Dr. Ibrahim Abraham

Position:  Lecturer in Sociology
Study area: Humanities and Social Sciences
Location:  Gippsland Campus, Room 2S 103
Phone: (03) 5122 6469
Email: i.abraham@federation.edu.au
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1448-7449

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy – University of Bristol, 2012
  • Master of Arts – Monash University, 2008
  • Bachelor of Laws – Monash University, 2005
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Monash University, 2003

Teaching

Course(s)

  • Bachelor of Arts

Units

  • BA Major Project (BACAP 3100)
  • Examining Race and Ethnicity (BASOC 2001 / BASOC 3001)
  • Sociology of Families and Relationships (SOCIO 2001 / SOCIO 3001)
  • Sociology of Health and Illness (SOCIO 2200 / SOCIO 3200)
  • The Sociological Imagination (SOSCI 1002)

Biography

    Ibrahim joined Federation University in 2023 as a Lecturer in Sociology, after four years as the Hans Mol Research Fellow in Religion and the Social Sciences at the Australian National University, from 2018-2022, where he also convened the Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry in 2019-2020. He remains affiliated with the ANU as an Honorary Senior Lecturer. Prior to joining the ANU, Ibrahim was a researcher at the University of Helsinki, from 2013-2018, and La Trobe University, from 2012-2013. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Bristol in 2012.

Areas of expertise

    Ibrahim is an expert on the sociology of religion, especially contemporary Christianity and Islam, as well as the sociology of contemporary culture. He is also an expert on contemporary South Africa.

Research interests

  • Serious leisure
  • Sociology of culture
  • Sociology of religion
  • South Africa

Supervision

Ibrahim has supervised research projects on the middle classes in China and South Africa, on Islam in Australia and Iran, and on peace building in the Philippines

Publications

Books

Abraham, I. (2021). Race, class and Christianity in South Africa: Middle-class moralities. Routledge.

Abraham, I. (Ed.). (2020) Christian punk: Identity and performance. Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2017). Evangelical youth culture: Alternative music and extreme sports subcultures. Bloomsbury Academic.

Book chapters

Abraham, I. (In press, 2024). Tricksters, hustlers and moral saints: Students and other strangers in post-apartheid South African literature. In P. Malreddy & F. Schulze-Engler (Eds.), Mapping world Anglophone studies: English in a world of strangers (pp. tba). Routledge.

Abraham, I. (2023). Contemporary Christian music and contemporary worship music. In D. Hiebert (Ed.), The Routledge international handbook of sociology and Christianity (pp. 242-253). Routledge.

Abraham, I., & Stewart, F. (2023). Punk and hardcore. In C. Partridge & M. Moberg (Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of religion and popular music (2nd ed., pp. 323–334). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2021) Pentecostalism and secular youth culture: Translatability, ambiguity and instability. In S. Gelfgren & D. Lindmark (Eds.), Conservative religion and mainstream culture: Opposition, negotiation, and adaptation (pp. 61-82). Palgrave Macmillan.

Abraham, I. (2020). Religion after work: Christianity, morality and serious leisure. In E. Bell, S. Gog, A. Simionca & S. Taylor (Eds.), Spirituality, organization and neoliberalism: Understanding lived experiences (pp. 148-169). Edward Elgar.

Abraham, I. (2020). Conclusion: Performing Christian punk identity. In I. Abraham (Ed.), Christian punk: Identity and performance (pp. 193-198). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2020). Christian punk in (post)secular perspectives. In I. Abraham (Ed.), Christian punk: Identity and performance (pp. 157-173). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I., & Stewart, F. (2020). Straight edge evangelicalism and DIY spirituality. In I. Abraham (Ed.), Christian punk: Identity and performance (pp. 67-83). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2020). Introduction: Studying Christian punk. In I. Abraham (Ed.), Christian punk: Identity and performance (pp. 1-17). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2020). Yinger, J. Milton. In. A. Possamai & A.J. Blasi (Eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of the sociology of religion (pp. 923-924). SAGE.

Abraham, I., & Järvenpää, T. (2019). Ruptures and reconfigurations of identity through Christian hip hop in southern Africa. In E. Gault & T. Harris (Eds.), Beyond Christian hip hop (pp. 181-204). Routledge.

Abraham, I. (2017). Islamophobia, racialization, and mis-interpellation in gay men’s communities. In D. Riggs (Ed.), The psychic life of racism in gay men’s communities (pp. 15-31). Lexington Books.

Abraham, I., & Stewart, F. (2017). Punk and hardcore. In C. Partridge & M. Moberg (Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of religion and popular music (pp. 241-250). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I., & Parmaksiz, I. (2015). Australia and Turkey in postsecular perspectives. In M. Michael (Ed.), Reconciling cultural and political identities in a multipolar world: Perspectives on Australia-Turkey relations (pp. 91-111). Palgrave Macmillan.

Abraham, I. (2015). “High, low and in between: Reception history and the sociology of religion and popular music.” In W.J. Lyons & E. England (Eds.), Reception history and biblical studies: Theory and practice (pp. 241-253). Bloomsbury Academic.

Abraham, I. (2011). Tensions in Christian financial ethics: An historical overview. In M. Ariff & M. Iqbal (Eds.), The foundations of Islamic banking: Theory, practice and education (pp. 235-254). Edward Elgar.

Abraham, I. (2010). ‘Everywhere you turn you have to jump into another closet’: Hegemony, hybridity and queer Australian Muslims. In S. Habib (Ed.), Islam and homosexuality (pp. 395-418). Praeger.

Boer, R., & Abraham, I. (2009). Noah’s nakedness: Islam, ethnicity and the fantasy of the Christian West. In R. Sabbath (Ed.), Sacred tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an as literature and culture (pp. 461-474). Brill.

