Earthly Connections
Islam and the Environment: Applying the Historical Perspective View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jakub Koláček
The Islamic discourse on environment now dates back over a half-century. Over its course, it comprised mainly of attempts to let the rich Islamic textual tradition speak to current ecological problems in which scholars, philosophers, social activists, and more recently also governmental institutions and NGOs have engaged. Especially over the last decade, this also led to various theorizations of this discourse revolving among others around the questions of authenticity and practical viability of the 'Islamic environmentalisms' (among others in a recent book by Anna Gade). In my contribution, I argue that the scholarly debate on the topic has not yet reached sufficient scope and depth, mainly for one reason: the overwhelming focus on the 'ethical' dimension of the Islam-environment nexus built upon the uncritically accepted supposition about the primacy of "values" in determining social agency vis-à-vis the environment (in fact originating in the foundational discourses of White and Nasr from 1960s and animating the discourse all along). Against that, I propose that a much broader outlook focusing on the long-term historical interaction of Muslim societies with their natural surroundings is desirable and that only it has the potential to move the study of the question forward and resolve some of its lingering discrepancies. This basically means to historicize the question and apply some of the cutting-edge knowledge from the field of environmental history to it. Such a turn, I argue, also opens some new fields of inquiry of interest to both historians and scholars of Islam.
Post-Colonial, Post-Christian Interventions on Eco-justice
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nadja Furlan Stante
Within ecofeminist framework, this study focuses on post-Colonial eco-feminism which critically questions the attitude of human imperialist and consumerist relations to animals, plants, environment and nature. As such, it sets the mirror of social (in)justice and connects sexual (in)justice with ecological (in)justice. Social and ecological responsibility go hand in hand. The basic understanding is that we are all connected at the interface of various systemic and institutional discriminations (e.g. racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia). It is, therefore, a perspective based on the assumption that oppression of women and abuse of nature are related phenomena that are neglected and subordinated by the patriarchal system and other systems of oppression (capitalism, neo-liberalism, consumerism). Consequently, the active inclusion of women in environmental (inter)religious peacebuilding enables the dismantling and transformation of eco-apartheid and neocolonial mentality and bridges the ecotheological perspectives of the Global North (especially Western Christian theology) and the ecotheological perspectives and practices of the Global South.
Modernity and Religion View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nicos Mouzelis
The paper tries to link the concept of modernity to various religious phenomena. Modernity in the social sciences focuses on three sociostructural dimensions which, in their combination, one does not find in traditional, premodern societies. These are inclusion into the nation state, the top-down differentiation of the institutional spheres and widespread individuation. With the help of the above conceptual framework one can study in a systematic manner aspects of religiosity. For instance inclusion into the nation state, as far religion is concerned, leads to the inclusion of those in the periphery (local priests and believers) to the central national religious organization. In that sense it gradually undermines the dualism between elite and the popular religion. The former is characterized by scripturalism, and coherence of the theological doctrine. The latter is less “pure” since the popular religious tradition coexists with superstitions, magical or pagan elements. One can find similar interconnections between the other two features of modernity and religious development.
