CFP: Youthful spaces of belief

SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS: ‘YOUTHFUL SPACES OF BELIEF’

RGS –IBG Annual International Conference: London, 1st-3rd September 2010
Session Organiser: Peter Hemming (Brunel University)
Sponsored by the RGS-IBG Children, Youth and Families Research Group

Religion is currently on the social and political agenda like never before, and this development has been reflected through increasing interest in the Social Sciences. In Geography, the ‘new’ geographies of religion have gained in prominence (Kong 2001) and the issue of space has received greater attention from other disciplines (e.g. Knott 2005).
Scholars from within the sub-discipline of geographies of childhood and youth have also begun to consider the significance of religion in the spaces that shape the everyday lives of children and young people (e.g. Dwyer, Hemming, Hopkins, Olson). But the word ‘belief’ encompass much more than religion. It includes ethical, moral and political views that structure the lives of religious and non-religious children and young people alike. These perspectives often provide innovative ways of
thinking about and understanding contemporary global issues such as the environment and living with diversity. As such, beliefs and the way in which they intersect with space and place will be of central concern for both geographers and other researchers interested in children, youth and families.

Papers on youthful spaces of belief might include, but would not be limited to, any of the following interdisciplinary topics:

· The role of belief in constructing childhood and youth
· Influences of and influences on beliefs
· Religious education and education spaces
· Belief and spaces of inclusion/exclusion
· Communities of belief
· Social cohesion
· Emotional, affective and embodied aspects of belief
· Belief and social identity
· Intergenerational issues and home spaces
· Nationhood and belief
· Moral and ethical geographies
· New social movements
· Governing beliefs
· Transitions and the life course
· Innovative methods for researching childhood, youth and belief


Please send your proposed title, along with your name, affiliation, email address and abstract (max 250 words) to peter.hemming@brunel.ac.uk by Friday 5th February 2010.