Digital Religion V: Interfaces of Discourse, Society, and Politics

Digital Religion V: Interfaces of Discourse, Society, and Politics 19–21 November 2026 | University of Lodz | Hybrid conference Digital Religion V examines how religion is produced, negotiated and circulated across digital platforms at the interfaces of discourse, society and politics. It focuses on digital religious discourse both as product and as practice: as textual and multimodal representation, and as situated action involving the production, distribution and consumption of religious meanings across platforms, publics and institutional contexts. We invite papers exploring how digital religion shapes public debate, authority, belonging, identity and power; how religion intersects with politics, activism, nationalism, populism, conspiracy cultures, extremism and culture-war discourse; and how digital platforms condition religious visibility, participation and credibility. Possible topics also include institutional and lived religion, spirituality, atheism and anti-religious discourse; publics and counter-publics; gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, migration, diaspora, class, generation and disability; affect, metaphor and moral judgement; and responses to war, displacement, ecological crisis, violence, inequality and social change. We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions from media and communication studies, discourse studies, religious studies, theology, sociology, anthropology, political science, linguistics, cultural studies, digital humanities and related fields. Papers may focus on particular platforms, communities, traditions, controversies or media genres, as well as comparative, transnational or historical perspectives. The conference will be held in a hybrid format, with both on-site and online participation. The main conference language is English, although a limited number of papers in Polish may also be accepted. Keynote speakers Prof. Elizabeth Poole, Keele University, UK Dr Stephen Pihlaja, Aston University, UK Conference date 19–21 November 2026 Venue Faculty of Philology University of Lodz Pomorska 171/173 90-236 Lodz, Poland Submissions and deadlines Abstracts in English, accompanied by a short biographical note including the author’s full name, email address and affiliation, should be submitted by 30 September 2026 through the conference submission form available on the conference website. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 7 October 2026. Conference fee Regular fee: EUR 80 Reduced fee for PhD students and participants from low-income countries: EUR 50 The payment deadline is 3 November 2026. Publication opportunities Selected papers will be considered for publication in Lodz Papers in Pragmatics (De Gruyter-Brill) and in an edited volume with an international publisher. Conference website and submission form https://www.ethicsinmedia.eu/digital-religion-2026 Contact digital.religion@uni.lodz.pl Interested in digital religion, discourse, media or politics? Mark yourself as interested, share the event with relevant academic networks and submit your abstract by 30 September 2026. #DigitalReligion #CallForPapers #ReligionAndMedia #DiscourseStudies