23. Source notes and IP Blog 2: Faith

Source Notes

(Blog submission below notes)

Kwame Anthony Appiah, Is religion good or bad?

Key terms:

• Religion
• Tradition
• Intellectual authority
• Colonialism
• Creedal Christianity

“So what I want you to think about next time somebody wants to make some vast generalization about religion is that maybe there isn’t such a thing as a religion, such a thing as religion, and that therefore what they say cannot possibly be true.” – Kwame Anthony Appiah

Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses the way in which the concept and definition of religion has been historically perceived through a creeal, colonial, Christian lens. This way of framing what we call ‘religiosity’ is limiting, creating contradictions, because it doesn’t have the breadth to fully encapsulate traditions outside of Christianity.

Kwame discusses the way in which in many parts of the world, historical traditions that western anthropologists call ‘religion’ doesn’t necessarily reflect the role and meaning of these beliefs play in people’s lives.

This raises questions as to the bluntness of the tool with which religion is widely conceptualised in our society, and at UAL, and the history of that tool (Christian, western, ‘academic’). By allowing groups of people to be perceived homogeneously emerges again as harmful and reductive to the complex, intersectional identity of religious individuals.

Kwame’s TED talk is, in a way, critical pedagogy in practice – the idea that we must be question where our conceptions of knowledge, and the hierarchies we place them within come from.

Jaclyn Rekis, Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice

Key terms:

• Religious identity
• Epistemic injustice/harm
• Prejudgements
• Credibility
• Racialisation
• White, Christian secularism
• Testimonial and hermeneutical injustices

“The social-identity perspective shows us that epistemic injustice can result from overestimating our understanding of the connection between gender, race, and religion” – Jaclyn Rekis

This article examines the ways in which a lack of understanding of intersectional religious identities, and the wider societal and political context within which they exist, causes and compounds complex layers of epistemic injustice.

To exemplify this, it interrogates the way in which Muslim women who practice veiling (and are therefore hyper-visible in their religious identity) are denied credibility, agency, access, and opportunity within epistemological contexts –  injustice which is compounded through the racialisation of their religion, and the interaction of this with their gender. The layered assumptions and stereotypes with which these people are regarded by others is harmful, and creates impenetrable barriers.

The article goes on to examine how the wider context of shifting norms towards secularism further negatively impact religious subjects – marginalising them and suppressing their testimony, as well as discussing the way in which political climates impact and intensify these inequalities.

“The upshot is that epistemic injustice will manifest uniquely for different religious identities, which ultimately demands an intersectional approach” – Jaclyn Rekis

Haifaa Jawad, Islam, Women and Sport

Key terms:

• Demonisation
• Polarisation
• Islamophobia
• Visibility
• Faith based needs
• Status

“Education and training for teachers, coaches, sport administrators, and organisers (both in Muslim and non-Muslim settings) needs to incorporate greater awareness of faith-based principles” – Haifaa Jawad

This article was of particular interest to me, as a woman who is interested and participates in sports, as well as a costume educator.

The article looked at the ways in which Muslim women, particularly those in the diaspora, who wear the Hijab, are prevented from participating in sports because of western sporting frameworks and structures which prevent them from doing so (including sports kit design, changing rooms, and mixed gender environments).

The intersectional facets of identity at play include are (visible) faith and gender, which interact with the effects of the wider community and structures within which these women live, and their interest (or potential interest) in participating in sports. It suggests that educators and sports facilitators need to actively seek a better understanding of faith-based principles, and that visible Muslim women should to be encouraged to participate, and keep participating in the sporting world.

Simran Jeet Singh, Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom

Key terms:

• Discrimination
• Racism
• Confrontation
• Challanging stereotypes
• Empathy
• Humanist approach
• Fear mongering
• Propaganda and argumentation

“this nation was founded on practices of discrimination and racism and that has continued to this day and we’re seeing it boiling over in the present moment” – Simran Jeet Singh

Simran Jeet Singh is a religion professor at Trinity University. He discusses the need to confront issues of racism and discrimination that people ignore, but that exist, using contemporary examples.

He talks about the harmful practice of painting of a whole community with one brush – but that recognising that each community is diverse, is essential. This educator tries to challenge stereotypes within the classroom by showing differences between people, and encouraging an empathetic, human approach. Simran Jeet Singh uses the intersections within his own identity to express and demonstrate this to others.

IP Blog 2: Faith

Recurring Themes

All of these resources bring light to the harmful and presumptuous ways in which that we/UAL conceptualise religion. As Kwame Anthony Appiah explains in his TED talk (2014), the established lens of academic is western, colonial, and Christian, carrying with is homogenising stereotypes and assumptions that disregard intersectional identities, and create layers of barriers.

My Teaching Context and Going Forwards

In my own teaching context, an awareness of this in the way I understand the individual, complex, intersectional identities of the students I work with is essential, and time and space to research and better understand faith-based principles would positively impact my ability to consider and adjust the studio environment to be more inclusive, and discontinue to perpetuate epistemic injustices, as laid out in Rekis’ paper (2023).

For example, this may include creating time and space to research and provide examples of contemporary costume performance art and artists who have intersectional identities that include religion. In order to broaden representation meaningfully, the identities of the artists will need to be conveyed to students, as Simran Jeet Singh suggests (Trinity University, 2016).

In direct response to Haifaa Jawad’s article about Muslim women in sports (2022), this could also include practical , physical changes to the studio environment. For example, the inclusion of private changing space in the rooms I work within. Within the wider performance industry, there is a distinct lack of time, thought and effort around the issue of modesty and privacy- in relation to faith as well as other intersecting facets of individual identity. Similarly to visible Muslim women who participate in sports in the UK, visible Muslim women who participate in performance in the UK will experience similar barriers.

Could I instigate the purchase of a private changing space/spaces in the costume studio? This is a barrier which may be preventing other students from using the space/costume in general for other intersectional reasons.

In my last workplace (also working with students and costume for performance) I identified a need for and installed a private changing space – something which it became clear very quickly was needed, given its immediate popularity during fittings. In this instance it was considered to be due to the prevalence of students feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable changing in the space because of body dysmorphia, which were perpetuated by the circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic. However, this assumption may have been masking may intersectional facets of students’ identities, including faith, which may have made them feel uncomfortable changing in front of others.

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References

Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom. [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk

Jawad, H. (2022) Islam, Women and Sport: The Case of Visible Muslim Women. [Online]. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2022/09/islam-women-and-sport-the-case-of-visible-muslim-women/ 

Appiah, K. A. (2014) Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). Youtube [Online]. 16 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY

Rekis, J. (2023) Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account. Hypatia 38, pp779–800.