Forum on Religion

2010 Summer Term Seminars

6 May

Seminar on Muslim identities:

'Bosnian Muslims in New England: identity maintenance and integration patterns' (Kristen Lucken, Boston University)

This discussion explores the integration patterns and processes of identity maintenance of Bosnian Muslims who were resettled in New England following the 1992-1995 Balkans conflict. After experiencing forced migration, Bosnian Muslims rebuild pre-war identities, re-construct community life, and integrate within a new host setting. This discussion focuses on two Bosnian communities in New England and explores the reasons why one community remains largely secular and multi-cultural, while the other is witnessing increased religious behaviour and a reconstructed meaning of Bosnian national identity. The discussion also addresses the challenges of being a European Muslim in the United States following the events of September 11, 2001.

AND

'Exploring identity in the British educational landscape: a glimpse into the aspirations and participation of parents with a Muslim background' (Malik Ajani, Royal Holloway, University of London)

How do parents of a Muslim background describe their identity? Are the needs of Muslim parents who have children in the English primary and secondary schools homogeneous in character? My case study of London examined the desires of Muslim parents in relation to their children's education: what are their hopes and dreams, what things are empowering them and who do they perceive to be barriers to their participation?

3 June

Seminar on religion, immigration and the far right:

'Home-grown terror, anti-Muslimism and the politics of fear: the rise of the far-right in today's Britain' (Christopher Allen, University of Birmingham)

Even before the summer disturbances in the northern mill towns in 2001 and the subsequent impact of 9/11, British far-right groups has begun to campaign against Muslims and the religion of Islam. After 9/11, and bolstered by the atrocities of 7/7, various 'terror plots' and other Muslim/Islam-perceived issues, these same groups have employed increasingly more explicit campaigns to gain unprecedented electoral success. With the British nation Party having secured victories in the European Parliament, the Greater London Assembly and various local councils across England, and with the English Defence League routinely marching across a range of different towns and cities against the 'Islamification' of Britain, the far-right's anti-Muslim, anti-Islamic rhetoric can no longer be dismissed. This paper seeks to explore the issues raised by the rise and recent political success of the far-right by contextualising it within the wider discursive landscape. Drawing upon theories of Islamphobia, cultural racism, and the politics of fear, this paper will consider the extent to which the messages and meanings of the far-right have found resonance and relevance across a much wider constituency in today's Britain.

AND

'Religion, secularisation and anti-immigration attitudes: the case of Greece' (Georgios Karyotis and Stratos Patrikios, Department of Government, University of Strathclyde)

The social construction of security is typically associated with political elites presenting an issue as an existential threat. In societal issues, however, other actors such as religious elites may also be involved in the process of 'securitisation'. This paper aims to fill a lacuna in securitisation theory by incorporating in a single analytical framework both political and religious actors and evaluating how their potentially antagonistic discourses influence public attitude towards migrants. Using Greece as a case study, it first documents a divergence in the two actors' rhetoric through discourse analysis, and then proceeds to measure the relative impact of their discourses on public immigration attitudes, employing structural equation modelling of European Social Survey data. Findings demonstrate that exposure to the securitising religious discourse through church attendance immunises citizens form the softening effect of the political message and reveal the continuing relevance of the Church in setting where ethnicity and religion overlap.

Seminars take place on the FIRST THURSDAY of every month (within term time), in the Cañada Blanch Room (J116) Cowdray House 5:30-7pm

All seminars are free and open to the public; no reservation is necessary.

We welcome proposals for presentations in the Forum seminar series. Please send these to religionforum@lse.ac.uk or join our mailing list and make your proposal there.

The Future of Christianity

Diarmaid MacCulloch (Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University)

Chair: Professor John Breuilly (Professor of Nationalism and Ethnicity, LSE)

8 November 2009

An audio recording of this event is available to download as: mp3 (38mb; approx 82 minutes)

Islam: What I believe

Tariq Ramadan (Professor of Islamic Studies at Oxford University, visiting Professor at Erasmus University and president of the European think tank European Muslim Network in Brussels)

Chair: Dr. Effie Fokas (Director of the Forum on Religion and a Visiting Fellow to the European Institute, LSE)

14 October 2009

An audio recording of this event is available to download as: mp3 (22mb; approx 97 minutes)

Did religion make a difference? The American elections and beyond

Speakers: Peter Berger (Professor Emeritus of Religion, Sociology and Theology, Boston University), and  
John Micklethwait (Editor in Chief of The Economist)

Chair: Grace Davie (Professor of Sociology, Exeter University)

11 November 2008

An audio recording of this event is available to download as: mp3 (41mb; approx 89 minutes)

Religious Faith and Human Rights

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
Chair: Professor Conor Gearty (Rausling Professor of Human Rights Law in the Department of Law, LSE)

1 May 2008

(co-hosted with the Centre for the Study of Human Rights)

Transcript (Link to external site)

Video (Link to external site)

An audio recording of this event is available to download as: mp3 (22mb; approx 97 minutes)