Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KBMSCACAR (Pentecostalism and Social media in Brazil: Faith and the digital production of gendered, racialized and class-based Pentecostal bodies)
Reporting period: 2021-01-18 to 2023-01-17
Until now there has generally been a silence around the analysis of race and class in digital religion studies. The neo-Pentecostal Universal Church Kingdom of God (UCKG), was therefore an interesting case study for this research, as it has proved highly adept at producing itself as an icon of modern media technology, especially online and through social media. The aim of this project was therefore to demonstrate that there is a racialised, class-based and gendered process of ‘white acculturation’ occurring within Pentecostalism which has hitherto been ignored in both Sociological studies of Pentecostalism and Digital Religion Studies. Furthermore, the project aimed to demonstrate that the interplay between religion and media is therefore a significant locus for demonstrating gendered, class-based and racialised transformations of modern society and culture.
The outcomes of the project are two journal articles currently out for peer-review and the researcher has successfully demonstrated the aims of the project. Her first article showed how Instagram is used by Pentecostal influencers as a visual vehicle to demonstrate an idealised performance of evangelical Christian masculinity and femininity, highlighting the construction of gendered religious subjectivities in digital spaces. The researcher used post-feminism as an analytical framework in order to explore the behaviours, ideals and biopolitical technologies that underpin the religious celebrity couple’s use of social media. The researcher found that followers are offered a postfeminist makeover paradigm in which technologies of self-surveillance and self-discipline are encouraged. The researcher also pointed to the white, racialised overtones and ‘whiteness’ of the images promoted towards the followers who are mainly black and mixed race, arguing that the church promotes a form of ‘whitening’ among its followers.
In her second article currently under peer-review, the researcher demonstrated how ex-church members engage in intersectional feminist activism by using digital media (YouTube, Instagram) in order to dismantle the intersecting forms of oppression they experience. The researcher argues that digital media provides flexible spaces in which to insert critiques of religion from marginalised perspectives. The researcher demonstrates how those who have been marginalised find innovative opportunities for resistance through various online tactics, which spill over in into the real world, sometimes turning into concrete steps to combat spiritual abuse and help recover from religious trauma, but always with a focus on race.
The outcomes of the project are two journal articles currently out for peer-review and the researcher has successfully demonstrated the aims of the project. Her first article showed how Instagram is used by Pentecostal influencers as a visual vehicle to demonstrate an idealised performance of evangelical Christian masculinity and femininity, highlighting the construction of gendered religious subjectivities in digital spaces. The researcher used post-feminism as an analytical framework in order to explore the behaviours, ideals and biopolitical technologies that underpin the religious celebrity couple’s use of social media. The researcher found that followers are offered a postfeminist makeover paradigm in which technologies of self-surveillance and self-discipline are encouraged. The researcher also pointed to the white, racialised overtones and ‘whiteness’ of the images promoted towards the followers who are mainly black and mixed race, arguing that the church promotes a form of ‘whitening’ among its followers.
In her second article currently under peer-review, the researcher demonstrated how ex-church members engage in intersectional feminist activism by using digital media (YouTube, Instagram) in order to dismantle the intersecting forms of oppression they experience. The researcher argues that digital media provides flexible spaces in which to insert critiques of religion from marginalised perspectives. The researcher demonstrates how those who have been marginalised find innovative opportunities for resistance through various online tactics, which spill over in into the real world, sometimes turning into concrete steps to combat spiritual abuse and help recover from religious trauma, but always with a focus on race.
During the reporting period, the researcher carried online and social media data collection on websites, Instagram and YouTube and conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 interviewees. The researcher then conducted analysis of the data, combined with the use of innovative theoretical frameworks in Digital Religion, such as post-feminism, intersectionality and critical whiteness theory.
In addition, the researcher gained substantial experience in the presentation of her research at several national and international seminars (7) and conferences (5), and she significantly expanded her research networks, especially among colleagues in the Nordics.
The researcher gained valuable teaching and supervision experience by teaching on several courses and supervising Master’s theses, and she gained accreditation in several teacher training courses which are absolutely vital for her to have in order to apply for jobs as a lecturer/senior lecturer.
The researcher gained in-depth knowledge of the intersections between the fields of Media and Communication and Sociology of Religion, in particular the sub-field of Digital Religion, in which she has become an expert. The researcher clearly reached professional maturity through this project.
The researcher has achieved the main goals of sending two articles out for peer-review to be published in open-access journals, and she is planning a third article to be sent for publication in the autumn.
In addition, the researcher gained substantial experience in the presentation of her research at several national and international seminars (7) and conferences (5), and she significantly expanded her research networks, especially among colleagues in the Nordics.
The researcher gained valuable teaching and supervision experience by teaching on several courses and supervising Master’s theses, and she gained accreditation in several teacher training courses which are absolutely vital for her to have in order to apply for jobs as a lecturer/senior lecturer.
