Al-Maktoum Institute For Arabic and Islamic Studies, Research Culture, Conferences, 2006 Symposium on Multiculturalism

2006 Symposium on Multiculturalism

The Challenges of Multiculturalism: practical issues and comparative perspectives

International Academic Symposium 
Thursday 20 April 2006
9.30am – 6.30pm

Following the bombings in London in July 2005, the debate about the viability and future of multicultural societies in western Europe has gained yet further significance. Participants in the countless public and private discussions in the media, in parliaments, and in academic circles have expressed a variety of opinions, ranging from declarations of the ‘death’ of multiculturalism at one extreme to fierce affirmations of multicultural ideals and practices at the other. Concepts such as integration, assimilation, segregation, alienation, and secularisation have become buzzwords for defining this debate, largely obscuring the seemingly gentler (and more ‘liberal’) terms such as tolerance, respect, diversity, and pluralism that defined the debate in the 1990s.

What is largely missing in such public discussions are two fundamental building blocks of any theory and practice of multicultural society: Firstly that multiculturalism is a process, not an end product – this process is most often a challenging one, and sometimes may be unsuccessful. Secondly, these processes of multicultural practice need to be contextualised to particular circumstances, the ideals of multiculturalism (either for or against) require an understanding of the diverse practical contexts of particular societies.

This one-day symposium will bring together international practitioners, policy makers, and academics in the field of multiculturalism to inspect the questions raised by the challenges of multicultural societies in a comparative perspective.

• Prof Malory Nye, The Challenges of Multiculturalism
• Chris Allen, ‘Down with multiculturalism, book-burning and fatwas’: the death of multiculturalism and its implications for Muslims
• Nadia Kirwan, A ‘Truncated’ Multiculturalism or a Diversité  à la française?
• Mandy McKerl,  Muslim Women and Multiculturalism: An Intersection Of Mindfulness?
• Julia Droeber, Research on Multiculturalism and Islam and Muslims in Scotland
• Richard B McCready, The Development of the Catholic Community in Modern Scotland and Catholic approaches to multiculturalism
• Victoria Montgomery, What Rights, Whose Rights?  Recognition, Integration and Group Rights
• Alhagi Manta Drammeh, Fallacy of Clash of Civilisations
• Maher Abu-Munshar, Is Islamicjerusalem a model for multiculturalism?
• Asma Obaid Shahdoor, Multiculturalism in the UAE
• Ekaterina Borissova, The role of religion in multi-religious societies: the Russian case
• Zaid Ahmed, Multiculturalism and Religio-Ethnic Plurality: The Malaysian Experience

Registration fee: £50 (£20 for students/unwaged)

For registration please contact: Anne Simpson (dp@almi.abdn.ac.uk),

Centre for Research on Multiculturalism and Islam and Muslims in Scotland

Al-Maktoum Institute,
124 Blackness Road,
Dundee DD1 5PE,
Scotland, UK

Tel: 0044 1382 908070
Fax: 0044 1382 908077