30/06/2026 16:30 - 17:30

HALL: Pola - A206b

Contact: Egbule P.O.

Chair: Buzome C., Uyovwieyovwe O.I.

This panel will explore the multifaceted ways in which religion both challenges and reproduces social inequalities in contemporary societies. Religion has historically been implicated in structures of power, privilege, and exclusion, yet it also functions as a space of resistance, solidarity, and social transformation. The panel invites contributions that critically examine how religious ideas, institutions, leadership structures, rituals, and community practices intersect with social stratification based on class, gender, race, ethnicity, caste, disability, age, and migration status. We welcome papers addressing theoretical, empirical, historical, and comparative perspectives. Possible themes include: religious legitimation of wealth and poverty; faith-based responses to instability, Christian genocide and social injustice; prosperity gospel and neoliberal economies; religion and welfare provision; religious NGOs and humanitarianism; the role of religious actors in promoting or resisting social mobility; intersections of religion with capitalism, labor, and informal economies; and how marginal religious groups experience inequality differently from dominant traditions. Special attention will be paid to voices from the Global South and minority communities, as well as to contributions that foreground decolonial, feminist, queer, or critical race approaches to the study of religion and inequality. The panel aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion among scholars of religion, sociology, anthropology, political science, education, and related fields. By examining how religion operates within unequal social orders, the panel seeks to illuminate both the reproduction of injustice and the possibilities for more equitable futures.