Call for Papers: “Pluralisms in Emergenc(i)es: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference” – Tunis

February 21, 2018

The Institute for Religion, Culture & Public Life and Columbia Global Centers are organizing a conference entitled "Pluralism(s) in Emergencies: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference" in Tunis, Tunisia on July 11-12, 2018. The project is being organized with support from the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) at the University of Oslo; and the Centre for Religion, Conflict, and Globalization at the University of Groningen. 

Below is a small excerpt from our call for papers to give you some information on the project. The complete text can be found here: https://bit.ly/2Jme1Ei 

Pluralism(s) in Emergencies: Movement, Space, and Religious Difference will be holding the second conference in a series that explores pluralism as it emerges in response to contemporary global crises in the Middle East and North Africa. The conference situates Tunis  as a historical epicenter of human, commodity, and capital mobility and, as such, pluralism. “Pluralism” is commonly understood as the recognition and affirmation of diversity within a governing body or set of institutional arrangements. Thinking of pluralism as a technology of power that helps to organize, exclude, and delimit people and their relationships, and is often articulated with special attention to religious difference, this conference addresses how pluralism becomes activated in emergency situations, utilized in different ways and towards different ends. The conference will interrogate the historical, social, and religious underpinnings of the so-called migrant and refugee crisis in order to position this moment as a state of pluralism in emergence, rather than a state of emergency.

Abstracts must be submitted by April 1, 2018 (Deadline has been extended to April 23to [email protected] with the subject line of the email titled “Religion and Pluralisms Tunis Abstract”.

Date of conference: July 11-12, 2018
Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Deadline for final paper submission: May 31, 2018

For any enquiries regarding the conference program, please contact:
K. Soraya Batmanghelichi, [email protected].  For all general enquiries, please contact: Walid Hammam, Associate Director of IRCPL, [email protected]; Youssef Cherif, [email protected], Ahmad Mousa, [email protected], Columbia Global Centers | Amman.