EASR Conference 2022 in Cork: Religions and States of Freedom

EASR conference "Religions and States of Freedom" takes place in Cork from the 27th of June till 1 of July.

Responses to the Covid-19 pandemic have demonstrated how quickly freedoms can be radically restricted: places of worship closed, the participation in pilgrimages prohibited and acts of solidarity criminalized. Both religious and state authorities around the globe are constantly challenged to redefine their stance towards each other and the associated freedoms they might guarantee, restrict or deny.

It is the aim of this conference to provide a transdisciplinary forum for theoretical and methodological reflection and empirical and historical research on freedom in, from, and of religion. We welcome contributions that approach the topic of freedom and religion from sociological, anthropological, cultural, political, historical, psychological, philosophical, and legal perspectives in both historical and contemporary settings.

There will be five presentations from the School of Theology and Religious Studies.

PhD student Nele Dresen talks about how new religious movements understood freedom in the revolutionary processes in Estonia in the 1980s.

PhD student Iakov Kadochnikov discusses changes in royal ideology and religious beliefs of first Isin rulers as seen through the prism of their royal inscriptions and hymns.

Indrek Peedu, Research Fellow in Religious Studies talks about ‘method’ and ‘methodology’ in the study of religion.

Anastasiia Babash, Junior Research Fellow in Religious Studies gives a presentation about religious feminism online as a challenge to the religious-secular binary. Anne Kull, Professor of Systematic Theology is presenting a paper "Morphings of gender equality in the post-Soviet Context: politics, religion and “terrifyingly destructive” gender". These two presentations present the preliminary results of the research project "Religion and Gender Equality: Baltic and Nordic Developments".(MHVUS21035)

The entire program is available here.