UC Berkeley
Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project
Call for Papers
Contending Epistemologies: Euro-Centrism, Knowledge Production and Islamophobia
Paris 2016
December 9, 2016
Recent events in Europe and the Muslim world point to deeper complexities that the short news cycle and security based responses are unable or are totally ill-prepared to disentangle. In the current context, scholarship responses have been shaped by existing power structures and epistemic dominated by ‘global war on terrorism’ that functions to reproduce racialized and otherized categories. Epistemic extremes are claiming the social, political, economic, cultural and religious space while leaving all others to contemplate distance or closeness to the hegemonic powers in the society. The Euro-Centric world reproduces its affirmations within and forges the counter narratives contending with it from outside but always managing to shape the discourses through asserting universality and offering normativity in responses. Enlightenment philosopher Vittorio Alfieri asserted: “Society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it,” which is a critical view on how to approach the complexities of the current period and how scholarship can disentangle the singular undifferentiated frame through which Arabs, Muslims, and Islam are viewed. The conference seeks papers that examine one or more of the themes identified in the title with a de-colonial point of departure that lays open all the political, social, economic, racial and religious constructed boundaries shaping the contemporary period.
October 7th, 2016: A 300-word abstract and a short bio in a paragraph form that is no more than 100 words to be used for the program if accepted. Send the abstract to the attention of Dr. Hatem Bazian, IRDP.
October 15th: Invites for selected papers.
October 21nd: Response needed for accepting the invite to participate
December 1st: Final papers are due for all participants.