Abraham, I. (2007). Agents of change: Theology, culture and identity politics.” In J. Connolly, M. Leach, & L. Walsh (Eds.), Recognition in politics: Theory, policy and practice (pp. 175-191). Cambridge Scholars Press.

Boer, R., & Abraham, I. (2006). Australasia. In J. F. Sawyer (Ed.), The Blackwell companion to the Bible and culture (pp. 232-249). Blackwell.

Refereed journal articles

Abraham, I. (2024). Religion and relationality in punk: Musicking and ordinary ethics. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 36(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.2020-0060.

Abraham, I., & Weglarz, R. (2021). Studying Africa in the Australian Capital Territory: Bureaucratisation, disciplinisation and projectisation. Australasian Review of African Studies, 42(2), 54-78. https://doi.org/10.22160/22035184/ARAS-2021-42-2/54-78

Abraham, I. (2021). Saturday night and Sunday morning: Value monism and pluralism in evangelical musicianship. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 36(3), 483-500. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2021.1969081

Abraham, I. (2021). Decolonization and the sociology of Christianity. Journal of Sociology and Christianity, 11(1), 62-69.

Abraham, I., & Liu, S. (2020). Middle-Class Anxiety and Moderate Prosperity: South Africa and China in Comparative Perspective. Australasian Review of African Studies, 41(2), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.22160/22035184/ARAS-2020-41-2/5–26

Abraham, I. (2018). Sincere performance in Pentecostal megachurch music. Religions,9(6), article 192. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9060192

Abraham, I. (2015). Postsecular punk: Evangelical Christianity and the overlapping consensus of the underground. Punk & Post-Punk, 4(1), 91-105. https://doi.org/10.1386/punk.4.1.91_1

Abraham, I. (2015). Christian hip hop as pedagogy: A South African case study. Journal of Beliefs and Values, 36(3), 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617672.2015.1095518

Abraham, I. (2014). Would you Adam and Eve it? Social scientific contributions to the study of the reception of scripture in consumer society. Bible and Critical Theory,10(2), 32-42.

Abraham, I., & Busbridge, R. (2014). Afghan-Australians: Diasporic tensions, homeland transformations, and the 2014 syndrome. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs,34(3), 243-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2014.946766

Abraham, I. (2014). Respecting religion in youth music subcultures: Inclusivity, individuality and conflict avoidance strategy. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 19(2), 83–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2014.909388

Abraham, I. & Stewart, F. (2014). Desacralizing salvation in straight edge Christianity and holistic spirituality. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 5(1), 77-102. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v5i1.77

Abraham, I. (2013). Pentevangelical youth subcultures: Between resistance and compromise. Youth Studies Australia 32(3): 3-12.

Abraham, I. (2011). The Islamic mode of regulation: A speculation. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 40(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v40i1.002

Abraham, I. (2009). ‘Out to get us’: Queer Muslims and the clash of sexual civilisations in Australia. Contemporary Islam, 3(1), 79-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-008-0078-3. Republished in S. Hunt (Ed.), (2015). Religion & LGBTQ sexualities: Critical essays (pp. 317-337). Ashgate.

Abraham, I., & Boer, R. (2009). ‘God doesn’t care’: The contradictions of Christian Zionism. Religion and Theology, 16(1-2), 90-110. https://doi.org/10.1163/156973109X450037.

Abraham I. (2009). Capital, culture and contradictions: Contemporary Christian economic ethics. Pacifica,22(1), 53-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X0902200104

Abraham, I. (2008). Punk pulpit: Religion, punk rock and counter (sub)cultures. Council of the Societies for the Study of Religion Bulletin, 37(1), 3-7.

Abraham, I. (2008). ‘Sodomized by religion’: Fictional representations of queer Muslims in the ‘west’. Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 19, 137-152. https://doi.org/10.3138/topia.19.137

Mews, C. J., & Abraham, I. (2007). Usury and just compensation: Religious and financial ethics in historical perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9151-0. Republished in P. Oslington (Ed.), (2018). Recent developments in the economics of religion. Edward Elgar.

Boer, R., & Abraham, I. (2007). The antinomies of Christian Zionism. Sociologija, 49(3), 193-204. https://doi.org/10.2298/SOC0703193B

Abraham, I. (2007) ‘On the doorstep of the work’: Ricoeurian hermeneutics, queer hermeneutics and scripture. Bible and Critical Theory, 3(1), 04.1-04.12.

Abraham, I. (2006). Hijab in an age of fear: Security, secularism and human rights. Australian Religion Studies Review, 19(2), 169-188. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v19i2.169

Refereed conference proceedings

Abraham, I. (2015). Moral development in a developing economy in moral crisis: Evangelical youth culture in South Africa. Between east and west: Youth, religion and politics (pp. 134-145). University of Latvia.

Abraham, I. (2015). Innovation and standardization in Christian metalcore: The influences of church and market. Modern heavy metal: Markets, practices and cultures (pp. 465-473). Aalto University.

Abraham, I. (2009). Riba and recognition: Religion, finance and multiculturalism. Essays from the AASR conference 2008 (pp. 39-54). University of Sydney.

Abraham, I. (2007). Queer Muslims and hegemonic desires in Lacanian-Marxist perspectives. Spirituality in Australia: Psychological, social and religious perspectives (pp. 11-22). Western Sydney University.

Abraham, I. (2007). The veil and the closet: Islam and the production of queer space. Queer space: Centres and peripheries. University of Technology, Sydney. Republished in 2009 in French in La Revue Monstre, 1, 33-37.

Associations

Australian Association for the Study of Religion

Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies

International Sociological Association