Religion and Minority: lived religion, migration and marginalities in secular societies

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The aim of the "Religion and Minority: lived religion, migration and marginalities in secular societies" research group is to develop a long-term collaboration between researchers based at UK and Japan universities working on 'religious minority' and on minority groups inside religious organizations. The objective of the network is to investigate 'marginality' and the concept of 'minority' in religious contexts, not only from the point of view of how minority groups are constructed and defined in different cultural and social contexts, but also in terms of how marginalised groups use religion to construct their identity vis-à-vis the larger society and/or to negotiate their place inside religious traditions. The project seeks to establish an international network of experienced and early-career researchers in the UK and Japan to explore the above-mentioned topics using a variety of case studies, and to foster innovative methodologies and approaches to the study of religion in contemporary society. Discussing minority religion entails a conversation about 'boundaries', for example how a group is defined and perceived as 'minority' in a specific context, but also about how definitions of marginality are not predetermined or permanent, but are formed through social processes and fluctuate historically, and also about how religion is used by minority or marginalized groups to articulate their identity and status in society.The UK- where immigrant communities have established their own religious traditions, while numerous new or 'alternative' groups have emerged in recent decades- and Japan- a society where numerous 'new' religions have emerged in modern times, where people have displayed interests in religious traditions from outside Japan and where different immigrant groups are trying to retain their identities through religious engagement- provide a striking cross-cultural context through which to examine these issues. While studies of issues related to 'new' , 'minority' and 'alternative religions have been carried out in UK and Japanese contexts, these have largely operated within their particular cultural spheres. Our view is that by working together we can strengthen the approaches of each, and enhance comparative frameworks through which more scientifically nuanced understandings of religious minority issues can be developed. We will enhance both Western-centred and Japan-centred studies by enabling scholars specializing in these areas to work together, learn from each other's study areas, and strengthen their own understandings via such cross-cultural engagement and seeing how the issues they are studying play out in other social and cultural contexts. More ambitiously, by combining an analysis of minority groups and of alternative voices inside religious organizations the research group has the potential to produce innovative theoretical frameworks, contributing to, but also going beyond, discussions on 'definitions of religion' and on the current debates on 'secularism/secularities/religion(s)' in different cultural contexts now being widely investigated and debated in UK and Japan academia and in the wider field of the study of religion. Indeed, too often we have narrowed our understanding of religion, minorities and secularism, by focusing on Euro-American cases, or a US/Europe comparison. De-centering the sociology of religion is now an important move to make. By also including experts on other contexts, such as Russia and Malaysia, it will also encourage researchers to go beyond European/North American (and Japanese) centred perspectives on minority religion. Furthermore the research group will share research methodologies and practices (by conducting fieldwork together) and implement innovative joint training for ECR researchers with a focus on developing intercultural skills.