Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China

Dear Colleagues,

We welcome contributions for a Special Issue on “Religion and Crisis in Late Imperial and Modern China”, covering the period from the mid-17th century to the present. Crisis is understood here as a specific moment in time that sees a coalescence of circumstances and/or developments existentially threatening, or appearing to threaten, the status quo. Crises come in different forms and sizes, and they occur at both the personal and collective levels, although it is obvious that personal experiences of and responses to a crisis are shaped by the social and cultural context within which that person lives (cf. Diamond 2019, 32–49). Crises are “both ‘real’, in the sense of actual changes in social processes, and socially constructed, in the sense that different interpretations of the crisis have implications for its outcome” (Walby 2015, 24). In fact, people’s “experience of crisis” (Roitman 2014, 2) may matter more than real facts, and in some cases, crises may entirely be a product of the imaginary. Crises generate uncertainty, as the only assured fact is that they will end but when and how they will be resolved remains unclear (Koselleck 1958, 127). Living through them is thus fraught with pain and fear. On the other hand, they may also be perceived as a transitory state on the trajectory towards a better future, thus carrying a promise of betterment or renewal.

Contributors are invited to add to a systematic evaluation of the topic by presenting case studies addressing any form of religion that has existed in China between the early Qing period and the present day (including, of course, popular religion). Case studies may address, but are not limited to, the following guiding questions:

• How did religions conceptualise crisis, both at the individual and collective levels? What concepts and techniques, if any, did they provide to predict and diagnose crises?
• How did individuals and communities mobilise religious practices, concepts and—where applicable—beliefs to respond to crises? In so doing, how did they navigate between tradition and innovation? How did crises impact on religion—for example, to what extent did they lead to changes in concepts, practices, and affiliations?
• How did religious individuals and religious communities organize pragmatic responses to crises, e.g., by means of political activism, philanthropic, or humanitarian activities?
• To what extent did religious practices, concepts, and—where applicable—beliefs themselves cause crises, both at the personal level (e.g., where they failed to generate desired outcomes) and at the collective level (e.g., sectarian rebellion or violent responses to religious change such as the ‘missionary cases’)?
• To what extent did the rise of secular worldviews and political movements such as scientism, nationalism and Marxism lead to a crisis of religion, both as an abstract concept and in the form of concrete religious communities? Did religious institutions or organizations conceive of national policies regulating or even attacking religion as a crisis and how did they respond? Conversely, to what extent can the renewal of religious activities and spirituality over the past decades be seen, as the French sinologist Claude Meyer (2021, 25–38) has recently argued, as a response to the moral crisis Chinese society has found itself in?

Proposals including a title, an abstract of up to 500 words and a short bio of approx. 200 words should be submitted to Thoralf Klein ([email protected]) by 15 July 2022.

Dr. Thoralf Klein
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• religion
• crisis
• China
• crisis management
• disaster
• war
• anti-religious movements