Exploring Intersections between Biographical Research and Religion

Wednesday, 9 July 2025: 13:00-14:45
Location: SJES023 (Faculty of Legal, Economic, and Social Sciences (JES))
RC22 Sociology of Religion (host committee)
RC38 Biography and Society

Language: English

In this session, we explore the intersections between the sociology of religion and biographical research. We invite contributions that examine the role of religion in biographical experiences and narratives, encompassing socialization processes, familial transmission, rites of passage in religious life, and life in religious communities, among others. In particular, we are interested in both established and novel research themes that bridge the two fields.

Existing research in this area has notably focused on conversion processes as responses to biographical crises and external challenges, as well as on confessions as catalysts for biographical awareness. We particularly welcome empirical contributions that employ recent approaches in the sociology of religion through the lens of biographical research. Biographical research is especially suited to analyze the concepts of "lived religion" and "religious agency" from a processual perspective.

Furthermore, we recognize that religious identities and practices are part of a dynamic field that also involves new spiritualities, forms of (non) religion, and secular concepts of self and society. We thus welcome contributions that move beyond the realm of organized religion to examine spiritual and secular lives and practices that are less institutionalized, codified, and regulated, and often also less visible.

Session Organizers:
Johannes BECKER, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, Germany, Marian BURCHARDT, University of Leipzig, Germany and Mar GRIERA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Oral Presentations
Life Stages and Religious Renewal. Young Muslims Transitioning to Adulthood in Italy and Their Conception of Islam
Stefano ALLIEVI, University of Padova, Italy; Andrea CALABRETTA, Italy
Life Stories and Self-Thematizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Context of Familial and Collective Persecution Under National Socialism
Miriam SCHAEFER, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany; Maria POHN-LAUGGAS, University of Bochum, Germany
Subjects of God? Rethinking Religious Agency, Biography and Masculinity from the Global South
Johannes BECKER, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, Germany; Marian BURCHARDT, University of Leipzig, Germany
“Does It Actually Make Any Sense?” Contemporary (Un)Religious Experiences of the Young Generation
Kaja KAZMIERSKA, University of Lodz, Poland
Exploring the Ambivalent Position of the Filipino Baklang Katoliko within the Catholic Church
Latrell FELIX, Philippines
Shared Roots, Divergent Paths? Gendered Religious Socialization in the Lives of Muslim Brothers and Sisters
Sebastian ELSÄSSER, CAU Kiel, Germany; Hoda SALAH, CAU Kiel, Germany
Feminisation of Islamic Religious Leadership in a Muslim-Minority Country: An Exploration through Biographical Interviews
Valentina SCHIAVINATO, University of Padova, Italy; Mohammed Khalid BRANDALISE RHAZZALI, University of Padova, Italy; Mounya ALLALI, Piemonte Orientale University, Italy
See more of: RC22 Sociology of Religion
See more of: RC38 Biography and Society
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