full name / name of organization:
American Anthropological Association (AAA): Nov. 28 – Dec. 2 2007
Please send paper abstracts (250 words) and direct inquiries to: Lydia
Boyd (lydia.boyd_at_nyu.edu) by March 12th.
Hookin’ up (with Jesus): Kinship, Desire, and Love among born-again
young adults in the Global South
Christian conversion, particularly in formerly colonized locales, has
tended to generate reconfigurations of social, political and personal
relationships. The 21st century has seen a surge in popularity of
evangelical and Pentecostal forms of Christianity, most notably in the
Global South. For young adults, who are often marginalized members of
societies where status increases with age, evangelical and Pentecostal
churches facilitate alternative relationships both outside of and within
their families, schools, and jobs. These relationships are notable both
in how they reconfigure believers’ notions of social and familial
obligation, and in the way they reflect new desires, and stresses,
concerning the individual’s place in the world.
This panel addresses the relationships of evangelical young adults in
the broadest sense. It approaches this topic through an examination of
how Churches encourage young people to reimagine and refashion their
notions of relationships, love, and familial obligation. How are young
Christians taught to understand and experience romantic, filial, and
divine love? What are the implications of these lessons for converts’
experiences of kinship, gender, and sexuality?
Papers are welcomed that address any of the following sets of questions
or related topics:
How do church teachings on the “Christian family” shape young people’s
relationships to their immediate and extended families? How are notions
of kinship refigured, complicated, and/or reinforced by church
membership? What practices of courting and marriage are encouraged by
What conceptualization of masculinity and femininity are solidified or
challenged within churches? How does “maleness” and “femaleness”
restrict or enable certain relationships?
How are sexual desires managed within church communities? How are
churches impacting youth sexual practices?
What notions of “Christian love” inform young people’s concepts of love
(romantic, filial and/or divine)? How are these concepts of “love”
related to projects of the self and new notions of personhood?
How is “love” expressed within Christian communities? What types of
emotional expression are acceptable within these communities and what
types are forbidden?
Churches are sites where “desires” are both curtailed and expressed.
What other “desires” are apparent in believers’ lives and what conflicts
arise regarding the church’s management of these desires?
Interested parties should send abstracts (250 words) for 15 minute
papers to Lydia Boyd (lydia.boyd_at_nyu.edu) by March 12th.
If you have questions, please contact Lydia Boyd (lydia.boyd_at_nyu.edu).
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or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu
Received on Mon Mar 05 2007 - 14:43:40 EST