In theology and practical theology the recent ”empirical turn” has encouraged comprehensive research into practices in organised and individual forms of religion. This has provided a richer understanding of the practical, social and material side of religious life as a topic for theological reflection. It has also suggested that theological reflection and knowledge is not separate from actual practices, but embedded in them. At the same time, profound questions for theology and practical theology alike have appeared. What does ”practice” refer to in the domain of religious life, and how can it be fruitfully investigated? How can theological understanding and knowledge be understood in terms of praxis, as theory formed and re-formed in practice? And what do these claims imply for empirical studies in theology and practical theology as a constructive and normative enterprise?

In this conference, we discuss and reflect on these questions through key note lectures, paper presentations, debates and informal conversations. We invite scholars from practical theology, theology, and other disciplines interested in these questions, to join us! The conference is targeting a Nordic audience in particular, but welcomes participants from other countries as well!