Keynote Speakers

“Imaginary Islam”: an ideological weapon in the French public debate

ABSTRACT

Paradoxically, Islam is not the only target of Islamophobia. This is the conclusion that can be drawn when one studies public discourses produced in France in the last 30 years. From the 1979 Iranian "Islamic Revolution" to the 2004 banning of the "Islamic veil" from state schools, French opinion makers have forged what can be called an "imaginary Islam" thanks to which the elites could define a new political consensus and assert a conservative conception of national identity. With the emergence of the misleading concept of "Islamism" in the 1990's, this "imaginary Islam" constructed by the media industry and the political forces turned into an ideological instrument that casts suspicion on various segments of the population and creates dangerous censorship effects.

BIOGRAPHY

In his book "Imaginary Islam: The media's construction of Islamophobia in France", the political scientist and journalist Thomas Deltombe reveals certain parallels in the way Islam is perceived by the French media and by ultra-conservative Muslims. In France most of the members of Muslim minority hail from the former French colonial possessions of Morocco, Tunisia, and especially Algeria. Deltombe's preparation for the book included analyses of numerous press articles and of the two most important TV stations in France: the privatised "Channel One" TF1, and the public broadcaster France 2. Deltombe examines their coverage of Islam in the period from 1975 to 2005.

Alisher Khamidov

Thriving Under Repression: Moderate Islamic Activism and State in Central Asia

ABSTRACT

The paper explores multiple views concerning the role of Islam in Central Asian republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. In particular, it explores views of state officials, scholars, ordinary people, and Islamic clerics on Islam's role in public sphere, religious education, the question of tolerance and political participation. It finds that the Central Asian governments exaggerate the dangers posed by Islamic extremists while remaining suspicious of potentially helpful moderate Islamic groups they perceive as threatening state authority. The paper argues that the increasingly popular Islamic associations—fed in part by dissatisfaction with current political and economic trends—are supporting areas inadequately served by the state, while the state’s repressive measures against opposition forces and the Muslim clergy are undermining its diminishing public support base.

BIOGRAPHY

Alisher Khamidov is a journalist originally from Kyrgyzstan. From June 1998 to July 2001, he served as Director of the Osh Media Resource Center (OMRC), a nonprofit independent media association in southern Kyrgyzstan. He has also acted as the regional coordinator of the Central Asian Media Support Project. Khamidov has written a series of articles on religious and ethnic conflict in the Ferghana Valley and political developments in Kyrgyzstan and in Central Asia, and is a frequent contributor to Eurasianet and IRIN. Khamidov is pursuing his PhD in Russian and Eurasian Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.

Kenan Malik

ABSTRACT

The multicultural debate is in large part a debate about how one defines a ‘community’ and decides who speaks for it. The term ‘multicultural’ has come to define both a society that is particularly diverse, usually as a result of immigration, and the policies necessary to manage such a society. It has come to embody, in other words, both a description of society and a prescription for managing it. The trouble is that the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of multiculturalism all too often get conflated. Far from being a response to a culturally plural society, multicultural policies themselves have often helped create the communities to whose needs those policies are supposedly a response. In doing so they have helped undermine diversity, not engage with it. I will illustrate this by looking at recent developments in Bradford, Birmingham and East London.

BIOGRAPHY

Kenan Malik is an Indian-born British writer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is Senior Visting Fellow at the Department of Political, International and Policy Studies at the University of Surrrey. He is a presenter of Analysis on BBC Radio 4 and has written and presented a number of radio and TV documentaries. His books include The Meaning of Race (1996) and Man, Beast and Zombie (2000). He is trained in neurobiology and the history of science. His main areas of interest are the history of ideas; the history and philosophy of science; the philosophy of mind; theories of human nature; science policy; bioethics; political philosophy; race, immigration and multiculturalism.

