The methodological repertoire of the sociology of religion is rich and expanding, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative approaches: large-scale surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, mixed-methods designs, participatory and arts-based approaches, and legal-ethical frameworks for working with sensitive data. Yet, when it comes to less researched marginalized and socially excluded populations—such as indigenous groups, LGBTQI+ communities, migrants, or those experiencing homelessness, to mention a few—new questions arise: How can we ensure inclusive and sustainable research practices? How do we achieve higher quality, validity and reliability? What legal and ethical constraints must we navigate? How do our methods shape whose voices are heard and how those voices are interpreted?  

The 2026 conference of the Nordic Association for the Sociology of Religion (NCSR) invites scholars to critically engage with how we research religion and worldviews in contemporary social and cultural contexts. We particularly welcome contributions displaying new methodological approaches focusing on contexts marked by marginalization, vulnerability, and social exclusion. These contexts often challenge conventional methods and assumptions, calling for a reconsideration of the ways we conceptualize and investigate the variety of contemporary religious, spiritual and non-religious views, meaning-making practices, the communal contexts they are embedded in, etc. Contributions may address a range of issues, ranging from practical challenges, interdisciplinary strategies, methodological limitations and possibilities, or broader questions relating to adequate representation, access, and epistemic justice. 

By focusing on these critical issues, NCSR 2026 aims to foster a deeper, more inclusive sociology of religion that not only observes but actively engages with the complexity and diversity of contemporary lived realities. 

Keynote Speakers 

• Birgitte Schepelern Johansen, Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen 
  • Schepelern Johansen’s research interests fall within three main clusters, which are tied together by an overall interest in the changing formations of normality and deviation: hating hate crime, secular sensibilities and ideologies, and humanist perspectives on the art of counting deviance. A full list of Schepelern Johansen’s research interests and publications can be found here. 

• Nando Sigona, Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement at the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, University of Birmingham 
  • Sigona is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, Senior Research Associate at ODI, and Visiting Professor at Utrecht University. His research interests include research on a diverse array of migration-related topics, such as, but not limited to, irregularised migrant families in Europe, the politics of migration in the age of ‘Global Britain’, child and youth migration, Roma minorities in Europe, etc. A full list of Sigona’s research interests and publications can be found here. 

Submit your abstracts to the following sessions: 

We welcome abstracts (300 words max.) to any of the following sessions. Please submit your abstract in Microsoft Word or PDF format to the session chairs by February 1, 2026. More information about the sessions and contact details of the session chairs can be found at this link: https://sites.abo.fi/ncsr2026/sessions/.  

1. Nordic Nonreligion 
2. Expertise on Religion not Expert Religion: Navigating Knowledge Production Between Participation and Governance in Religiously Diverse Societies 
3. Constructions of Religion, Cultural Heritage, and National Identity 
4. Art-Related Methodologies in the Study of Religion: Intersections and Collaborations 
5. Concepts of Academic Freedom and the Sociology of Religion 
6. Religion and Gender: Masculine, Feminine, and Non-Binary Perspectives 
7. Pastors and Power: Religious Leadership in Times of Uncertainty 
8. Religious Minorities, Migration and Gender in the Nordics 
9. Religion and Right-wing Populism 
10. Political Culture, Religion, and Legitimation 
11. Joy at the Margins: Approaching Marginalized Religious Communities as Spaces of Hope, Creativity, and Resilience 
12. Varieties of Mystical Experience 
13. New Methods and Perspectives for Researching Under-researched Groups in Religious Majority Populations 
14. Negotiating Christianity within Alternative Spiritual Healing and Meditation Practices 
15. Religion and Migration 
16. Necropolitics in the Nordic Countries 
17. Researching Minority (Non) Religions in the Baltic States: Approaches and Challenges 
18. The Language of (Non)Religious Complexity 
19. When Rituals Guide the Field: Immersion and the Study of Lived Religion 
20. Indigenous Perspectives and the Sociology of Religion 
21. Addressing Challenges and Epistemic Dissonance in Research with Vulnerable and Hard-to-Reach WEIRD Populations 
22. Exploring the Contested Constructions of Sense of Safety in Religious Spaces 
23. Miscellaneous Session 

Please note that the Miscellaneous Session allows for the submission of papers that are relevant to the conference theme but that do not fit any of the pre-organized sessions. 

Contact and information 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the organizing team at ncsr2026@abo.fi.