Abstracts

Thursday August 22

Plenary Session 1

Dr Eleanor O’Keeffe is Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). As part of NatCen’s Centre for Deliberation, she delivers deliberative research on contentious issues ranging from attitudes towards climate change technologies to the impact of the pandemic on social health inequalities. She leads ‘Pilgrimage Futures’ which is funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme small grants scheme. Eleanor is interested in the ethical and social questions raised by social and cultural technologies and has published on a wide range of topics, including digitally enabled commemorative “mega events”, digital memorialisation, and the pandemic’s impact on pilgrimage practices in the UK.

Email: e.okeeffe@mmu.ac.uk

‘Using Computational Methods to Study Pilgrimage’

Dr. Deena Abul-Fottouh, Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University

This paper builds on a study of the Motawif system, designed by the Saudi government to facilitate registration for pilgrimage among Western populations. We employ computational methods of social network analysis and text analysis to investigate the discourse surrounding the Motawif system on Twitter. This research explores the structure of the Twitter network, identifying key influencers and patterns of information dissemination. Text analysis delves into the content of tweets, discerning sentiment, themes, and prevalent themes, especially those holding grievances. This study provides insights into public perceptions and attitudes associated with Motawif, shedding light on how social media platforms serve as critical channels for mobilization and opinion formation regarding government initiatives related to religious practices and pilgrimage. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the digital landscape’s role in shaping conversations and opinions on sensitive religious and administrative matters. The methods used present innovative ways to study this emerging field.

Dr. Deena Abul-Fottouh is a computational social scientist specializing in the exploration of social media data to enhance our understanding of various societal issues. Her primary research focus is on examining online misinformation, racism and hate speech, and online extremism. Deena completed her doctoral degree in sociology at McMaster University studying online networks of the Arab Spring, where she was a recipient of the esteemed Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Deena’s research encompasses a broad range of interests, including big data and social media analytics, social movements and digital activism, political sociology, and social inequality. Methodologically, her expertise lies in social network analysis, quantitative methods, and data science. Deena has previously taught Human Centered Data Science at the University of Toronto and has worked as a Research Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme. Her research on misinformation and online extremism is currently funded by SSHRC.

Email: deena.abulfottouh@dal.ca

Community Engagement Session 1

‘Leave Only Footprints: Finding Britain’s Pilgrims’ Dawn Champion, British Pilgrimage Trust.

Email: dawn@britishpilgrimage.org

Paper Session 1: Navigating Complex Infrastructures

‘Mapping the Sacred Journey: “Flowing Space” and the Digital and Non-Digital Navigation on the Camino de Santiago’

Tamar Ben-Shlomo, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Camino de Santiago, or Saint James’ Way, attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually, with numbers increasing each year. This lecture will focus on the spatial experiences of pilgrims navigating the Camino de Santiago, emphasizing the infrastructures rather than the religious and cultural aspects. Specifically, I explore how pilgrims interact with space, guided by digital and non-digital infrastructures like maps, mobile applications, and waymarks. I aim to understand the construction and experience of space through physical movement, mapping, and signage.

To explore this question, I conducted extensive fieldwork, which included walking the Camino de Santiago, gathering maps, both digital and paper, and examined artifacts such as waymarks that outline the path. Additionally, my research included conducting informal interviews to delve into the navigational practices of pilgrims. Capturing these elements through photography further enriched my investigation of field artifacts. The findings highlight a clear preference among pilgrims for intuitive navigation facilitated by waymarks over maps or digital infrastructures. My findings show three directions:

Pilgrims’ Attitudes towards Maps and Waymarks: There is a divergence in how pilgrims interact with digital and non-digital maps versus waymarks. Maps and digital navigation applications, which provide control and an overarching view of the journey, are often seen as a non-authentic way to walk the Camino, because they require planning and reflection that pilgrims prefer to bypass. In contrast, waymarks elicit feelings of intimacy and trust, aligning with pilgrims’ desired experiential flow.

Engagement with Waymarks: Pilgrims engage deeply with waymarks along the Camino, as evidenced by behaviors such as making graffiti on them and sharing photographs on social media. Such interactions underscore a significant, participatory role in the waymarks’ symbolic meaning. The use of digital infrastructures, however, is limited and occasional, usually to find services provided to pilgrims. In most cases, pilgrims rejected using digital platforms to find the route, preferring to follow physical waymarks along the way.

