Theme

MIGRATION, DIASPORA, TRANSNATIONALISM IN WORLD CHRISTIANITY

Sixth International, Interdisciplinary Conference

Discourse surrounding the topics of migration, diaspora, and transnationalism continues to spark a wide
range of interdisciplinary interests, both in the academy and at large. However, despite the
interdisciplinary nature of World Christianity, the field still lacks adequate theoretical and empirical
insights concerning such discourse, specifically in the intersectionality of migration, diaspora, and
transnationalism pertaining to the global spread of Christianity. With Christianity’s center of gravity
having shifted from the global North to the global South, the emergence and proliferation of global South
Christianities in the last few decades, particularly in Europe and the North American diaspora, have
occasioned the remapping of old Christian landscapes. Thus, the expansion of global South Christianities
through international ministries and networks marked a watershed in the multidirectionality of
missions—an epochal shift in the trade winds of Christian history. Among other factors, this shift is also
attributable to migration: a crucial factor determining a religion’s mobility and demographic expansion.
Through both mission and migration, immigrant and diaspora Christian communities did not merely
emerge as outposts in new cultural contexts, but rather became institutions integral to European and
American civic life. Reverse missions and South-South links and religious networks, as instances of
religious transnationalism, break the stereotype that places the global North at the center of Christianity’s
discourse. Transnational religious networks and social dynamics in the global South, but also with their
various diasporas deserve further scholarly attention.

Thus, new forms of religious transnationalism have emerged between Christian communities in the global
North and global South, carrying significant religious, cultural, economic, political, and social import
worldwide. Likewise, the nature of a globalizing world marked by the rise of global capitalism and its need
for large urban conglomerates, industrialization, and technological revolution have drastically changed the
speed of communication and interconnectivity. These, along with climate change, political and economic
crises, ethnic and religious conflicts, and the proliferation of armed conflicts, have created new migration
and diaspora patterns both regionally and globally. Furthermore, Christians increasingly live in religiously
pluralizing contexts and new realities, often needing to negotiate and reinterpret their faith traditions in
complex cultural and multireligious settings. Whereas new forms of interfaith/inter-religious and
intercultural relations have proliferated in such contexts, these encounters have also led to the rise of
conflicts, cultural misunderstandings, and identity crises contributing to the rise of renewed forms of
xenophobia, fundamentalism, and religious nationalism.

The 6th World Christianity Conference seeks to interrogate the intersectionality of migration, diaspora
and transnationalism within the interdisciplinary field of World Christianity. Relevant topics may include
but are not limited to: South-South and South-North transnational networks; immigrant and diaspora
churches; identity and belonging; power and politics; race, ethnicity, and xenophobia; borderland religion;
contested spaces and religious conflict; religious nationalism; immigrant and diasporic theologies; music;
migration, ecumenism and interfaith relations; migration, sexual and gender diversity; reverse mission and
mission from everywhere to everywhere;reverse migration/diaspora; language and translation; religion and
urbanism; new media/social media in diasporic networks; economics, brain-drain, brain gain, brain circulation; social/cultural/spiritual capital; church growth and Christian mission; leadership dynamics
across local and translocal cultural contexts; interpersonal relations among immigrant/diaspora
congregations; the feminization of migration; women and lived religious life expressions and experiences
in immigrant and diaspora contexts; women ordination; youth and intergenerational dynamics; women,
migration and diaspora Christianity.

We welcome panel and paper proposals from any discipline on any topic relevant to the conference theme,
whether contemporary or historical. In 2025, the global South and global North will be our primary,
although not exclusive, frames of reference. We particularly encourage case-based studies grounded in
historical/empirical research, while proposals from ethical, theological, and missiological perspectives will
also be considered.