is the Director of the Europe Center, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute. Her research focuses on the historical development of the state and its transformation, political parties, religion and politics, and post-communist politics. Other areas of interest include populism, informal institutions, and the role of temporality and causal mechanisms in social science explanations. She is the author of three books: Redeeming the Communist Past: The Regeneration of Communist Successor Parties; Rebuilding Leviathan: Party Competition and State Development in Post-Communist Europe; and Nations Under God: How Churches Use Moral Authority to Influence Politics. She is also a recipient of the Carnegie and Guggenheim Fellowships.

September 28, 16h15-18h00
Right-wing Populism and Religion - a Case of Banal religion?
— Andreas Mebus, Copenhagen

Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/67579862136
Meeting ID: 675 7986 2136

October 14, 16h15-18h00
On People in Populism and Religion
— Ervik Cejvan, Lund

NB The previously announced seminar with Marc Boss is postponed due to personal reasons. 

Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/67579862136
Meeting ID: 675 7986 2136    

November 25, 16h15-18h00
Populist Discourse, Authenticity and Violence
— Patrik Fridlund, Lund

Zoom: https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/67579862136
Meeting ID: 675 7986 2136  

These seminars form a series of seminars on populism and Christianity focusing on the theoretical, philosophical and theological aspects of populism. The worldview and the conception of politics — political community, political processes and political decision-making — are typically issues that characterise populist thought. One fundamental conviction is that precisely this kind of questions is necessary to deal with if we want to deepen the dialogue about how society is organised beyond straightforward descriptions and explanations of certain facts. Descriptions and certain facts cannot exclusively account for all the questions society constantly poses, let alone the answers. Both senior and junior scholars, as well as doctoral students and beginners are welcome to the seminars. In order to reach as many as possible, the main language is English, but in the future occasional seminars in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, French or German, are not precluded, if that is appropriate.

Time: Tuesdays at 16.15-18.00

Zoom:https://lu-se.zoom.us/j/69542595209

7 Sept

‘I Will Shake All Nations’: Theological Perspectives on Nationalism and  Universalism

Since the beginning of Christianity, Christian theology has struggled to articulate the difference of the Christian message and practice in relationship to the universal visions of political communities. With the crisis of representation and the heightened tensions between apparently ‘particularist’ nationalism and ‘abstract’ cosmopolitanism, how can theology formulate anew a universalism that is neither irreducibly particularist nor without place, context, or identity? And how can such an approach shed light on contemporary debates about nationalism?

This seminar is a joint seminar with the online academic network Resonans:

https://resonans.mf.no

Ragnar Misje Bergem is a postdoctoral fellow in systematic theology at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society.

Mårten Björk is a postdoctoral researcher in systematic theology at the CTR, Lund University.        

5 Oct

For the life of the World: A Theological Perspective on the Social Ethos Using the Philosophy of Giorgio Agamben

This seminar will discuss the relationship between economy and theology in Giorgio Agamben’s thinking. In particular, it will focus on the image of the empty throne (hetoimasia tou thronou) as a symbol of Glory, and as a the point of contact between theology and politics. The theology of the empty throne allows us to make the transition to a theology that concerns the world (the economic aspect is implicit). According to Agamben, the fracture between the immanent Trinity and the economic Trinity, between theologia and oikonomia finds its true reconciliation in the logic of inoperosità. Finally, this notion of inoperosità is a concept, drawn from theology, which Agamben uses for his political and economic philosophy.

Barbara Hallensleben is Professor of Dogmatics and Theology of Ecumenism and Director of the Study Centre St. Nicholas for the Eastern Churches.

Guido Vergauwen is Professor Emeritus of Fundamental Theology and former Rector of the University of Fribourg.

Stefan Constantinescu is postdoctoral researcher and Co-Director of the Study Centre St. Nicholas for the Eastern Churches.

9 Nov           

Religion and Radical Right-Wing populism in Contemporary American Politics

This seminar will focus on the entanglement of Evangelicalism, conspiracy theories, and radical right-wing populism in contemporary United States politics. The papers will address Trump’s appeal to a particular religious audience, and the interface between Trump’s critique of his political opponents and his audience’s receptivity to certain types of religious language.

