@theTable: “Racism and the Feminist Study of Religion”
Black feminists and other scholars of gender studies have critiqued the whiteness of the Feminist movement, noting how the suffrage movement and second and third wave feminism have often betrayed or overlooked Black and brown women’s needs, rights, and organizations. Feminism has benefited from and participated in White supremacy. Religions have, as well, been complicit in and originated systems of oppression. Scholars of religion who engage feminist methods, utilize feminist theory, or promote feminist practices, have also participated in and upheld the same structures of racism.
This @theTable blog series examines, analyzes, and interrogates the intersection of the feminist study of religion and racism. Blogs in this series will explore the intersection of racism and the study of religion from feminist, Womanist, Mujerista, Native American, and Asian American perspectives, among others. Our series starts with three blogs. In the first blog, Dr. Jennifer Kaalund considers the value, pain, and tension in the practice of #sayhername and asks, “What is the relationship between saying her name and calling on the name of the Lord?” The following week, Drs. Darryl W. Stephens and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht argue for colaboracion (collaboration) as an antiracist methodology in scholarship. The third blog in this series was written by Dr. Jamie Anderson and examines the Candomblé priestesses in Brazil in order to revisit the concept of matriarch in an antiracist lens.
While other @theTable blog series present an almost entirely self-contained conversation in four or five blogs during one week, the blogs in this series will be posted once a week to allow for more reflection. Additionally, this conversation will be ongoing, as our antiracist work is ongoing. We invite colleagues (scholars, activists, and students) to add to this ongoing dialogue. Authors can comment on the racist history of the academic study of feminism and religion, share personal experiences with racism in the academy, promote or explore research that belies racism within the feminist study of religion, or imagine new paths forward. Authors might also consider writing blogs that explore and critique Womanist and Mujerista movements, for instance. We also welcome blogs on additional topics not mentioned here but that somehow interrogate the relationship between racism and the feminist study of religion.
Blogs submissions should include a title, be around 800-1000 words, use hyperlinks for citations, and when possible and relevant, incorporate photo, video, etc. (N.B. All visual media must have a reference and/or hyperlink to the original source). All blog posts appropriate for the FSR Blog will be sent out anonymously to at least two reviewers, upon whose judgment the editors heavily rely. Feel free to review previous blogs and @theTable series for style.
Authors for the @theTable series may be invited to participate on a Zoom panel, a podcast discussion, and will be invited and encouraged to submit articles for a special issue of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. This process is one among many anti-racist action items for FSR.
Submissions Guidelines: https://www.fsrinc.org/blog-submissions/.
Contact: [email protected].
Our “Racism and the Feminist Study of Religion” @theTable authors (in order of publication):
Friday 1/15: Jennifer T. Kaalund, “Roll/Role Call: Invocation, Remembrance, Lamentation, and #SayHerName”
Friday 1/22: Darryl W. Stephens and Elizabeth Soto, “Colaboración as an Antiracist Methodology in the Feminist Study of Religion”
Friday 1/29: Jamie Lee Andreson, “Revisiting Matriarchy in Brazil”
Check out previous FSR Blog @theTables!