Call for Papers: 11th Annual Berkeley Islamophobia Conference

Call for Papers: 11th Annual Berkeley Islamophobia Conference
April 17-19, 2020

The Imagined, Real, Embraceable, Threatening and the in-Between Muslim Subject: From the Inquisition to War on Terror and Securitization!

The conference seeks papers that examine how the Muslim subject was constructed, the distinct periods, and the regional specificity of such framings. We encourage the submission of fully-formed panels that can address the topic either from one particular academic field or in an interdisciplinary fashion. Abstracts are limited to 300 words and a one paragraph (100 words) biography to be used for the program, if the paper is selected.

History is an open-ended book, edited continuously, and re-edited by multiple authors and divergent interests. As academics, we are trained to examine history from multiple vantage points and pursue all available sources before a conclusive judgment is reached on a given topic or issue. In this sense, history presents the ultimate challenge since the engagement with the subject matter is contingent on a variety of personal constraints that limit the ability to reach a finality on the subject matter.

For example, let us take how we mark time and the essential use of a calendar, which is assumed to be a neutral act but, in reality, is far from it and is a highly subjective undertaking. Are we in the year 2020? What measures or set of criteria are used to reach this determination? Marking history and using a calendar is a subjective act and is not at all neutral or an objective determination of the passing of time.

The Muslim subject is made to appear in different forms and shapes throughout history. When we examine “world history” textbooks, Muslims and Islam are present and absent at the same time. Their appearance in “world history” books are tangential to the treatment of the subject matter and only made to appear as a footnote to European or Eurocentric history. In this regard, history is only defined through Eurocentric experience and chronology, while every other part of the globe is entered or examined in relation or proximity to it.

Consequently, the Muslim, as a subject, has always been represented through an array of Eurocentric images, which are rooted and emerge out of racialization and otherization epistemic. The Muslim in Eurocentric discourses includes the imagined, real, embraceable, threatening, and the in-between subject, which can be easily traced in popular literature, religious polemics, and political mobilization from the inquisition period to the current “War on Terror” and hyper securitization! More critically, the suffering and pain of the Muslim subject are never examined or accorded attention in “world history” both the past and present.

Note:

Abstracts are due by January 31, 2020
Response to abstracts by February 15, 2020
Final Invite by March 1, 2020
Papers are due April 3, 2020

Event Date: 
Friday, April 17, 2020 (All day) to Sunday, April 19, 2020 (All day)
Institution(s): 
Sponsored By: 
11th Annual Berkeley Islamophobia Conference
Location: 
11th Annual Berkeley Islamophobia Conference