Aron Engberg is a lecturer in Mission Studies and Ecumenics and a postdoctoral researcher at CTR. His research concerns the relationship between Evangelical Christianity, language ideology and politics in various contexts.

Aaron Goldman is a postdoctoral researcher at the CTR. His research focuses on the intersection of ethics, theology, and conceptions of critique in Early Modern to Post-Enlightenment European philosophy and religious thought.

7 Dec           

Hate Speech, the Finnish Law, and Christian Conservatives

In current Finnish legislation, ‘excitation against a group of people’ is criminalized. Hate speech against ethnic, sexual, religious, and certain other minorities falls under this category. The seminar brings attention to cases in which religious conservatives are being considered as violating this law. It also aims at discussing the possibility to develop a theoretical scale of less and more harmful hate speech, starting from unfair criticism and vituperation and ending with criminalized variants. While the freedom of speech protects many kinds of morally questionable utterances, it is important to develop a scale that can provide some ethical evaluation of such speech.

Risto Saarinen is Professor of Ecumenics at the University of Helsinki since 2001. He has published extensively on the Reformation, ecumenical theology and history of philosophy, for instance, Recognition and Religion (Oxford 2016), Luther and the Gift (Mohr Siebeck 2017) and On Hope (in Finnish 2020). He received the lifetime award of Finnish Cultural Foundation in 2020. 

Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine

Conversation with Professor Catherine Wanner

November 23 @ 16:00 (CET)

Listen to the podcast

Hosted by: Dr. Tornike Metreveli Postdoctoral Researcher, CTR 

Catherine Wanner is a Professor of History, Anthropology, and Religious Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research employs ethnographic and archival methods and centers broadly on the politics of religion, secularism, and increasingly on human rights in the former Soviet Union. Her most prominent two books “Burden of Dreams:  History and Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine” (Penn State Press, 1998), a multi-sited ethnographic study of how the nationalist paradigm influenced historiography and cultural politics in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and “Communities of the Converted:  Ukrainians and Global Evangelism” (Cornell University Press, 2007), an analysis of how Soviet-era evangelical religious practices and communities in Ukraine have changed since the collapse of socialism won numerous prestigious prizes. Her most recent monograph is a study of the politics of religion and vernacular religious practices in Ukraine, entitled Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine. 

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Studying Lived Religion: Contexts and Practices

Conversation with Professor Nancy T. Ammerman

October 8 @ 19:30 (CET)

Listen to the podcast

Hosted by: Dr. Tornike Metreveli, Postdoctoral Researcher, CTR

Nancy T Ammerman is one of the most influential sociologists in the study of lived religion. Her most recent research published in her edited 2006 book Everyday Religion Observing Modern Religious Lives (Oxford University Press) and her 2013 book, Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes Finding Religion in Everyday Life, (Oxford University Press) explored the
ways religion and spirituality are part of the everyday world of work, home, health, and public life Following on that research, she has articulated an invitation to “re think religion” based on sociological theories of practice and a body of research on “lived religion”. Pulling all of this together is her book Studying Lived Religion Contexts and Practices, which will be
out from NYU Press in October 2021. Along with Grace Davie, she was Coordinating Lead Author for “Religions and Social Progress Critical Assessments and Creative Partnerships” in the Report of the International Panel for Social Progress (Cambridge University Press 2018).

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Nationalism in the neoliberal order: Old wine in new bottles?

Conversation with Professor Christian Joppke

September 30 @ 18:00 (CET)

Listen to the podcast

Hosted by: Dr. Tornike Metreveli Postdoctoral Researcher, CTR

Christian Joppke holds a chair in sociology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. A student of eminent Jürgen Habermas during his student years in Germany, he later received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He authored more than 100 publications in major sociology journals and is one of the most widely cited sociologists. His books are published by major academic (Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge) and are considered as classics in the field of migration studies. Joppke’s present research cover social movements and the state, citizenship and immigration, most recently religion and politics, especially Islam in Western societies. His most recent scholarship, also published widely in core journals and presses, such as his book Neoliberal Nationalism: Immigration and the Rise of the Populist Right (Cambridge 2021), deals with the complex interaction between nationalism and neoliberalism.