MERGE project: the what, why, who, where, when, and how of a project studying Catholic social movements and gender discourses on social media #Catholicism #MarieCurie #MSCActions #MSCA #gender #socialmedia 1/7.

While this book is not about Catholicism, it is one of my absolute favorite and I use it to think about how women's agency can be found also in religious environments. As a feminist scholar, this was eye-opening to approach women's experiences within religious traditions.

MERGE reading suggestions:. Summer is coming, and what is better than reading Saba Mahmood?. Mahmood, S. (2005). Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Pinceton University Press. 👇.

She discussed Christian nationalism saying how Christianity is now becoming a "culture war" for some elites to paint themselves as marginalized, no longer about religious institutions or teachings. #gender #christianity #christiannationalism #religion #sociology.

What about Christian Nationalism?. My third conference of the summer is the International Society for the Study of Religion in Kaunas, Lithuania. One of the plenary was by Kristina Stoekl and it was so good for my research. 👇.

How is Europe "exceptional"? In that it is more secular than other places, and people live religious in peculiar ways (for instance, they believe in God but don't go to church).

MERGE reading suggestions:. Davie, G. (2002). Europe: The Exceptional Case. Parameters of Faith in the Modern World. Darton,Longman & Todd Ltd. 👇.

Why is that so?My hypothesis is that anti-gender groups are populist and they say "the elites" as imposing certain ideologies about gender. They also see "the elites" regulating health like vaccines and mandates to stay home during pandemics. #WHO #Pandemic #gender #antigender.

What's the connection between anti-gender groups and the pandemic?. It did not seem obvious to me, but CitizenGO, an anti-gender group whose narratives I analyzed, talks a lot about the World Health Organization's pandemic treaty. 👇.

Oxford Intersections published the first papers for the section "Religious Expression on Social Media" which I'm editing:

Citation: McEwan, T., McPhillips, K., & Miriam. (2023). International Survey of Catholic Women: Analysis and Report of Findings. University of Newcastle. 77.

And this is the right time to mention this, as I just had the pleasure to meet the great Tracy McEwan and Kath McPhilipps in Rome, the authors of the survey. 👇.

Most people assume that Catholics are against women's ordination. But is this true?. According to the International Survey of Catholic Women, women's contributions need more recognition. 👇.

MERGE QUOTES . "Strong support for the full inclusion of women in pastoral, liturgical, and governance leadership, as well as decision-making roles. This was connected with the need for recognition of women’s contribution, particularly their unpaid labour to church life" 👇.

L’episodio del podcast “connecting the nodes” del centro connect dell’Università di Bologna in cui parlo del nuovo papato .

However, it seems that spirituality can be beneficial for both individuals and groups in difficult times- think about people meditating during COVID-19 lockdowns #Spirituality #religion #gender #Rome.

I was the discussant of one of the keynotes, Stefania Palmisano. She mentioned that spirituality sometimes has a negative meaning, being considered an individualistic and "selfish" practice. 👇.

Is spirituality good?. I asked myself this question while at the Religion&Spirituality in Society Conference in beautiful (and hot!) Rome. 👇.

Honored to be the discussant of Stefania Palmisano’s excellent keynote presentation

Conference at La Sapienza, in Rome

Conferencing in magical places…