RelPol – IKOS Religion and Politics Podcast

Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages

Explore the complex interrelations between religion and politics and decode current debates with this podcast from the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) at the University of Oslo, Norway. Listen to experts in the field speak about their cutting-edge research.

Puntate

  1. 06/09/2025

    Chiara Arnavas – Religion, Politics and Ecology in West Bengal

    Our guest in this episode is Chiara Arnavas, a PhD Fellow at IKOS, who works on the intertwined construction of geographic, ecological, and religious frontiers in India. Chiara will share her insights on the dark side of sustainable urban projects in West Bengal and the discriminatory dynamics they entail. To learn more about Chiara's work, you can listen to her conversation with Kenneth Bo Nielsen on the Nordic Asia podcast. Alternative text to the podcast

  2. 19/06/2025

    Zsolt Györegy – Translating Religion and Politics in Colonial South America

    In this episode of the podcast, Zsolt Györegy, a PhD Fellow at IKOS, takes us to 17th-century South America and explains how cultural historians search for traces of native voices in missionaries’ chronicles using techniques of cultural translation. To learn more about Zsolt’s work, you can read his Open Access article Translating Guarani Artefacts in Antonio Ruiz de Montoya's Conquista Espiritual (2025). Text alternative to the episode

  3. 07/02/2025

    David Atwood – Religion and the Politics of Time

    Our guest in this episode of the podcast is David Atwood, Professor of Religion in the Public Sphere at the University of Zurich and Director of the Center for Religion, Economy and Politics. David will help us understand how the act of organizing history has political implications and how historiography can give rise to new myths. This conversation serves as an introduction to his book Schwellenzeiten (2019). David also summarises some of his key ideas in a short article in English in the Bulletin for the Study of Religion. Text alternative to the episode

  4. 08/10/2024

    Aike Rots – Religion, Ecology, and Politics in Vietnam

    In this episode, we are joined by Aike Rots, Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Oslo. Aike shares some of his findings on religion, politics, and ecology in Vietnam, drawing on his research project Whales of Power. We explore how Vietnam's Communist government navigates religious plurality and how environmental changes influence local religious practices. To learn more about Aike's work, click the link to read his 2023 article "When Gods Drown in Plastic," co-authored with Nhung Lu Rots. Text alternative to the episode

  5. 16/01/2024

    Mark Teeuwen – The Politics of Tradition in Japan

    Our guest in this episode of the podcast is Mark Teeuwen, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oslo. Mark will introduce us to one of Japan's most famous festivals, Kyoto's Gion Festival, and help us retrace its millennial history. We will discover how religion, tradition, and politics are deeply interrelated and have helped shape and transform the festival over the course of the centuries. You can learn more about the festival in Mark's latest book, "Kyoto's Gion Festival. A Social History." For a concise overview, refer to his Open Access articles on "Religion" and JJRS. Text alternative to the episode

  6. 14/08/2023

    5. Olav Børreson Fossdal – Material Religion in Asylum Cases

    In this episode of the podcast, Olav Børreson Fossdal, MA, a scholar of religion and emerging expert in the field, helps us navigate the complex journey of Iranian asylum seekers in Norway who are in the process of converting to Christianity. His insights are based on a skillful combination of empirical research and theoretical reflection, showcasing his deep understanding of the subject matter. Discover other compelling aspects of his work in the forthcoming edited volume titled Asylum and Conversion from Islam to Christianity in Europe (books.google.no). Text alternative for the episode

  7. 06/06/2023

    4. Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay – Religion and the Politics of Future Fiction

    Our guest in this episode of the podcast is Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, an Associate Professor of Global Cultural Studies at the University of Oslo. Bodhisattva is a specialist in global future fiction and the director of the research projects CoFutures and Science Fictionality. In our conversation, he explains to us how myth and politics intersect in works of science fiction across the world. You can read more about this topic in his article On the Mythologerm: Kalpavigyan and the Question of Imperial Science (jstor.org) Text alternative for the episode.

  8. 16/05/2023

    3. Hanne Amanda Trangerud – Trump and the American Evangelicals

    In this episode of the podcast, Hanne Amanda Trangerud takes us on a journey into the world of American Evangelicalism, shedding light on the relationship between Born-Again Christians and the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. You can read more on the subject in her articles "The Trump Prophecies (journals.sagepub.com)" and "The American Cyrus (mdpi.com)." Hanne is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the study of religion at IKOS, University of Oslo. Text alternative for the episode

  9. 07/04/2023

    2. Ricarda Stegmann – Entangled History in Paris

    In this episode we meet our first international guest, Ricarda Stegmann (unifr.ch), a Lecturer in the Study of Religion at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland. Ricarda will tell us about the religious and political role of the Grand Mosque of Paris and introduce us to the analytical approach known as "entangled history." Her latest book is titled, "Verflochtene Identitäten Die Große Moschee von Paris zwischen Algerien und Frankreich. (vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com)" (V&R, 2019) but if you are looking for a reading in English, this is a book chapter on the same topic: Between Orient and Occident? The Colonial Legacy at the Grand Mosque of Paris (link.springer.com).  Text alternative for the episode

  10. 07/03/2023

    1. Kathinka Frøystad – Religious Offence in India

    In this episode of the podcast, we discuss with Kathinka Frøystad, a Professor of Modern South Asian Studies at IKOS. Our focus is on her recent research about religious offence in India and the various ways in which religious controversies can either escalate unexpectedly or be resolved peacefully at the local level. Kathinka shares some of her findings from her latest book, which she co-edited with Vera Lazzaretti, titled "Beyond Courtrooms and Street Violence: Rethinking Religious Offence and Its Containment" (Routledge, 2023). Text alternative for the episode

  • 10 puntate

Descrizione

Explore the complex interrelations between religion and politics and decode current debates with this podcast from the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) at the University of Oslo, Norway. Listen to experts in the field speak about their cutting-edge research.

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