Transnational Scholars : Research Mobility and Knowledge Production in Religious Studies

Transnational Scholars :

Research Mobility and Knowledge Production in Religious Studies

International Workshop


Friday 8th December 2023

Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions and Secularism (CIERL)

Université libre de Bruxelles

 Brussels, Belgium

Summary

               In the current scenario, characterized by deterritorialization and filled with interactions of different orders and intensities that materialize in what Arjun Appadurai (2001) calls "global cultural flows", it is increasingly difficult to conduct research on religious phenomena without considering the interconnections that exist between the local and the global. In the field of religious studies, the need to address these interrelationships becomes even more evident due to the circulation of people, symbols, ideas, and practices that are constantly adapted to new contexts. Complexities and problematic related to knowledge production are highlighted in the research guidelines of numerous studies (Argyriadis & Capone, 2004; Bava & Capone, 2010; De la Torre, 2018; Saldívar, 2018). In summary, this scenario poses a challenge for researchers coming from the global "South" and "North", who must constantly consider new strategies to develop their work, conditioned by issues of funding, mobility, temporality, and linguistic, epistemological, and methodological corpus.

               Indeed, it has become essential to consider the need and relevance of conducting research on religious phenomena that transcend the local level. In addition, the asymmetries inherent to the task of conducting studies in a context different from that of the researcher’s country of origin must be considered. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect on the possibilities and limits of access to the field for researchers from the "North" in the "South", and vice versa ; to question the authority and legitimacy of knowledge produced by transnational ethnographies; and to reflect on different aspects shaping the modes of thought and analysis of researchers who carry out transnational ethnographies. In the same way, it is important to include reflexive approaches to ponder on the power relations framing this kind of studies; to consider the condition of possibility for producing knowledge, and to assess the place of the researcher in international networks.

               This workshop will gather religious studies scholars from different backgrounds. Our aim is to create a space for exchanges and discussions on individual and collective experiences regarding challenges on mobility and knowledge production among transnational scholars conducting multi-site research on religious phenomena.

               Among some of the themes this workshop seeks to address :

• Impacts of Internationalization in Researcher’s Training and Research Development.
• Transnational Research Diversity and Co-construction of International Networks.
• Immobility and Forced Mobility.
• Epistemological and Methodological Challenges.
• Production, Reappropriation, and Circulation of Knowledge.
• Connecting Academic Circles Across the Globe.

Organised by :

Yael Dansac (CIVIS3i-Marie Curie Research Fellow at Université libre de Bruxelles)

Mari-Sol García Somoza (Research Associate at Universidad de Buenos Aires and CANTHEL Centre d’anthropologie culturelle of Université Paris Cité)

Scientific Committee : 

Cécile Vanderpelen-Diagre (Université libre de Bruxelles)

Verónica Giménez Béliveau (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Élise Capredon (Université Paris Cité)

Rodrigo Toniol (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)

Marian Bruchardt (Universität Leipzig)

Martin Tsang (Independent Scholar)

Registration is mandatory at cierl@ulb.be.

Download the full program here.