Religion and Media Cultures in the Digital Public Sphere

Dear Colleagues,

Research on religion and media has long examined how communication technologies reshape belief, authority, ethical practice, and public representation (e.g., Hoover; Campbell; Hjarvard; Morgan; Meyer). Today’s digital media landscape intensifies these dynamics, generating new challenges and opportunities for understanding religion in public life.

Contemporary media environments are marked by the fragmentation of religious and cultural authority; the rapid circulation of identity-based and ethical claims; and the rise of highly visible cultures of debate and activism. Movements related to feminism, queer politics, Palestinian solidarity, Indigenous sovereignty, racial justice, and other forms of civic mobilization demonstrate how religious meanings and narratives circulate within broader struggles for legitimacy and visibility.

At the same time, the authoritarian and illiberal turn in global politics—from the United States and India to Russia and parts of the MENA region—underscores the heightened importance of mediated narratives concerning religion, belonging, and power. Digital platforms, audiovisual media, and global information flows shape both the contestation and the reconfiguration of religious discourse across diverse publics.

Given these developments, a renewed focus on religion within digital media cultures and public spheres is both timely and essential.

Aim of the Special Issue

This Special Issue aims to investigate how religious identities, ethical frameworks, and cultural narratives are mediated, represented, and challenged within contemporary media cultures. The topic falls squarely within the scope of Religions by foregrounding how media shape religious meaning-making, public communication, and the social life of belief.

Submissions may examine journalism, documentary media, entertainment culture, social media platforms, diasporic and transnational communication, or hybrid forms of digital religious expression. While the central focus is on media and public spheres, we also welcome contributions that consider emerging technologies—such as artificial intelligence—as one component of the evolving communicative environment in which religious narratives circulate.

The aim is to curate a cohesive and rigorous collection of at least 10 articles illuminating the intersections of religion, media cultures, and public life in the digital era.

Suggested Themes and Article Types

We welcome original research articles and reviews. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Representations of religion in news, film, television, podcasts, and digital storytelling;
• Digital religious publics, counterpublics, and online activism;
• Feminist, queer, and decolonial engagements with religious narratives in mediated spaces;
• Accelerated identity claims and digital cultures of debate;
• Narratives of solidarity, suffering, and liberation (e.g., Palestine, Indigenous movements, racial justice);
• Religious authority and authenticity in fragmented and participatory media environments;
• Algorithmic media and emerging technologies (e.g., AI) in shaping religious imaginaries;
• Religion, memory, and identity in diasporic, migrant, and transnational media contexts;
• Postsecular, postcolonial, and critical approaches to religion in public life;
• Religion, media, and the contemporary rise of authoritarian or illiberal politics.

Article Length:

Full-length articles will typically range from 9000 to 12,000 words, including references and notes.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Dilyana Mincheva
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• religion and media
• digital public sphere
• representation
• religious authority
• activism
• identity and politics
• digital culture
• postsecularism
• popular culture
• algorithmic media