Tariq Modood

The multicultural state we’re in: Muslims, ‘multiculture’ and the ‘civic re-balancing’ of British multiculturalism

ABSTRACT

British multiculturalism is alleged to have buckled under various Muslim-related pressures. Indeed, some intellectuals, commentators and politicians of different political persuasions have pointed to evidence of a ‘retreat’ to be found in an increased governmental emphasis upon ‘integration’ and ‘social cohesion’.  One response to these developments, from defenders of diversity related politics, has comprised a discursive re-orientation of British multiculturalism to focus upon an anti-essentialist ‘multiculture’ that can transcend the alleged hitherto reification of British multiculturalism.  This article offers an alternative appraisal of British multiculturalism.  We contest the idea that British multiculturalism is subject to a wholesale ‘retreat’ and suggest instead that it has, and continues to be, subject to a productive critique that is resulting in something best characterised as a ‘civic re-balancing’.  Simultaneously, and rather than seeking comfort in a de-politicised ‘multiculture’ view, we defend the ideal of a dynamic political multiculturalism, comprised as an outgrowth of discourses and policies originating from a Racial Equality paradigm inaugurated by the first Race-Relations Act (1965).  It is argued that this tradition has successfully and legislatively embedded a recognition of ‘difference’ – with the goal of promoting equality of access and opportunity - into Britain’s self-image which has led to some significant accommodations for certain groups.  Muslim minorities are currently seeking similar accommodations and this is one means of achieving greater civic inclusion for Britain’s Muslim minorities.

BIOGRAPHY

Tariq Modood is Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy and the founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol. Besides producing extensive academic publications and co-editing the journal Ethnicities, he is a regular contributor to the media and policy debates in Britain, was awarded a MBE for services to social sciences and ethnic relations in2001 and elected a member of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2004. His recent publications include Multiculturalism: A Civic Idea, (Polity, 2007); and as co-editor, Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship: A European Approach (Routledge, 2006) and Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming August 2008).

Greg Philo

ABSTRACT

This paper examines contemporary arguments about Islamophobia and how they relate to issues such as world conflict and the manner in which this is represented in the mass media. It gives specific examples from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also points to what can be done to better inform the public on these matters.

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Greg Philo is based at Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences, University of Glasgow. He is also Research Director of Glasgow University Media Unit (Glasgow Media Group). The Media Unit is a research based grouping of academics within the sociology department of Glasgow University. The purpose of the Group's work is to promote the development of new methodologies and substantive research in the area of media and communications. Professor Philos research interests are in the area of the media and cultural reception. Greg Philo has recently written a report on Cultural Transfer between Britain and China for the British Council.

Elizabeth Poole

Three Phases of Representation 1994–2008: British Islam in the British press

ABSTRACT 

This paper will examine three phases of the representation of British Muslims in the British press from 1994 - 2008. The paper will demonstrate the importance of analysing the political and social contexts of reporting given the shifts in representation over this time. Firstly, we have a period in which Islam had only recently been politicised in the UK. Critical theory drawing on the work of Edward Said (1978, 1981) argued that in the context of post war politics Islam was a new and convenient enemy of the West committed to establishing a global capitalist hegemonic project. Evidence of this was apparent in the media in terms of a global violent aggressor. Yet the reporting of British Islam was much more complex, a situation based on national concerns about segregation and cultural difference. Struggles over national identity and inclusivity took precedence. September 11th changed this and provided the opponents of Islam with `evidence' for what had previously been an `imagined threat'. Whilst Britain, at the time, stood very much by America's side in the war on terror, and much of the discourse being produced at the time followed a similar line, the physical distance form the event in question allowed for a greater range of discourses to be voiced. For some a seriousness was re-injected into the tabloid press (Bromley and Cushion, 2002). Then came 7/7. The physical threat brought a new reality but ironically led to a distancing from Islam to the violence in order to maintain positive relations within the national context. How then have these different historical and political moments been played out in the press? This paper aims to demonstrate these complex relationships by revisiting the representation of British Islam over a highly volatile time.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr Poole is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Science, Staffordshire University, UK. She is an Award Leader of MA Media Management and Media Futures. She specialises in the area of race and representation, new media and audiences. Dr Poole has significant postgraduate teaching experience and published widely in the area of Muslims and the news. (Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims, 2002;  Muslims and the News Media, co-edited with John E. Richardson, 2006).

Tariq Ramadan

Muslims, Multiculturalism and Postintegration

ABSTRACT

Forthcoming

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Islamic Studies. He is currently Senior Research Fellow St Antony's College (Oxford), Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan) and at the Lokahi Foundation (London). He is a Visiting Professor (Identity and Citizenship Chair) at Erasmus University (Netherlands). Through his writings and lectures he has contributed substantially to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels lecturing extensively throughout the world on social justice and dialogue between civilizations. Professor Tariq Ramadan is currently President of the European think tank: European Muslim Network (EMN) in Brussels.