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Global and development-related research
Research group

Cultural and Religious Transformations

CART hails researchers from the humanities and social sciences with interest in how religion and culture may promote, facilitate, conserve and hinder change.

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We are particularly interested in the ways this unfolds historically and in contemporary societies, in relations with the political, economic, scientific, judicial and societal on global, meso and local levels.

The research group involves a local core group at the University of Bergen and an international group of partners.

Hans Geir Aasmundsen, UiB Global
Anne K. Bang, AHKR/Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, UiB
Øyvind Gjerstad, Department of Foreign Languages, UiB
Tor Halvorsen , UiB Global
Hans Egil Offerdal, Department for Research Administration, UiB
Håkan Rydving, AHKR, UiB
Mohammad Salehin, Centre for Women’s and Gender Research, UiB
Tore Sætersal, UiB Global
Kari Telle, Chr. Michelsen Institute
Åse Gilje Østensen, Chr. Michelsen Institute
Reidar Øygard, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, UiB

Partners
Allan Anderson
, University of Birmingham
Peter Beyer, University of Ottawa
Paul Freston, Wilfrid Laurier University
Henri Gooren, Oakland University
Susanne Olsson, Stockholm University
Enzo Pace, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Bron Taylor, University of Florida
Terje Østebø, University of Florida

Currently, we are working on these studies:

Christian and Muslim reform-movements

A comparison of Christian and Muslim reform-movements, with a special focus on Salafism and Pentecostalism

What are the similarities and differences between these two movements or networks? As of now, we are particularly looking at vision, mission and education. At the core of this project lies the assumption that reform movements have a common vison, even though the contents of this vision may differ.

These movements (Christian and Muslim) seek to re-install a righteous past to make way for a righteous future, and thus have what we term a Kairotopic vision. Whereas Chronos symbolizes time as a moving force, the ticking of the clock, Kairos symbolizes the "right" time, a particular time, or moment in time, of special importance. We hypothesize that the vision of reinstating or making way for the right time (Kairos) at the right place (Topo) is shared by, for example, both Christian millenialist and Muslim Salafi (from salaf al-salih; the pious ancestors, or the Prophet’s early companions) reform movements. In Kairotopia a just order is working in concert with a loving and caring God.

Rethinking religion, politics, and poverty

Theoretical bases and empirical cases

This project investigates socio-cultural characteristics of religion as manifested in conceptualizations of and practices dealing with poverty and, by implication, welfare, through the lens of the political. By deploying a perspective where we look at how religion-poverty is processed politically, we aim to shed light on how expressions of religion may be instrumental in formulating and implementing policies addressing poverty, one of the most serious challenges to contemporary society.

However, the boundaries between religion and politics are often not obvious, and what some researchers regard as examples of religion are perceived by others as political phenomena. Political parties such as the (Christian?) Nicaragua Party of the Christian Path, the now officially dissolved (Islamic?) Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt), or the (Hindu?) Indian People’s Party are, for example, regarded as (mainly) religious movements by some, but as (mainly) political bodies by others. There are several reasons for this confusion

(1) one being differences of approach between distinct fields of study (social scientists preferring analyses that take “politics” as the starting-point, scholars of religion being more inclined to take “religion” as their object of analysis), another
(2) being varying theoretical frameworks, and
(3) being divergences in the way theory is applied to empirical cases. Last but not least
(4) there are differences in how religious actors and others perceive of themselves.

For example, Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Laudato Si, is clearly a religious document, albeit with political implications, as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, but is viewed as a political statement by many other Catholics like for example Jeb Bush, who stated: “But I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope.” 

Narratives and practices of “sustainability”


This project directly addresses
(1) uses and abuses of sustainability- and/or Climate Change-discourses, and as such the relations between Humans and Nature. And,
(2) it studies global actors like e.g., OECD, The Lausanne Movement and private security companies, all with substantial interests and influences on the global Economy and Welfare.

More specifically, we, a cross-disciplinary group of scholars, representing the Humanities and Social Sciences, who study how discourses related to sustainability and Climate Change are being used and abused by a number of global actors, public and private alike, in various sectors of society and culture, like the World Bank, the Pentagon, IMF, OECD, EU and the UN.

We pay attention to narratives, rhetoric and practices implemented by the actors in order to understand (1) how they see themselves (or, want to present themselves), (2) if and how they practice accordingly and, (3) the implications of both narratives and practices. Sustainability and Climate Change  have increasingly become  areas of interest and action to a wide range of commercial and pro bono global actors.

These actors fuel, inform and direct actions and reactions to sustainability and problems related to the effects of climate change. While these actors can be understood as taking part in the governance of the politics of climate change, it does not imply necessarily that we see a convergence of action-plans among them, nor a collective will to deal with the predicament unfolding. Rather, we tend to see multifaceted, even opposing approaches and practices among these influential global actors.