Dear Colleagues,
Please receive invitation and call for papers for the conference Global Communication of Fundamentalist Knowledge on December 14-16 2006, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Global Communication of Fundamentalist Knowledge:
Fundamentalism and globalisation are two widely contested concepts. While some analysts claim that both terms refer to increasingly powerful political forces, others argue that neither refers to anything empirically real. This conference seeks to address the following questions: What distinguishes modern fundamentalism from other forms of religious revivalism and political activism? How do global media communicate fundamentalist knowledge? Participants are invited to address these
wider questions within the three thematic areas outlined below:
1. Community, people and state
Since religious communities are constituted in contexts of peoples, states and territories, their aims and ambitions are necessarily worked out in relation to these entities. What is specific to fundamentalism in its relation to these entities? We solicit proposals addressing this question in relation to the following issues:
* Concepts of power, religion and law in formations of communities and states.
* Concepts of power, religion and law in territorial disputes and international relations.
2. Fundamentalism and exegesis
The fundamentalist principle of return to scriptureis usually associated with literal readings, but it also means bypassing literal readings in order to acquire scriptures hidden (esoteric) knowledge and to empower true believers in relation to their others. Proposals are solicited which analyse fundamentalist hermeneutics in relation to the following themes:
* Principles of epistemic and communal authority in exegesis.
* Esotericism, aestheticism and linguistics in exegesis.
* Exegeses and changes in communities, societies, states, and international relations.
3. Media and fundamentalist knowledge
Through global media, individuals can avail themselves of a wide range of sources, including religious websites and scriptures. Is this development changing the way religion serves ethnic and national interests? Or is it challenging ethnic and national interests and creating new forms of religious and political activism? Proposals are solicited which seek to define fundamentalism from the following perspectives:
* The ways in which religious actors (whether states or trans-national networks) use global media to serve ethnic and national interests.
* The ways in which non-religious actors (whether states or trans-national networks) use global media to defend ethnic and national interests against religion
For detailed information and registration form, please visit the conference
website: www.hf.ntnu.no/cofu
Contact: global@hf.ntnu.no
[sursa e-nass]