Digital and Non-Digital Data Production: In the Camino pilgrims produce both digital and non-digital data while interacting with the path and its space. The use of digital navigation applications provides data regarding services and the path, which other pilgrims can use. Additionally, pilgrims engaging with waymarks often leave graffiti or ritualistic objects such as pictures of saints or their relatives. By interacting with both digital and non-digital infrastructures, pilgrims reinforce the path’s status and contribute to the formation of a uniform Camino.

These findings underscore the crucial role of infrastructures in the study of pilgrimage, enabling the development of a theory of flow to elucidate my observations. I emphasize a collective preference for the intuitive guidance provided by waymarks. This preference contrasts sharply with the plan-oriented approach necessitated by maps and digital navigation platforms, indicating a shift towards a more spontaneous and faith-driven spatial navigation experience. The findings highlight an inclination towards a simplified, trust-based interaction with the sacred landscape of the Camino. This research contributes to our understanding of how infrastructural elements shape the pilgrim experience and inform the broader discourse on pilgrimage, space, and digital engagement.

Keywords: Space, Mobility, Maps, Flow, Infrastructure

Tamar Ben-Shlomo is a M.A. student at the department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Under the guidance of Prof. Nurit Stadler and Dr. Lea Taragin-Zeller, my thesis explores pilgrims’ spatial perception of the Camino de Santiago, using ethnographic methodology. I work as a T.A. to undergraduate students in the department of Sociology and Anthropology, and as a research assistant of prof. Stadler in her project on the anthropology and architecture of womb tombs shrines in the holy land landscape. My academic interests are space and landscape, religion, pilgrimage and spirituality.

Email: tamar.benshlomo@mail.huji.ac.il

‘Sanctity and Security: Jewish Pilgrimages to Uman in the 21st Century’

Alla Marchenko, Azrieli Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This talk focuses on Uman, the most popular Jewish pilgrimage destination in Europe, located in Central Ukraine. The Hasidic shrine—the tomb of Rebbe Nachman from Bratslav—has evolved from a meeting place for his most devoted followers, known as Bratslav (Breslov) Hasidim, into a site that attracts a broader Jewish audience. While pilgrims come from around the world, the aforementioned group based in Israel forms the core of the pilgrimage. Even under extraordinary circumstances such as the global pandemic and corresponding travel restrictions, or the Russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine, the pilgrimage has persisted, continuing until today.

I aim to answer the following research questions: How have perceptions of threats and security in relation to the pilgrimage changed from 2020 to 2023? What factors contributed to those changes (or their absence)? The central idea is that there are significant differences in the understanding of security and threats related to the pilgrimage among various groups of interest, including pilgrims, local residents, and national and local governments. I emphasize that the instrumentalization of the pilgrimage to Uman during Russian information warfare against Ukraine became an important context for security. I explore how the intergroup threat theory, where threats are considered largely destructive for intergroup relations (Stephan 2009), can help explain the results. My tentative hypothesis is that the concept of the sanctity of Uman as a source of its symbolic security appeared or intensified in 2022 among all mentioned groups of interest, adding to the existing concept of pilgrimage as a source of physical threat.

Research methods include content analysis and critical discourse analysis of texts related to the pilgrimage and security during 2020-2023, namely official documents and public interviews of officials on both national and local levels, as well as pilgrimage organizers and implementers. I include popular groups connected to Uman on social media to analyze the reactions of both local residents and pilgrims to the aforementioned documents, as well as to security measures implemented or proposed. Specifically, I refer to popular Uman- related groups on Facebook: “Uman: new, people, problems” (26,400 followers), the official page of Uman Town Council (16,000 followers), the official tourist page of Uman “Tourist Uman” (7,300 followers), and the page of Union Breslev in Uman (2,200 followers). Additionally, I include fieldwork materials from my observations, interviews, and informal talks with female pilgrims in Uman in 2023. In this way, I aim to provide specific angles on the topic and reflect on their overlaps. Overall, the pilgrimage to the Hasidic shrine in Uman during times of turbulence serves as a case study highlighting substantial differences in the understanding of threat and security among various stakeholder groups, as well as significant opportunities to address these differences. In conclusion, I plan to reflect on the potential consequences of current trends for the future of the pilgrimage, with a specific focus on its gender aspect.

