Pilgrimages of Repair: Journeys to Return, Rebuild and Restore

Dear Colleagues,

As our world continues to reflect fractures, conflict, war, and trauma, we are faced with how to proceed after such fissures. What does it mean to share spaces together in ways that bear little resemblance to that which existed before the conflict? We often look to institutions and historical exemplars for indicators to help us rebuild and repair that which was lost, broken, and/or destroyed. However, how might we look to pilgrimages to help us frame meaning in our current circumstances?

How do we engage the notion of repair in the context of pilgrimages? The scope of this special issue of Religions is to explore such journeys.

The concept of repair is visible in various academic fields. In engineering, repair refers to the process of fixing a damaged or malfunctioning device or system. In economics, repair can refer to the process of fixing a broken market or economic system. In the field of psychology, repair often refers to the process of repairing damaged relationships. This can involve identifying the source of the conflict, taking responsibility for one's actions, and making amends. The concept of repair is also important in the context of sustainability. Repairing can be seen as a way to move towards a more sustainable future.

The following etymologies are offered as framework for defining repair (Online Etymology Dictionary):

repair (v.1)

"to mend, put back in order, restore to a sound, good, or complete condition," mid-14c., reparen, from Old French reparer "repair, mend" (12c.) and directly from Latin reparare "restore, put back in order," from re- "again" + parare "make ready, prepare”

repair (v.2)

1300,repairen, "go (to a specified place), arrive, make one's way, betake oneself," from Old Frenchrepairer, repairier "to return, come back, to frequent, to return (to one's country)," earlier repadrer, from Late Latin repatriare "return to one's own country"

repair (n.1)

1400,repaire, "maintenance, restoration;" 1590s, "act of restoring, restoration to a sound or good state after decay," from repair(v.1). Meaning "state or condition in respect to reparation" is from c. 1600, especially "good or sound condition kept up by repairing as needed."

repair (n.2)

early 14c., "act of betaking (oneself) to a (specific) place," from repair (v.2). Sense of "place to which one repairs, a haunt or resort" is from late 14c.

Based on the above definitions, pilgrimages of repair are those journeys that focus on mending, restoring, returning, and placing back in order. In this sense, the pilgrimage itself is the pathway to re-cover, re-turn, re-build, and re-pair.

Sacred sites may be conceptualized as human-made such as ruins, shrines, physical structures, and virtual spaces. They may also include natural sacred sites such as ancestral homelands, battlefields, rocks, trees, rivers, etc.  

Repair can be related to myriad constructs including religion, identity, politics, sexuality, meaning, natural environment, etc.

Other thoughts to ponder:

How do pilgrimages repair? Are sites restored because of these journeys? Is meaning reconstructed? How are experiences integrated? Can the construct of repair be imposed onto a site? Can the journey mend individuals? The global community?

What about virtual pilgrimages? Can they repair? How can virtual spaces lead to new narratives? What about new interpretations of long-standing physical spaces and landscapes?

How do journeys provoke a sense of seeing a place with new eyes? How do they lead to integration? What is repaired? Do pilgrimages of repair lead to sustainability?

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor ([email protected]) or to /Religions/ editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

References

Crosby, A.; Stein, J.A. Repair. Environmental Humanities 2020, 12, 179–185.

Graziano, V.; Trogal, K. Repair matters. Ephemera: Theory and politics in  organization 2019, 19, 203–227.

Harless, J. The call of public life: Critique, repair, and the humanities. Illinois 150: The 21^st Century Research University and the Public Good. 2019

Kitzinger, C. Repair. The handbook of conversation analysis 2012, 229–256.

Lindemann, H.; Nelson, H.L. Damaged Identities, Narrative Repair; Cornell University Press, 2001.

Walker, M U. Moral repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations after Wrongdoing; Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Warfield, H.A. The Western Front Way: Connecting dots of war to form a path of peace. In New Pilgrimage Routes and Trails: Society, Peace, and Development; Olsen, D., McIntosh, I., Munro, D., Eds.; Peter Lang Publishers: Oxford, UK, 2023; pp. 109–127.

Warfield, H.A. Introduction. In Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Pilgrimage: Historical, Current, and Future Directions; Warfield, H., Ed.; Peter Lang: Oxford, UK, 2023; pp. 1–14.

Warfield, H.A. Psychological perspectives on pilgrimage. In Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Pilgrimage Studies: Historical, Current, and Future Directions; Warfield, H., Ed.; Peter Lang Publishers: Oxford, UK, 2023; pp. 235–262.

Warfield. H.A. Pilgrimage as developmental experience: A psychological lens. In Pilgrimage as Spiritual Practice: A Handbook for Teachers and Guides; Bloechl, J., Brouillette, A., Eds.; Fortress Press: Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2022; pp. 41–60.

Warfield, H.A.; Hetherington, K. (Eds.) Pilgrimage as Transformative Process: The Movement from Fractured to Integrated; Brill, 2018.

Prof. Dr. Heather Warfield
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• repair
• pilgrimages
• multidisciplinary
• sacred sites