Gender and Research announces a call for abstracts for a thematic issue titled Gender, Religion, and Spirituality edited by Tereza Jiroutová Kynčlová, Blanka Knotková Čapková, and Ivy Helman (Faculty of Humanities, Charles University). This journal is published by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It is a peer-reviewed scientific transdisciplinary journal of gender studies and feminist theory which has not yet had a monothematic issue dedicated to religion.

The thematic issue Gender, Religion, and Spirituality arises from this critical need as the last decade has brought about a growing number of attacks against feminism and gender studies, as well as the GLBTQIA+ community worldwide. This can be seen in all of the major religions present in the Czech Republic: Islam; Judaism; Buddhism; and Christianity among others. For many religious institutions, the pejorative notion of "gender ideology", which originates in conservative religious circles, has become a discursive construction aimed at the vilification of both gender-informed activism and academic research focused on social inequalities and otherness within these traditions. One example of this antifeminist discourse, or “antigenderism” and the dismissal of findings arising from research based on gender expertise includes the repeated postponement of the ratification of Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence by multiple Czech governments as the Convention is under continual attack by representatives of conservative Christian organizations as well as the Catholic and other churches. The gender dimension of religion is a global phenomenon and is inherent to religious practices of women, men and diverse communities. As the example above illustrates, it also has a political impact on entire societies – religious, agnostic or atheist notwithstanding – regardless of dominant religious traditions in a given time and place.

Religious issues are intersectional and as such interfere with policies of nation states, national and transnational institutions and corporations. Religion and spirituality find their various expressions and representations in their relation to class, racial and ethnic contexts, and in combination with gender relations of power. Seniority and age bear on religious and spiritual practices as well. Further, they shape social and cultural concepts of non/parental roles, sexual practice, reproductive rights and bear on the notions of care, childcare and upbringing, and the contents of curricula in education. The impact religion has on politics manifests itself – besides the above mentioned example from the Czech Republic – in anti-abortion laws passed in Poland and in attempts to do so in Slovakia; in overturning Roe v. Wade in the United States; in French “anti-veil” policies; in frequent western representations of Islam as a “religion of terror” that both threatens peace in the world and binds women to servitude due to Islam’s alleged “backward” characteristics and rigid patriarchal structures. The list of examples has no end. Feminist research into religion and spirituality, however, centers on the mutual interdependence and constitution of social patriarchal structures with those of religion, religious institutions, and the symbolic order. In defying ubiquitous androcentrism, feminism can envision societies free of gender hierarchies as much as it can conceptualize the existence of post-patriarchal religious traditions and spiritualities.

The aim of this thematic issue is to focus on the diversity of contemporary feminist research in relation to religion and spirituality in its complexity and topical width. The thematic issue editors welcome papers pertaining to any religious and spiritual tradition and practice while using gender as an analytical category. Proposed papers should be inspired by feminist theories and methodologies on media, literature, religious texts as well as interviews and/or participative and ethnographic research on religious institutions, religious and spiritual practices in communities or as practices by individuals as conveyed in their testimonies or cultural representations. Abstracts of papers on any issue pertaining to the vast field of gender and religion not named here will also be greatly appreciated.

If you are interested in publishing your research in this special issue, please submit an abstract of your paper (max. 250 words) by January 15, 2023 to the editor’s office (genderteam[at]soc.cas.cz) and to the editors Tereza Jiroutová Kynčlová (tereza.jiroutovakynclova[at]fhs.cuni.cz), Blanka Knotková Čapková (blanka.knotkova[at]fhs.cuni.cz) and Ivy Helman (IvyAnn.helman[at]fhs.cuni.cz). Please include “Gender, Religion and Spirituality” in the subject line of your email. Contributions will be accepted in Czech, Slovak, and English. Guidelines for publishing articles in English are available at: https://genderonline.cz/artkey/inf-990000-1200_Submission-Guidelines.php.

Notifications of acceptance to publish in the thematic issue will be sent out by February 1, 2023. Final versions of articles are to be submitted by April 15, 2023. The editors also welcome book reviews and reports relevant to the topic of the forthcoming issue. The special issue will be released in the fall of 2023.

Gender and Research is a peer-reviewed scientific transdisciplinary journal of gender studies and feminist theory. The journal is included in SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, CEJSH, DOAJ and other databases. More information, including formal requirements for submitted manuscripts, is available at: https://genderonline.cz/artkey/inf-990000-1200_Submission-Guidelines.php. Information on publication ethics is available at: https://genderonline.cz/artkey/inf-990000-1600_Publication-Ethics-and-Malpractice-Statement.php