Keywords Jewish pilgrimage, Uman, threats, security, sanctity

Alla Marchenko is an Azrieli Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Department of Sociology and Anthropology). Her current project focuses on the women’s pilgrimage to Hasidic destinations in Poland and Ukraine, and her Ph.D. dissertation was about the effects of Hasidic pilgrimages upon the local frames of memory in Polish and Ukrainian towns. She has taken part in numerous educational and research projects aimed at making local cultural heritage visible, with an emphasis on Jewish heritage (e.g., the ReHerit– Common Responsibility for Common Heritage in Ukraine, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews). Alla’s publications include the articles in Contemporary Jewry, International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, Discourse, Context & Media, East European Politics

‘Beyond Sacred Division: The Unifying Power of Fragmented Sacred Spaces in Chabad Pilgrimage Practices’

Mendi Yaacobovitz, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In my research, I examine the ontological status of state leaders within a divided community and its subsequent impact on the sacred. Specifically, I focus on the Chabad Hasidim at the Chabad World Headquarters in Brooklyn, exploring community dynamics during the Jewish New Year holiday period. Since the passing of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the Rebbe) three decades ago, a schism has emerged within the Chabad community regarding the Rebbe’s ontological state and appropriate conduct posthumously. As a member of the Chabad community, I have observed how, despite external divisions, the Chassidim maintain unity and manage conflict during sacred times and in holy spaces associated with the Rebbe. Through an analysis of my field diary, participant observations at various events, discussions with pilgrims, and attendance at lectures and lessons directed to Chasidim from both factions, this study aims to delve into the nature of the schism. It seeks to provide insights into how unity and conflict coexist during the pilgrimage and are navigated in daily life.

The findings from my ethnographic study on the Chabad Hasidim elucidate several complex dynamics within the community, despite the schism dividing it into “new” and “old” factions. Firstly, both factions share a common understanding of the community’s essence, enabled by a unique perception of reality as suggested by the ‘Ontological Turn’ in Anthropology (Stadler & Eade, 2022). This unity persists despite divergent uses of the Rebbe’s sacred charisma, influenced by the members’ social wealth and background (Bourdieu, 1991[1979]; Wilf, 2014). Secondly, the sacred space acts as a mediator, physically dividing yet simultaneously accommodating both factions, thus preventing exacerbation of conflicts (Hayden, 2013; Stadler, 2015; 2020; Lewis & Lewis, 2009). Lastly, the pilgrimage setting reveals a dualistic nature of conflict and communitas, where the sacred spaces host displays of factional narratives, while secular areas foster a relative brotherhood, all playing out on a ‘stage’ shaped by socio-cultural contexts (Eade & Sallnow, 1991; Turner, 1973; Turner & Turner, 1978; Kravel-Tovi, 2017). Collectively, these dynamics suggest that ‘Holiness’ can serve as a tool for managing secular life, focusing conflicts within sacred spaces while keeping secular realms free from such tensions, thereby allowing for peaceful coexistence and interaction during the pilgrimage.

The connection between my proposal and the conference’s central theme would be how pilgrims’ data is used as a tool in the conflict within the Chabad community. At the beginning of this conflict, a single organization managed the administrative aspect of the pilgrimage to the Rebbe’s shrine in Brooklyn (AKA ‘770’). As the conflict escalated, a new separate organization was established.

Considering my research’s conclusion and the conference’s context, I would like to show how the two hospitality organizations use the information collected from the pilgrims to adapt their programs to the different worldviews of the factions, thereby strengthening the political perceptions of the members of the various organizations in accordance with the worldview that the organizations seek to promote. The information collected provides organizations with knowledge about the family and community background of the pilgrims, the educational institutions from which they come, and the worldviews promoted by them. Considering all this, collecting ostensibly technical information to manage the pilgrimage period serves as a tool in the political war between the various factions.

Mendi Yaacobovitz is an M.A. student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Under the guidance of Prof. Nurit Stadler, I explored in my thesis how the sacred is used to manage conflicts within a religious group. Currently, I’m working as a research assistant for Dr. Lea Taragin-Zeller in the Department of Public Policy at the Hebrew University, researching the scientific knowledge approach in the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.

Community Engagement Session 2

Securitizing the Sacred Interactive Map

Introducing the pilot of the Securitizing the Sacred Mapping Initiative, Astrid Manzanilla, Simon Coleman and Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto

Friday August 23

Plenary Session 2

‘Algorithmic Amplification of Propaganda on Twitter and the Securitization of Pilgrimage: A Babri Masjid Case Study’

Dr. Sananda Sahoo, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University

Ayodhya has been a sacred site for Hindus for hundreds of years. So has Babri Masjid for Muslims. Members of both religions continued to use the site as a place of worship until right-wing forces demolished the mosque in 1992. India’s highest court referred to belief and faith associated with the site to pass its verdict on the Babri Masjid demolition case. After the verdict, narratives on social media platform X (Twitter) backgrounded Ayodhya as a case of demolition of a sacred and historical structure and foregrounded grand plans for the establishment of a temple at the site. This paper examines how a focus on the concept of securitization sheds light on the state’s growing control over pilgrimage habits by associating images of government officials with the various stages of temple construction, and by linking social schemes that strengthen the legitimacy of the site for the temple.

