CO-SPONSORED SESSION: Comparative Approaches to Religion and Violence Unit, Religion, Media, and Culture Unit, and Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace Unit

Social Media, Violence, and Peace Messaging

So much has been examined in relation to social media’s role in transmitting hate and violent religious messaging. Often such bad messaging underpins exclusionary and racialized nationalist rhetoric, and often such hateful transmission is also attributed to religious illiteracy and flattening of identities into soundbites and memes. Is the inverse also correct, namely that “good” tweetable soundbites about religion also flatten religious traditions? We seek proposals that examine constructive and peace-promoting sites where religion participates constructively in social and political mobilization and justice-oriented change. Proposals may focus on any of the topics below or other further areas of relevant research and praxis: 

• Religion and mobilization on social media platforms for human rights and democracy. 
• Religion and “Counter messaging” and the instrumentalization of “good religion” in the global war on terrorism. 
• Hermeneutical religiopolitical subversive and prophetic work in online platforms and alternative media. 
• Search engines and religious and political illiteracy at a time when all knowledge is googleable. 
• Religion and political protest online and offline.