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CALL FOR PAPERS: This is a call for papers for the International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL). The theme of this issue will be: “Language and Religion.” The aim of this issue is to bring into focus the complex cultural, social and political relationships between Language and Religion.  Both the terms may be interpreted widely to include dialects, lost languages, religious sects/cults, non-institutional faiths.  Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• religion and literacy - how the spread of religions may be accompanied by spread of a language or a certain kind of literacy,
• how the coming of a religion to another land changes the discourse, definitions of religious faith, 
• translations, - how cross-cultural interactions affect interpretations of terms when a religion is adapted from one culture to another,
• language and religion impacting each other as tools of social mobility, or as areas of competition,
• how religious conversion may be influenced by the social status of a language,
• consequence of words and terms from the more powerful religious groups finding their way into secular language,
• the question of the choice of language in religious practices,
• religion being used to establish failing/flagging languages,
• how language used in religious texts/preaching uses the social context - the power dynamics of nationalism, society, conversion, etc,
• effects of migration leading to influence of language upon religion, or vice versa, altering language and religion demographics of a society,
• struggles over the status of a certain language within the larger multi-linguistic religious group, 
• the discourse of secular power used by most religions (king, crown, battle) which has, in some cases, allied religious discourse with nationalistic struggles.

Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words (with ‘IJSL’ as the subject) along with a short CV to the editor of this issue Sipra Mukherjee (mukherjeesipra@gmail.com , and sipram@yahoo.com) by 10th Dec, 2009.  Decisions regarding relevant proposals will be completed by 20th Dec., 2009. Completed papers of approx 10,000 -12,000 words will be required by 1st August, 2010 to be considered for inclusion.The IJSL is a peer-reviewed journal of international scope. The General Editor of IJSL is Joshua A. Fishman and the Associate Editor, Ofelia Garcia.