Sananda Sahoo is a Lecturer/University Fellow in Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. She defended her doctoral dissertation in Media Studies at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University. Sananda looks at the intersections of public, public space and digital infrastructures. Her research areas include critical data studies, data histories, political posters and platforms, questions of collective responsibility, sites of violence in the digital sphere, and colonial narratives in photographs and memoirs by women.

Email: ssahoo3@uwo.ca

‘Migrants, Refugees and Pilgrims: Data and AI Ethics for People on the Move’

Dr. Jacob Metcalf, Data & Society, NY

My presentation introduces major issues in data/AI ethics and connects examples relating to the study of migrants and refugees to the study of pilgrims. Core features of data/AI technologies include: i) Aggregation (collection of ever more data from a variety of sources); ii) Correlation (connecting disparate data points in order to find patterns); iii) Modeling (Use of algorithms to create useful/valuable abstractions); iv) Postdiction (models are fundamentally a reflection of the past); v) Prediction (algorithmic systems use models to take in live data sources and output predictions, often as an automated decision). Ethical concerns arising from each of these features relate especially to questions of surveillance and privacy, as well as algorithmic bias and the repurposing of data. Data technologies are often turned toward managing vulnerable populations such as migrants and refugees e.g. in terms of geolocation and identity data. I suggest that there are lessons from such examples for the study of pilgrimage as pilgrims are often vulnerable, crossing borders and engaging in sensitive activities. There are also lessons in relation to demographics, correlation, prediction, and risk.

Jacob (Jake) Metcalf is a researcher at Data & Society, where he leads the AI on the Ground Initiative, and works on an NSF-funded multisite project, Pervasive Data Ethics for Computational Research (PERVADE). For this project, he studies how data ethics practices are emerging in environments that have not previously grappled with research ethics, such as industry, IRBs, and civil society organizations. His recent work has focused on the new organizational roles that have developed around AI ethics in tech companies.

For this Symposium, Dr. Metcalfe will provide his research expertise to the field of pilgrimage, and brings his insights to the conversations stemming from the Symposium.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakemetcalf/

Community Engagement 3

Religious. Tourism. Data. Hajj, Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto; Sean McLoughlin, University of Leeds; and Hajj company representatives (Canada and the UK).

Community Engagement Session 4

Peter Marbach, DSI representative (Data Science Institute, University of Toronto)

A Journey Towards Data Science

In an era where algorithms increasingly shape our world, the impact of computer science artifacts on society is both profound and far-reaching. Social media recommendation systems and AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, not only influence the information we receive but also have the potential to reshape how we perceive and engage with the world. These effects can extend to altering individual behaviors, cultural norms, and societal structures. However, the mechanisms through which these technologies drive such changes remain inadequately understood. Without a clear understanding of these mechanisms, there is a significant risk that these technologies could negatively impact individual behavior, cultural norms, and societal structures. To address this critical challenge, this talk explores two key questions: 1) What are the societal mechanisms that drive individual behavior, cultural norms, and social structures? 2) How do AI and social media algorithms potentially impact, and even alter, these mechanisms? While sociological research offers valuable insights into the structure and function of social groups, the formal understanding of the mechanisms driving individual behavior, cultural norms, and societal structures remains incomplete. This talk outlines a journey towards social computer science, an interdisciplinary approach that integrates computer science and sociology, with data science playing a critical role. The goal is to develop a framework that enhances our understanding of societal mechanisms and the potential impacts of algorithms on these mechanisms, emphasizing the urgent need for a formal understanding of how algorithms influence the dynamics of society.

Peter Marbach was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. He received the Eidg. Dipl. El.-Ing. (1993) from the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, the M.S. (1994) in electrical engineering from the Columbia University, NY, U.S.A, and the Ph.D. (1998) in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Heis a full professor at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Toronto. He has also been a visiting professor at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK, at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal at Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and at the Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France, and a post-doctoral fellow at Cambridge University, UK.

Peter Marbach’s research interests are in modeling, analysis, and algorithm design for large-scale (complex) networks. Since 2010, a focus of his research has been on social networks, both on models of social networks and the design of algorithms for social networks. His work on models has focused on network formation, network structure, incentive mechanisms, inequality, influence, and stability, of social networks. His work on algorithms has focused on community detection, ranking algorithms, identifying influential content, and the societal impact of content recommendation algorithms.

