CLOSED PANEL: Religiosity, Digital Media and Politics from Below in Africa and in Asia II (Sa_1_CD203)
Chair: Kae Amo (Kyoto University, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies), Mitsuru Niwa (Kyoai Gakuen University), Naoki Kashio (Keio University), Pascal Bourdeaux (EPHE-PSL)
By the end of the 20th century, it was believed that religiosity would no longer be present in the public sphere. However, it has had a significant impact on civil society in Africa and Asia in the 21st century, challenging both the state and the secular political realm. Since the 1980s, with the rapid liberalization of politics and economics following the defeat of ideologies such as Marxism and communism that had supported post-independence state and rebel movements, religiosity has become visible again by presenting a new model of order formation to the younger generations. This can be seen in the Islamic revival movements of young people in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, and Indonesia; in the political movements for the return of religion, such as Christianity and Hindu nationalism that have been activated by the introduction of secularism in Nepal; or movements with a strong orientation toward spirituality, such as Ugandan evangelicals ; or religious practices by minorities in globalized societies such as Muslim communities in Japan or the new Japanese religions that have spread to Africa. These movements embrace a variety of forms and relationships with the social and political sphere. Rather than going against modernity and globalization, they have shaped contemporary African and Asian civil society in the age of globalization.
What are the trends in these movements? How do these young believers actually impact political and civil life? The purpose of this joint research program is to conduct a comparative analysis of the current state of religiosity and ICT use among the youth in contemporary African and Asian countries with different social, religious, and political backgrounds.
4. Essay on Vietnamese digital religiosities : a connected history contribution
Pascal Bourdeaux
This paper analyses the presence of Vietnamese religiosities in various digital media, detailing the nature, segmentation and recent evolution of this visibility, and placing these contemporary phenomena in the history of religious communication during the twentieth century. By recalling how the religious question has always been monitored by any political power (press in colonial times, audiovisual media in the second half of the twentieth century, digital media since the end of the 1990s), it aims to broaden the issues underlying the debate on the regulation of cyberspace and the management and storage of digital data, namely freedom of expression, intellectual property and propaganda (private or public, secular or religious). Adopting a connected history approach, I also look at how Vietnamese transnational communities have formed over the last few decades on several continents (Asia, Oceania, North America, Europe). Some have become particularly active centres for disseminating plural religious sensibilities that are distinct from what the Vietnamese government authorities seek to promote in line with their own religious policy. The study of religious websites (Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, H%uFFFDa H%u1EA3o in particular) enables us to illustrate political and religious divergences. It also allows us to see how some networks become virtual forums for exchange and the search for compromise. Finally, it allows us to compare multilingual content (particularly Vietnamese and English) and, through them, the sociology of readership.
5. Various Uses of Digital Media in the Nepalese Christian Community
Mitsuru Niwa
The aim of this paper is to illustrate the spread and permeation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Nepalese Christian Community and to report and analyze the movements and phenomenon that the spread and permeation of ICT has brought about. More specifically, I shall report
By the end of the 20th century, it was believed that religiosity would no longer be present in the public sphere. However, it has had a significant impact on civil society in Africa and Asia in the 21st century, challenging both the state and the secular political realm. Since the 1980s, with the rapid liberalization of politics and economics following the defeat of ideologies such as Marxism and communism that had supported post-independence state and rebel movements, religiosity has become visible again by presenting a new model of order formation to the younger generations. This can be seen in the Islamic revival movements of young people in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, and Indonesia; in the political movements for the return of religion, such as Christianity and Hindu nationalism that have been activated by the introduction of secularism in Nepal; or movements with a strong orientation toward spirituality, such as Ugandan evangelicals ; or religious practices by minorities in globalized societies such as Muslim communities in Japan or the new Japanese religions that have spread to Africa. These movements embrace a variety of forms and relationships with the social and political sphere. Rather than going against modernity and globalization, they have shaped contemporary African and Asian civil society in the age of globalization.
What are the trends in these movements? How do these young believers actually impact political and civil life? The purpose of this joint research program is to conduct a comparative analysis of the current state of religiosity and ICT use among the youth in contemporary African and Asian countries with different social, religious, and political backgrounds.
6. New Religions on the Web in Contemporary Japan: A Case Study of YouTube Channels
Naoki Kashio
The purpose of this presentation is to clarify the characteristics of the use of the web by new religions in contemporary Japan, using Omoto, Tenrikyo, and Soka-Gakkai as examples. We use official channels on YouTube as our source material. Each religious order started their official channels on YouTube in the 2010s. Omoto televises teaching courses, official events, information on the Holy Land, introduction of the head minister, and programs on the Esperanto language. Tenrikyo broadcasts the activities of the Youth Association and testimonials about one of the main doctrines. The Soka-Gakkai broadcasts teachings, roundtable discussions, member activities, introductions of the third president, artistic activities, overseas missionary work, and video content recorded in the past. The three religious formations use YouTube as their main source of information on the web, and have little use of web media other than their homepages for their activities. The purpose is to proselytize through the introduction of their mission. However, it is noteworthy that Tenrikyo and Soka-Gakkai have created videos about the personal activities and teaching experiences of their members, although there are differences in the methods used to create the videos. It is possible to point out the importance of the personal nature of faith, that empathy and resonance for the experiences of individuals would lead to the expansion of that communality.