Researching Global Religious Landscapes - A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism - Peter Nynäs

Researching Global Religious Landscapes - A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism - Peter Nynäs

Towards a New Methodological Perspective: Concluding Reflections on Cross-cultural Research in the Study of Religions

Researching Global Religious Landscapes - A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism - Peter Nynäs

Peter Nynäs [+-]
Åbo Akademi University
Dr. Theol. Peter Nynäs is Professor of Study of Religions at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Finland and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology. He is Director and PI of the Åbo Akademi University Centre of Excellence in Research Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective Project (2015–2019) and earlier the Centre of Excellence in Research Post-secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape in Finland Project (2010–2014). Among the books he has edited are On the Outskirts of "the Church”: Diversities, Fluidities, and New Spaces of Religion in Finland (with R. Illman and T. Martikainen, LIT-Verlag, 2015), Religion, Gender, and Sexuality in Everyday Life (with A. Yip, Ashgate, 2012), and The Diversity of Worldviews among Young Adults: Contemporary (Non)Religiosity and Spirituality through the Lens of an International Mixed Method Study (with A. Keysar, J. Kontala, B.-W. Kwaku Golo, M. Lassander, M. Shterin, S. Sjö, and P. Stenner, Springer, 2021).
Ruth Illman [+-]
The Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture
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Dr Ruth Illman is the Director of the Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture in Turku, Finland. She holds the title of Docent in the study or religions at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU) and in the history of religions at Uppsala University, as well as doctoral degrees in the study of religions (2004) and Jewish studies (2018). Her main research interests include cultural encounters and diversity, contemporary Judaism, religion and the arts (especially music) and ethnographic research, primarily by developing the analytical approach of vernacular religion. Illman acted as Co-PI for the Centre of Excellence Young Adults and Religion in a Global Perspective at ÅAU (2014–18). Currently, she leads the research project Boundaries of Jewish Identities in Contemporary Finland and acts as Editor-in-Chief of the open access peer-review journal Nordisk judaistik / Scandinavian Jewish Studies with Svante Lundgren. Recent publications are found at: https://research.abo.fi/en/persons/ruth-illman
Rafael Fernández-Hart [+-]
Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Lima, Peru
Rafael Fernández-Hart, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Facultad de Filosofía, Educación y Ciencias Humanas, Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, Lima, Peru. His research focuses on issues related to the philosophy of religion with a special emphasis on the development of the sacred in contexts of secularization and the links between philosophy, theology, and spirituality. Fernández functioned as local investigator for the YARG project in Peru. Recent publications include “Revelación y religion en Levinas” in Estudios de Filosofía (Vol 57, 2018) and “The Internet, social media, and the critical interrogation of traditional religion among young adults in Peru” with Sidney Castillo Cardenas and Marcus Moberg in Moberg, M. & Sjö, S. 2020. Digital media, young adults, and religion: An international perspective. Abingdon, NY: Routledge.

Description

This concluding chapter brings together the main findings, discussions and perspectives developed over the preceding chapters. From a variety of theoretical starting points, these chapters have addressed the worldviews of young adults around the globe, elucidating what diversity means in practice on the overarching societal level, on the locally embedded cultural level, and for the individual. The chapter also discusses questions of methodology and research ethics. How should we as researchers navigate conceptually in a global landscape of complex religious and secular worldviews? Furthermore, the goal of dismantling dichotomies and illuminating the multiple identifications and diversity prevalent on all levels of analysis in our research lies not only in the descriptions that have been presented, but also in what they suggest. Can we meet the challenge of taking other and alternative voices seriously?

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Citation

Nynäs, Peter; Illman, Ruth; Fernández-Hart, Rafael . Towards a New Methodological Perspective: Concluding Reflections on Cross-cultural Research in the Study of Religions. Researching Global Religious Landscapes - A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 225-241 Apr 2024. ISBN 9781800503915. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=44302. Date accessed: 11 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.44302. Apr 2024

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