Paper Session 2: Diaspora and/as Pilgrimage

‘Cuban Migration as Pilgrimage’

Pablo D. Herrera Veitia, Inclusive Excellence Post-Doctoral Fellow, Afrosonic Innovations Lab, Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto Scarborough

In a recent conversation about Afro-Cuban migrant imaginaries, Román Díaz, a New York City-based Afro-Cuban master percussionist, said, “I would rather not discuss the details of my departure from Cuba. I can tell you that Ifá divination grants an oracular figure to most who leave. In Osá Fún, Ifá states that the butterfly must leave the city to avoid being killed by children with wooden sticks” (2024, pers. comm.).

Could the post-1959 waves of Cuban mass migration be theorized as a religious pilgrimage? Studies on global religious journeys and tourism have examined these travels as authentic spiritual experiences and classified European pilgrimage sites. Caribbean migration has been broadly theorized as a safety valve that exports surplus labour and is a fundamental survival strategy for developing Caribbean economies. In Cuba, scholars explored two main trends in religious-related travel: first, musical pilgrimages and ceremonies surrounding Afro-Cuban religious drumming traditions; second, the annual December 17th procession to the San Lázaro Shrine, symbolizing political protest and the transformation from suffering to resistance through various arduous forms of movement. This paper considers social media posts regarding data on the tens of thousands of Cuban migrants arriving in Central America en route to the US since the start of 2024. I will argue while data related to those seeking economic salvation outside Cuba could be read as an index of an Afro-Cuban religious expansion, such statistics relay in troubling quantifiable ways the conversion of Cuban post-socialist citizens into neoliberal subjects. It does not aim to critique Cuban statecraft or US-Cuba police as culpable of Cuba’s present predicament. Instead, it concludes that our focus should be on the conversion process per se.

Email: pablo.herreraveitia@utoronto.ca

‘Osun’s Spiritual Power & Influence: Contemporary Connections Between Nigeria, the Diaspora, and Humanity’

Osun, the Yoruba deity and goddess of the river, is a central figure in Ifá cosmology. In 2005, UNESCO designated the Sacred Osun Grove, the spiritual home of Osun in Osogbo, a World Heritage Site. Every August, tens of thousands from throughout Nigeria and abroad come to honor, celebrate, and pray to Osun at the sacred grove. The Osun festival is consistently the largest festival dedicated to an Orisa in all of Nigeria. As a result, Osun is considered “the great mother” by practitioners of Nigerian Isese – also known as Ifá traditionalism. Not surprisingly, Osun continues to grow in popularity; appearing in art, music, and social media. Artists, including Beyoncé Knowles, have contributed to Osun’s visibility, gesturing to her spiritual significance as a bridge-builder between Nigeria, the Diaspora, and humanity overall. Given Osun’s spiritual power and influence, this presentation will elaborate on the following:

Osun’s origin story and significance in Yoruba cosmology,
Osun’s migration and metamorphosis throughout the diaspora,
History of the Sacred Osun Grove,
Role of Susanne Wenger, an Austrian artist, and local Nigerian artists who collaborated to inspire awareness about the Sacred Osun Grove in the 20th century,
Osun river’s environmental importance and current conditions,
Role of social media and increased popularity of Osun, Osun Grove, and Osun Festival.

This presentation includes critical insights from an Ifa priest and custodian of the Osun Grove as well as from initiated Ifa priestesses in the Diaspora.

Ifawole Akangbe (Osun Grove historian, Ifa priest, artist, and member of the sacred custodians to the Osun Grove), Iya Osunshikemi Asabi (Ifa priestess, Osun devotee), Iya Ifasade (Ifa priestess and custodian of the Osun River), Jeanette Charles-Márquez (Ph.D. candidate in Latin American, Caribbean, and Atlantic World History; documentary film producer; and founder of Ìyá Global).

Community Engagement Session 5

‘Glad Days and Dazed Gays: Access and Surveillance of the Queer Disabled Pilgrim’

A. Atticus Hawk, Ph.D. candidate, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

Founded by Jearld Moldenhaur in November 1970, Glad Day Bookshop has operated out of seven locations in downtown Toronto for the past 54 years. Considered the oldest surviving queer bookstore in the world, each incarnation has functioned as a site of pilgrimage for generations of the 2S-LGBTQIA+ community. More than a commercial repository of bibliographic inventory, Glad Day offers queer patrons a chance to stand amongst the literary infrastructure of a world in which they are normal, the default, the expected. In its pre-2016 incarnations, Glad Day was a place to meet yourself amongst others, cruise for sexual contact, evade police and bigoted aggression, and trade vital pieces of information about health services, friendly bars, safe housing and social opportunities amongst the revolving congregation of interchangeable patrons, slipping away from the compulsory cis-heterosexuality of the streets below the shop.

