Ph.D. Teemu Taira
teetai@utu.fi
Educated in the University of Turku (Comparative religion and Cultural History)
2008-2010, Researcher of Religious Studies, University of Leeds
Research project: Media Portrayals of Religion and Secular Sacred
Researcher of Comparative Religion at the University of Turku
Research project: Religion, Modernisation and the Finnish Public (1946–2006)
Review editor of Temenos: Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion
Main fields of interest: religion in contemporary culture, discursive religion, method & critical theory in the study of religion, religion and modernity/postmodernity, cultural studies, Gilles Deleuze
Indicative publications:
"Religion as a Discursive Technique: The Politics of Classifying Wicca" – Journal of Contemporary Religion. [accepted for publication]
2009: "The Problem of Capitalism in the Scholarship on Contemporary Spirituality" – Postmodern Spirituality. Turku: Donner Institute. [accepted for publication]
2008: Tiina Mahlamäki, Ilkka Pyysiäinen & Teemu Taira (eds). Pyhä: raja, kielto ja arvo kansanomaisessa uskonnossa [Sacred: Boundary, Prohibition and Value in Popular Religion]. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. 373pp.
2006: Notkea uskonto [Liquid Religion]. Turku: Eetos. 236pp.
2006: Työkulttuurin arvomuutos työttömien kerronnassa [The Changing Values of Work-Culture in the Writings of the Unemployed], Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. 256pp.
2005: "Skyhooks and Toeholds in the Study of Religion" – René Gothóni (ed.) How to Do Comparative Religion: Three Ways, Many Goals. Religion and Reason. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 177–186.
2004: Teemu Taira & Pasi Väliaho (eds). Vastarintaa nykyisyydelle: Näkökulmia Gilles Deleuzen ajatteluun [Resistance to the Present: Approaches to the Thinking of Gilles Deleuze].Turku: Eetos. 287pp.
2004: Outi Fingerroos, Minna Opas, Teemu Taira (eds). Uskonnon paikka. Kirjoituksia uskontojen ja uskontoteorioiden rajoista [The Location of Religion]. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society. 419pp.
Latest papers (in English):
2009 "Containment and Escape: The Double Movement in Popular Culture" – Fantasy: 16th Summer School of Cultural Studies. The Society for Cultural Studies & the Research Centre for Contemporary Culture 3–5 June 2009, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. (Invited)
2009 "New Atheism: Contextualisation and Comparison" – Religion and Knowledge. British Sociological Association. 30 March–1 April, St. Chad’s College, Durham, England.
(with Kim Knott) 2009 "Media Portrayals of Religion" – Approaches to Researching Religion. 5 March 2009. Leeds Social Sciences Institute Research Methods Seminar, University of Leeds, Great Britain. (Invited)
2009 "The Struggle over Public Opinion: The Category of Kabbalah and Madonna’s Divorce" – ‘Religion’ and its Constructions. February 5, University of Stirling, Scotland.
2008 "Is There Space for the Study of Discursive Religion in Religious Studies?" – Religion, Memory and Remembrance, British Association for the Study of Religion, September 1–3, York, Great Britain.
2008 "An Invited Reply to R. Stephen Warner’s Parameters of Paradigms" – Urban Diversity and Religious Traditions, 19th Nordic Conference in Sociology of Religion, August 13–15, Turku, Finland
2008 "Media Discourse on Cemeteries: A Window to Finnish Modernisation and Religion" – Urban Diversity and Religious Traditions, 19th Nordic Conference in Sociology of Religion, August 13–15, Turku, Finland.
2008 "The Problem of Capitalism in the Scholarship on Contemporary Spirituality" – Postmodern Spirituality, June 11-13, Turku, Finland.
2007 "What Public Discourse on Cemeteries Can Tell Us about Religion and Modernisation in Finland" – Senior Seminar in Theology & Religious Studies, University of Leeds, December 4, Leeds, Great Britain.
2007 "Religion as a Discursive Technique: Politics of Classifying Wicca" – Research Seminar, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, November 14, Edinburgh, Scotland.
2007: “The Discourse on Religion and Secularity in Educational Context: A Case Study of Finnish Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (1946-2006)" – Secularism and Beyond: Comparative Perspectives, May 28 - June 1, 2007, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2007: "Islam in the Public: A Case Study from Finland (1946–2006)" – Religion on the Borders, April 19-22, 2007, Stockholm, Sweden.
2006: "Religion in the Public Sphere: Does Differentiation Lead to Privatization of Religion?" – Public Spheres and Their Boundaries May 25–27, 2006, Tampere