Religion – Gender – Postcolonialism

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Religions, which will focus on religion, gender, and postcolonialism.

The relationship between religion, gender and postcolonialism is complex, ever-changing, depends on the epistemological landscape, and requires further exploration as a matter of urgency (Kwok 2021). Current research in Gender Studies has been widely informed by anti-racist perspectives and understands gender as intersectional category (Crenshaw 1989). Religion and gender can also be understood as discursive, intersectional, performative categories of knowledge production (Auga 2012, 2020, 2022). It is imperative to adopt a post- or decolonial perspective: as Kwok Pui-lan and Laura E. Donaldson underline, “without critical attention to colonial representation and epistemic violence, feminist scholarship in religion has the danger of replicating the colonial gaze in the name of serving a feminist agenda” (Kwok/Donaldson 2002, 2-3).

Within the field of Religious Studies, the connections between ‘Western’ scholarship, European colonialism, and the discursive production and employment of religion have been extensively studied (Asad 1993; Chidester 1999; King 1999). Within Feminist and Gender Studies, there has also been a longstanding productive exchange between Feminist, Gender, and Postcolonial Theory (Anzaldúa 1987; Chow 1989; Minh-ha 1989; Mohanty 1991; Moraga 1983; Rajan 1993). However, there is comparatively less work in the subfield of religion and gender, which predominantly operates within the fields of Religious Studies and Theology, with a postcolonial lean.

Some feminist postcolonial theorists were sceptical about emancipatory notions of religion (Spivak 1988). Others underlined the centrality of the postcolonial imaginary for Theology. (Kwok 2005). A postsecular shift in Gender and Religious Studies towards the appreciation of subject formation, agency, and human flourishing with spirituality emerged in various contexts, such as the reception of the work of Saba Mahmood (2005/2012, 2016).

Furthermore, the ethical turn in Critical Theory brought about a new awareness of the interdependence of religion, gender, and postcolonial thought. The postcolonial critique of ‘Western’ historiography must consider even more comprehensively which groups are omitted from the historiography. According to Ashis Nandy, these are the ‘non-players’ of history (Nandy 1983, xiv) Unfortunately, the frequent postcolonial blanking out of the non-players—‘Western’ and ‘non-Western’—ignores countless unrecorded histories of affect, conversation, meditation, and non-violence.

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari have suggested reconsidering the term ‘minor’ (Deleuze/Guattari 1986), which is appreciated as deterritorialized discourse. Leela Gandhi conceptualizes outstanding ethics based on the notion of dissidence, minor non-violent counter discourses and practices, whereby she acknowledges the importance of spirituality and follows her own unique postsecular mode (Gandhi 1998/2016, 2006, 2014).

This Special Issue invites us to reflect on the ways in which assumptions, premises, and concepts of the field might require reformulation or revision in light of the compelling epistemological and ontological challenges posed by a variety of postcolonialisms. What are the advantages or ethical obligations of linking religion, gender, and postcoloniality. When they are placed in proximity, might the type of placement be ontological, epistemological, or entangled assemblages?

Postcolonial Studies in Theology often focus on Christianity and textual material and investigate the geographic South, neglecting further religious belongings, thoughts, practices, performances, and visualities. This Special Issue also welcomes contributions from around the globe, including post- and decolonial perspectives from the Nordic and Eastern European countries. For an interdisciplinary exchange, scholars from Religious, Gender/Queer/Transgender, Postcolonial, Postmigration to Visual History Studies are encouraged to submit.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor ([email protected]) or to the Religions editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Prof. Dr. Ulrike E. Auga
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.

• religion
• gender
• postcolonialism
• religious studies
• postcolonial studies
• gender/queer/transgender studies
• postsecularism
• postmigration
• visual history studies