Glad Day is more than a bookstore (or a bar that sells books), it is the nexus of a specific type of queer pilgrimage. Since 1970, people have physically come to Glad Day not just for book acquisition but for the expected transformation derived from the coming itself. Glad Day is not just about buying a book. It’s about journeying to a place of queer conceptual and physical contact. It’s about hanging out in the store, swapping in-jokes next to the pornos and meeting someone buying the same little German piss book you’ve been eyeing for months. Even in the absence of these concrete outcomes, the imagined prospects within Glad Day and the anticipated engagement with a validated portal to the queer world situate Glad Day as a port of call for queer pilgrims. Queer businesses aren’t about what they’re selling but from being in a queer space where that selling happens.

Importantly, when you can’t get in the door of a business, you cannot participate in anything that happens inside. You can’t cruise between the shelves, meet the love of your life at the register or try a cheesy pick-up line on your favourite author after he’s finished an in-shop reading. Until 2016, every location of Glad Day Bookshop was up a flight of stairs. A common issue in the queer disabled community, the inaccessibility of queer spaces to disabled people is often rectified by relocating important sites of queer identity formation to ground floor, open concept spaces with minimal obstructions, automatic doors and wheelchair accessible washrooms. In 2016, Glad Day Bookshop moved to a ground floor, open concept space at 499 Church Street with expansive plate glass front windows, automatic doors and a wheelchair accessible washroom. Functioning currently as a community space and “coffeeshop and bar that also sells books,” this current incarnation of Glad Day reflects a political redefinition of who the expected and welcomed pilgrim is to the sacred site of the world’s oldest queer bookstore. Prior to 2016, those who could not traverse the filtration system of a commercial set of stairs were not normal, expected or welcomed pilgrims of Glad Day Bookshop.

Positioning a flight of stairs as a modal filter, this interactive discussion confronts the uncomfortable reality of Universal Accessible Design (UAD) as a politically fraught zone that permits the physical and conceptual occupation of disabled patrons while simultaneously facilitating the occupation of the disabled pilgrim’s body by state surveillance actors. Pushing against the neoliberal progress narratives of “It Gets Better” and “Love Is Love” homonationalism that call for queer sites of pilgrimage to only exist in UAD locations, this practical workshop examines the negative outcomes of universal accessible for the queer disabled pilgrim. Workshop participants will engage the intersecting frictions between 1) the right to access one’s own identity, 2) inaccessible infrastructure and architecture as a tool of pilgrim security and 3) which bodies are afforded the privacy of unsurveilled identity formation in sacred sites.

Further discomfiting framings of queer disabled people as sexually and politically neutralized service users of space, information and sacred sites, this two-hour practical workshop equips participants with practical skills found in contemporary discussions of queer disabled architectural studies, tinkering methodologies and crip technoscientific data practices. Interactive demonstrations will consider the construction of Glad Day Bookshop a site of queer disabled access that inherently strengthens networks of interdependent critical resistance, data security and privacy for queer disabled pilgrims.

Keywords: crip technoscience, information equity, universal accessible design, neoliberal progress narratives, crip studies

Atticus Hawk (he/they) is a fourth year PhD candidate at the Faculty of Information and the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies. Their dissertation, Orientations of Trans-Crip Labour: Networks of Care and Harm Reduction Practices in Toronto’s Queer Sex Community, focuses on the creation and dissemination of harm reduction information practices amongst Toronto’s queer, disabled and non-white community engaged in higher risk sexual activity. He is passionate about naloxone distribution and opioid overdose reversal in his community and dignity in healthcare settings for marginalized/underserved populations. Outside of the academy, he provides domestic and international health system navigation and advocacy services for queer people with complex and chronic illnesses.

Saturday August 24

Plenary Session 3

“Place, Flow, Rhythm: Pilgrims, Data and Infrastructure in a Variegated World”

Dr. Steven Jackson, Department of Information Science, Cornell University

Why does pilgrimage – one of the oldest forms of world and regional travel – pose such a challenge to the thinking and practice of the modern secular state? How is this challenge expressed, at the level of borders, in the constitution of cities, and across the impossible but ever-policed divide between the sacred and the profane? This commentary will consider pilgrimage as a particular kind of space-time ‘package’ that challenges some of our basic assumptions behind data, behind infrastructures, and behind justice in a globalizing / deglobalizing world.

