Call for papers: International Society for the Sociology of Religion 39th Conference

Please submit your proposals by June 10, 2026, via the following link.

Session Chairs:

Prof. Bertrand Lavoie, Faculté of law, University of Sherbrooke (bertrand.lavoie@usherbrooke.ca) and Prof. Géraldine Mossière, Institute of religious studies, University of Montreal (geraldine.mossiere@umontreal.ca)

Theme – Norms and Practices that Change the World

The aim of this session is to bring together research focusing on the regulated and lived relationships between beliefs – whether religious, spiritual or secular – and people’s health. In contemporary societies, health issues are among the concerns of individuals, both in terms of hospital and non-hospital practices. Within healthcare institutions, where a biomedical culture often reluctant to accept health practices that are not scientifically ‘validated’ predominates, issues related to beliefs are common, whether it be refusal of treatment, requests for assisted dying, requests for accommodation, end-of-life rituals or the inclusion of religious representatives. Outside healthcare facilities, we are seeing the rise of contemporary social issues (holistic practices, homeopathy, etc.). As such, norms related to health beliefs are at the heart of these issues, including official norms (laws, regulations, scientific protocols) as well as unofficial norms (discourse, social and religious norms). Often framed/limited by these norms, health practices reflect the daily experiences of religious people, both in their relationship with their own bodies and in their social interactions or their relationship with healthcare institutions.

As these issues of health beliefs are undergoing change, this session focuses on emerging norms and practices, i.e. norms and practices that, through their normative claims or their transformative potential, are helping to change the world. The presentations discussed here focus on the performative dimension of norms and practices related to health beliefs, which call for changes for individuals, communities and institutions alike. Examples include unofficially recognised health practices that exert pressure on medical practices (e.g., indigenous childbirth rituals that force legislative changes), promising practices promoted by certain individuals or groups within their health institutions in order to bring about change (e.g., care partnership initiatives), or standards that transform the relationship between beliefs and health (e.g., legislation on euthanasia or gender-affirming care).

The event will take place from February 15 to 20, 2026, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.