Religious Innovation in East Asia

This conference will be held on 28 - 30 November 2007 in Australia

In the last few decades, the religious scene across East Asia has changed in fundamental ways. Changes in government administration, communications technologies, the degree of urbanisation, levels of education, and increasing wealth have run parallel to a burgeoning of religious life. These years have seen a growth in new religious movements, new varieties of existing religions and new forms of religiosity. They have also seen an increased public presence and awareness of religious groups through involvement in mainstream politics, in opposition to the state, and by violent interventions as well as simply becoming more visible on the streets, in the media and on the web.

This conference seeks to explore these changes in China (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, South Korea and Vietnam and amongst their diasporic communities, and the background to them. Some of the themes on which papers may be suggested are:

- New religious movements
- New formations of Buddhism, Islam and other established religions
- Cultivation and self-cultivation, especially qigong and related activities
- Religious innovation in the diasporas
- Theoretical and methodological issues related to religious innovation
- Popular religion in contemporary societies

Major speakers will be invited from China, Japan and South Korea.

Suggestions for papers should be submitted to Anthony.Garnaut@anu.edu.au by May 31, 2007. Some travel funding is likely to be available for participants, including graduate students, from Australia and New Zealand.