Steve Jackson is a professor in the Department of Information Science and Department of Science and Technology Studies, with additional graduate field appointments in Communication and Public Affairs. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of sustainability; scientific collaboration; technology ethics, law and policy; and global change and inequality. More specifically, he studies how people organize, fight, and work together around collective projects of all sorts in which technology plays a central role. He also studies how infrastructure – social and material forms foundational to other kinds of human action – gets built, stabilized, and sometimes undone. This brings him regularly into worlds of policy, organizational or institutional analysis, and occasionally into design. His most recent venture is the Computing On Earth Lab, an experimental collaboration that brings together social scientists, humanists, artists and engineers to rethink the material and planetary foundations of computing.

Email: sjj54@cornell.edu

Paper Session 3: Fragmentations and Insecurity

‘In the Digital Accretion Disk: Online Images of Interstitial Sites in Mecca and Unintended Audiences’

David Simonowitz, Middle East Studies, Pepperdine University

At the edge of central Mecca, just before the event horizon of al-Masjid al-Ḥaram, of the First-Ring Road, and of manmade mountains that have replaced natural ones, numerous lesser-known sites of ritual abound. While countless ḥujjāj post pictures online of their passage through the stations of the Hajj and ‘Umra, some, plus residents and visitors with additional objectives (Ghadeer 2023), also add images of interstitial spaces, contributing thereby to a constellation of perspectives that provide a more complex, yet still incomplete vision of Mecca. Many photographs of these sites are nevertheless framed toward the center of the city, from a distance, when their focus might elsewhere be determined by the more proximate sacred site. Thus, the gravity toward the center of Mecca is now (digitally) visual as well as ritual.

This methodologically reflexive, interdisciplinary presentation will discuss images publically posted via Google Maps of a lesser-known mosque, of a cemetery, and of a viewpoint to illustrate how some visitors frame and (re)present the city but also to interrogate the ethics of such discussions—including ours—and explore the potential risks for different stakeholders.

As distant and not-so-distant internauts click on site links across the virtual maps, photos shot and presented on screen by visitors and residents constellate many interstitial digital territories (Grimes 2006). Not only many of the so-called Pillars of Islam, but also many quotidian aspects of Muslim life are now commonly practiced or experienced through social media the world over (Siti Mazidah Haji Mohamed 2018). The posters of many Meccan images presumably wish to more publically perform and document rites (Caidi and Karim 2022). Yet family members, friends, and fellow Muslims who yearn to make Hajj are not the only witnesses of their digital documentation. Among those who may contemplate the photos are Muslims who disapprove of certain subjects, framings, or titles; others include political or religious authorities; and some are non-Muslims, who cannot physically enter the perimeter of sanctity of the Holy City, including foreign scholars. Already informed by their own cultural milieu and academic agendas, the views of the latter are further shaped if not distorted by their lack of actual on-site observation and by their reliance on (un)selected perspectives available through the mediating keyhole of the internet. In the case of Mecca, the data available via Google Maps is simultaneously overwhelming for certain areas of the city, yet conspicuously deficient, different, or inaccurate for others. Much has been posted by private individuals but in some cases via accounts related to certain official or semi-official institutions. Yet whose perspectives, interests, and security are to be prioritized in these sometimes countervailing, sometimes complimentary yet alternately composite visions and agendas: those of the posting pilgrims or residents, of the state or the clerical authorities, of the ummah or investors, especially the “man behind the curtain”—a multinational private US corporation that mediates these virtual simulacra of visits? Too often, we take the latter for granted as natural, and our perceptions, careers, and lives grow evermore enmeshed in them.

David Simonowitz is Associate Professor of Middle East Studies at Pepperdine University. He teaches courses on History of the Middle East and Islam, Islamic Visual and Material Culture, and Arabic language, among other subjects. His research focuses on Islamic ritual space (in the broadest sense) and the function of the written word therein.