The researcher gained in-depth knowledge of the intersections between the fields of Media and Communication and Sociology of Religion, in particular the sub-field of Digital Religion, in which she has become an expert. The researcher clearly reached professional maturity through this project.
The researcher has achieved the main goals of sending two articles out for peer-review to be published in open-access journals, and she is planning a third article to be sent for publication in the autumn.
The project has advanced the state of the art through its focus on race and class within digital religion studies. As well as contributing to gendered analysis of user interaction, of which there is currently little research, this project’s unique and novel aspect is its focus on class and race and the racial analysis of Pentecostal media output and user interaction.
Moreover, in her first article the researcher used post-feminism as an analytical framework in order to explore the behaviours, ideals and biopolitical technologies that underpin a religious celebrity couple’s use of social media. As post-feminism is rarely used as a theoretical concept in the Sociology of Religion and has not been used so far in the field of Digital Religion, and because post-feminism is rarely discussed in terms of its impact on men and is much less commonly looked out outside of the Global North, this makes the academic contribution a highly novel one. The researcher also pointed to the white, racialised overtones and ‘whiteness’ of the images promoted towards the followers who are mainly black and mixed race, arguing that the church promotes a form of ‘whitening’ among its followers.
In her second article, the researcher uses an intersectional perspective to focus in particular on religion and race as intersecting forms of oppression and to examine how digital media provides flexible spaces in which to insert critiques of religion from marginalised perspectives.This novel research therefore contributes to a small but growing field of literature on the sociology of religion and race, and in particular digital religion and race, also bringing to the fore research on such issues from the Global South, of which there is very little.
The expected results of the project were therefore met, both theoretically in extending the state of the art, and practically in the completion of two articles sent for peer-review at the end of the project.
The impact of this research is located at the intersections of Sociology of Religion and Media Studies. Specifically, the project has contributed new knowledge in the field of Digital Religion. The aim of the project is also to start a conversation on the role of religion in the ’whitening’ of religious identity. This project has ramifications around the world, considering the explosive growth of Pentecostalism in regions such as Africa and the Americas. Project results have been presented through conferences (national and international) and seminars. Users of the results are primarily the researcher’s academic peers, who will be able to interact with and build on her research. The aim is for new knowledge generated by the project to be published in high quality, peer-reviewed journals, and in keeping with the H2020 aims and Article 29.2 of the Model Grant Agreement, these will be open-access journals, in order to allow greater impact and access to a wider audience. The project will also make use of EU research repositories such as openaire.eu. Open access also allows other users of the results such as citizens and society to interact with the information. Civil society organisations interested in such research on religion are, e.g. Pew Forum, one of the biggest organisations in the US on religious research, who disseminate widely online.
Moreover, in her first article the researcher used post-feminism as an analytical framework in order to explore the behaviours, ideals and biopolitical technologies that underpin a religious celebrity couple’s use of social media. As post-feminism is rarely used as a theoretical concept in the Sociology of Religion and has not been used so far in the field of Digital Religion, and because post-feminism is rarely discussed in terms of its impact on men and is much less commonly looked out outside of the Global North, this makes the academic contribution a highly novel one. The researcher also pointed to the white, racialised overtones and ‘whiteness’ of the images promoted towards the followers who are mainly black and mixed race, arguing that the church promotes a form of ‘whitening’ among its followers.
In her second article, the researcher uses an intersectional perspective to focus in particular on religion and race as intersecting forms of oppression and to examine how digital media provides flexible spaces in which to insert critiques of religion from marginalised perspectives.This novel research therefore contributes to a small but growing field of literature on the sociology of religion and race, and in particular digital religion and race, also bringing to the fore research on such issues from the Global South, of which there is very little.
The expected results of the project were therefore met, both theoretically in extending the state of the art, and practically in the completion of two articles sent for peer-review at the end of the project.
The impact of this research is located at the intersections of Sociology of Religion and Media Studies. Specifically, the project has contributed new knowledge in the field of Digital Religion. The aim of the project is also to start a conversation on the role of religion in the ’whitening’ of religious identity. This project has ramifications around the world, considering the explosive growth of Pentecostalism in regions such as Africa and the Americas. Project results have been presented through conferences (national and international) and seminars. Users of the results are primarily the researcher’s academic peers, who will be able to interact with and build on her research. The aim is for new knowledge generated by the project to be published in high quality, peer-reviewed journals, and in keeping with the H2020 aims and Article 29.2 of the Model Grant Agreement, these will be open-access journals, in order to allow greater impact and access to a wider audience. The project will also make use of EU research repositories such as openaire.eu. Open access also allows other users of the results such as citizens and society to interact with the information. Civil society organisations interested in such research on religion are, e.g. Pew Forum, one of the biggest organisations in the US on religious research, who disseminate widely online.