Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 August 2025 | Viewed by 958
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In this Special Issue of Religions, scholars are invited to analyze the history of various religions by emphasizing the ways in which mobility has shaped the development of transnational networks of spiritual systems across the globe. In particular, we ask scholars to examine the ways in which historical subjects have criss-crossed political, cultural, and social borders as pilgrims, missionaries, refugees, and members of migrant communities to practice their religion. In analyzing the mobility of religious persons within a transnational historical context, scholars should offer insights into how the movement of religion from one place to the next has been shaped by larger external events such as war, revolution, economic development, and technology, but also how various forms of movement such as moving across geopolitical borders have become integral to religious practices and identities. In so doing, scholars will contribute to the ongoing “transnational turn” in history, charting how various communities around the globe from Jerusalem to Beijing or rural Appalachia to the northern Sahel have come to forge shared communities of faith and worship. Along with this, the Special Issue aims to prompt scholars to think critically about the ways in which mobile religious subjects have promoted the interconnectedness of societies, cultures, and economies between places around the globe while also underscoring how that historical process has both challenged and reinforced nation states and national identities. Lastly, scholars should consider how a religion’s movement through transnational circuits of trade, cultural exchange, and immigration has created controversy surrounding ideas about orthodoxy, tradition, progress, cultural adaptation, and evolution within a faith. In that sense, the Special Issue hopes to highlight the various problems produced by mobility that transnational religious groups have had to overcome historically and how clergy, lay disciples, and institutions from aroud the globe compete to act as custodians of their faith.
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this information to the Guest Editor, Dr. Anthony J. Miller, at millera@hanover.edu, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Evelyn Zeng, at evelyn.zeng@mdpi.com. The Guest Editors will review the abstracts to ensure they align with the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer-review process.
Deadline for abstract submission: 1 May 2025.
Deadline for full-text submission: 1 August 2025.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Anthony Miller
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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.
Keywords
- pilgrims
- mobility
- transnational turn
- refugees
- missionaries
- migrants
- border crossing
- orthodoxy
- cultural adaptation
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