Email: david.simonowitz@pepperdine.edu

‘Pilgrimages and Insecurity: The Conversion of the Shiite Festivals to Arenas of Violence in Nigeria’

Mujahid Hamza Shitu, Department of Islamic Studies, Federal University Gashua, Nigeria [online]

Shiite denomination of Islam has grown in Nigeria since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Despite being a minority group with activities alien to the larger Sunni Muslim community, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), a key Shiite group has shifted from concealing its affinity to Shia for fear stigma and alienation to outward display of Shiite practices and festivals. The Husayniyya shrine at Zaria in northern Nigeria, before its demolition in 2015, was the destination of various groups and individuals in processions from parts of Nigeria and Niger to participate in festivities, including the Mawlid (the prophet’s birthday) celebration. Another festival is the ‘Āshurā, a day of mourning and commemoration of Ḥussayn b. ‘Alī’s martyrdom at Karbala, Iraq in 680 C.E. The Zaria shrine is a material replica of the Karbala shrines found in the Middle East. The most important festival of the Shia in Nigeria is the Arba‘īn walk to the Hassayniyya at Zaria in commemoration of the 40 days post martyrdom rituals of Ḥussayn, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Shia adherents from Nigeria and Niger walk hundreds of kilometers in processions to the Hussayniyya for the festival.

During its formation period in the 1990s, the IMN had violent clashes with the Nigerian military governments for its non-conformist tendencies, which led to deaths and the incarceration of the leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The IMN operates independently from the Nigerian government, and it owns the security operatives of al-Ḥurras and Shabāb Abī al-Faḍl ‘Abbas that provide security for pilgrims and other activities. However, the IMN has embraced a largely non-confrontational approach since the return of democracy in 1999, and its leaders advocate for dialogue and peaceful coexistence with other religious groups, including an annual participation in Christmas services with Christians. Yet the Shiite festivals have become bloody and violent due to attacks from state and non-state actors in the recent times. The Nigeria law requires that any group assembling for procession must obtain police permit, but the IMN has refused to comply. Attacks on pilgrims have led to the killing of hundreds of people from 2011 to 2015 and the destruction of the Hussayniyya by the Nigerian military.

Shiites also utilize the digital landscape in disseminating information about their pilgrimages, and the festival activities are circulated through digital means. The government’s excessive clampdowns on their activities have arguably led to violations of the Shiites’ human rights to freedom of religion and expression. However, citizens also accuse Shiites of blocking roads during their processions, thus violating the rights of other citizens.

The present research seeks to give an account of the organization and mobilization of Shiite festivals through social media and other means, as well as issues of security and how the peaceful pilgrimages and processions have continuously turned to violent clashes with state security apparatus. The research calls attention to violation of the Shiites’ freedom of religion by the state and proffer solutions to avoid the loss of life and property that has accompanied Shiite religious practices.

Keywords: Shiite festivals, Insecurity, Arba‘īn walk, digitalizing pilgrimage, Hussayniyya-Nigeria

Email: mujahidhamza@fugashua.edu.ng

‘Leveraging Technology for Secure Pilgrimage: An IT Perspective’

Zahid Hossain, Software Engineer

In an increasingly digital world, pilgrimage experiences are intersecting with technological advancements, presenting both opportunities and challenges in terms of security and data management. This abstract proposes an exploration of the role of Information Technology (IT) in enhancing the security and efficiency of pilgrimage journeys. It aims to investigate how emerging technologies such as blockchain, IoT (Internet of Things), and data analytics can be leveraged to address security concerns while maintaining the sacred nature of pilgrimage.

Drawing from insights in IT research and practice, this presentation will delve into the potential applications of technology in pilgrimage management, including crowd monitoring, real-time risk assessment, secure data transmission, and identity verification. Additionally, it will examine the ethical considerations and privacy implications associated with the adoption of IT solutions in pilgrimage contexts.

By adopting an IT perspective, this abstract seeks to contribute to the broader discussions at the symposium regarding the digitalization of pilgrimage and its implications for global security. It aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for ensuring the safety and integrity of pilgrimage experiences in the digital age.

The abstract is based on ongoing research exploring the application of data analytics in pilgrimage security. This includes analyzing existing data sets on pilgrimage routes and incidents, as well as considering potential future data collection methods.

The research aims to benefit a range of pilgrimage stakeholders, including:

Pilgrims: By identifying potential security risks and informing preventative measures.
Security Personnel: By providing data-driven insights to optimize resource allocation and response strategies.
Religious Authorities: By helping ensure the safety of pilgrims while respecting the sacred nature of pilgrimage sites.

3. Data Analytics and the Sacred:

The key challenge lies in leveraging data analytics to enhance security without compromising the spiritual significance of pilgrimages. This involves:

Developing methods that anonymize and aggregate data to protect pilgrim privacy.
Balancing the need for security with respect for traditional pilgrimage practices and rituals.

Zahid Hossain is a Software Engineer (OCP)

Email: hossainzhahid@gmail.com

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