Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture
Visit the JSRNC website
Journal for the Study of Religion Nature and Culture
Bron Taylor is founding editor of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture (the JSRNC).
His JSRNC contributions include "Exploring Religion, Nature, and Culture: Introducing the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture," 1(1): 5-14, 2007.
The JSRNC website provides more information and access to additional articles.
The journal's goals are to explore the relationships among human beings, their diverse religions, and the earth's living systems and to explore-- without oversimplifying -- what constitutes an ethically appropriate relationship between our own species and the natural worlds we inhabit.
The journal is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. To join please visit the Society website. Members qualify for a membership discount on subscriptions to the journal.
The journal publishes these types of articles and special Issues:
Social Scientific and Cultural Studies
Qualitative or Quantitative analyses spotlighting the religion variable in human/environment relations. Examples include:
Research grounded in cultural studies, ecological anthropology; environmental history, cultural geography, sociology, political science; historical ecology; and social movement theory (to name a few).
Analyses of the relationships between nature-related religious perceptions and values and human behaviors that impact nature, including the consumption of natural resources, breeding and fertility rates, lifestyle and livelihood choices, and social organization and forms of political mobilization.
Analyses of the role of nature-related religion in environmental degradation, protection or restoration; or in precipitating or exacerbating social conflict, or in ameliorating such conflict.
Natural Science Studies
Research exploring through any branch of the natural sciences the connections between humans and the living systems upon which they depend. Examples Include:
Research grounded in cognitive science or evolutionary biology.
Analyses of theories that purport to reveal the natural, evolutionary roots of religious and ethical beliefs, values and behaviors, such as sociobiology.
Analyses of the role of natural science in religious thought and behavior, such as those exploring how scientific narratives and cosmologies are being integrated into religious belief systems, and how environmental "conservation sciences" can assume a religious dimension in their formulation and practice.
Critical reflections on the theoretical, philosophical, practical aspects of ecological science for religious traditions and ethical debates.
Constructive and Normative Studies
Religious and ethical perspectives on human obligations to ecosystems and other living things. Examples include:
Research rooted in religious and philosophical investigations of a traditions understanding of what constitutes the proper relationships between human beings (and their social structures) and the Earth's living systems.
Analyses or articulation of ethical arguments from one or more religious perspectives, including "world religions," "nature religions," "new religious movements," "lived religion," and so on. Such thematic issues and articles may explore any religious form of nature-related spirituality.
Perspectives on and debates engaging postmodern theory and the "social construction of nature;" and related to domestic and international law, political philosophies, and public policies
For more information, including submission guidelines, see the JSNRC website.