Edward Bailey Center

The Edward Bailey Centre for the Study of Implicit Religion at Bishop Grosseteste University, serves as a hub for a wide range of activities,  including the Implicit Religion conference each May, working in local schools, university modules, research projects, and free public events.
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Implicit Religion UK

Since 1978, scholars gather from around the world to discuss questions and ideas of what we mean when we talk about terms such as ‘religion’, ‘secular’, ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’. Each conference has a  theme highlighted on the call for papers that scholars and students from a range of disciplines coalesce around and engage with.

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IMplicit Religion US

The IR US conference serves as a scaffolding for emerging and marginalised students and scholars. Early career and independent scholars can present and develop their work with supportive feedback and experiment with how using Implicit Religion as a methodological tool can enhance their research projects.

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How iT WORKS

ImpliCIT ReliGion

Developed by Edward Bailey, Implicit Religion is a set of axioms with which to observe and analyze how people develop "true / authentic selves," meaningful lives, and undertake decision making when their passion lay in areas commonly called  secular rather than the religious.

Lincoln Bishop's Place Photo Josh Johnston 2021.

A  SOCIOLOGICAL  TOOL

“Implicit Religion begins with a simple question: would our understanding of the secular and everyday life benefit from asking if it has a religion of its own?”
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Francis Stewart, (2017) Punk Rock is my Religion: Straight Edge Punk and ‘Religious’ Identity.  

II. Integrating FOCi

– the aspects or rituals or material artefacts of the wider aspects of the commitment that enables the individual to bring the various aspects of their lives and / or identities into a coherent, meaningful whole.
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I. Commitment(s)

that to which the person, group or community is committed to the level of being willing to make sacrifices in some regards for it.
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III. InTENSIVE CONCERNS

with EXTENSIVE EFFECTS – what issues or causes arise from the commitment that the individual or community is willing to repeatedly act upon, even at great cost to themselves?
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In Practice

The Implicit Religion-US Conference

The (US)Implicit Religion conference takes a more practical and holistic approach to academic conferences. It also provides a community setting aimed at educating presenters and participants about specific elements of scholarship, publishing, and articulating career growth. There is a sense of "agency" and collaboration that I have benefitted from tremendously and I wish I had found this group earlier.

Octavio CARRASCO

In PraCTICE

The Implicit Religion-US Conference

The 2019 IR US Conference provided me the opportunity, as a disabled student just out of undergrad, to present emerging ideas in a generous, collaborative, accessible, and community-focused space. This venue and its leadership model the care and collegiality, coupled with sharp and productive critique, that we desperately need but so rarely see elsewhere.

Morgan Barbre

In Practice

The Implicit Religion-US Conference

"Attending the Implicit Religion conference not only facilitated my growth and development as a religion scholar, but also provided a supportive community that continues to enrich my academic career. The conference allowed me to expand my network and make connections with scholars from different institutions and disciplines, fostering a sense of camaraderie and collaboration. Overall, it has had a lasting impact on my life, as the connections and insights gained from the conference continue to shape my ongoing research and community involvement."

Amanda Furiasse

Join our CommUNITY

WELCOME To ImpliCIT Religion

A global community of scholars

The axioms of Implicit Religion have been used to explore how people act through ideologies, passions, and collective self-identification

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In Practice

Implicit Religion in Contemporary Society

“At its core, Implicit Religion is an analytical tool that coalesces around three criteria; commitment, integrating foci, and intensive concerns with extensive effects.”

Edward Bailey - 1997

In Practice

Implicit Religion and the Meaning Making Model.

“Viewing religious meaning systems from the broader perspective of implicit religion opens the door to considering a variety of implicit-religious topics as meaning systems and examining their functioning in both everyday life and in times of crisis.”

Crystal L. Park 2011, Implicit Religion 14.4

In PraCTICE

The Moods of Marianne: of Hijabs, Nikes,
Implicit Religion and Post-Modernity.

“What the perspectives of implicit religion and post-modern analysis both highlight, with amazing eloquence, is the explosion of religion into an incredible fragmentation of crystallizations that are more or less volatile, and more or less shared.”

Guy Ménard

In Practice

Blue Suede Shoes to Doc Marten Boots:
Music, Protest & Implicit Religion.

“Culture, religion, society and its attendant expressions is not static, but rather continually evolves, adapts and renegotiates itself.... how we understand those varying elements of organisation, structure and expression must equally continue to develop… Implicit Religion is one such important step in the methodology of doing so.”

Christine King & Francis Stewart 2016 Implicit Religion 19.1

Implicit Religion

OUR TEAM

Francis Stewart headshot

Francis Stewart

Executive Director
Edward Bailey Center For the sTudy of IMplicit Religion
Lecturer
Sociology, Social Theory, Postcolonial sociology, University of Stirling, UK  
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Head shot of Anupama Ranawana, South Asian woman with long black hair swept over her left shoulder smiling wearing an orange blouse

Anupama RanAwana

2024 Bailey keynote Lecture
“I have told you already, it is there”: Anti-colonial Internationalism in Feminist Faith Based Storytellers of 1960s-1980s Asia
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Editor
Journal of religion & Culture
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University of St. Andrews Scotland
The Queen's Foundation
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Headshot of Ambre Dromgoole, with shoulders visible. A Black woman, with eyeglasses, smiling and with hair bound up with printed band , She is wearing tan blazer and beige blouse

Ambre Dromgoole

2024 Implicit Religion Us Keynote
Live On Forever: Curating A Post-Mortem Mythos

Provost's New Faculty Fellow
‍Cornell University
AfricanA Studies anD
Research CeNter
American Studies
Religious Studies

Assistant ProfessoR (July 2024)
CorNell University
AfriCANA STudies and
REsearch Center
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SORAAAD in white lettering. Study of religion as an analytical discipline
HOW TO FIND US

Contact Us

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We welcome questions about Implicit Religion as an approach, publications that might assist you with implementing your projects, and questions about the conferences that would aid your participation and attendance.

OUR ADDRESS
Bishop Grosseteste University,
Longdales Road,
Lincoln. UK  LN1 3DY

EMAIL
francis.stewart1@stir.ac.uk

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