CFP: Radicalisation in culture and media

Call for papers

Tuesday 28th June 2016 – De Montfort University
To mark the launch of the newly formed Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Network, the group invites people to a one day conference to explore the media and cultural responses to the issue of radicalisation.

The concept and representation of radicalisation has been at the heart of various interrelated media discourses on terrorism and radical Islam in recent years, with equations often implied as well as overtly stated.  As a result a semantic shift has taken place in the words and concepts of radical/radicalisation with huge political implications for the current political context and civil society.

New legislation places a statutory duty on public bodies, including schools to prevent what is perceived as extremist radicalisation taking place within their walls. The scale of these new duties is vast and potentially very intrusive and has led to some unusual media stories, including claims that a 10 year old Lancashire boy was interviewed by police after misspelling ‘terraced house’ as ‘terrorist house.’

This conference aims to explore what radicalisation and radical means by critically examining the Government’s agenda, the media discourses and affected communities’ perspectives, especially the much targeted Muslim communities.

Confirmed Keynote speakers

• Professor Bob Brecher
  Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton.
• Dr Mark Devenney
  Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton.

We welcome contributions on topics such as but not limited to:

• What is radicalisation or extremism? How and why has the definition evolved and changed?
• How is the media communicating ideas about radicalisation, terrorism and extremism?
• Media representations of ‘radicalised’ young people
• The implications and impact of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 on public bodies (schools, universities, prisons, etc.) and ordinary people
• Media representations of government policies on terrorism and radicalisation
• The equation of ‘radical’ with religion, especially Islamic forms

Please submit your abstract of 200 words by Thursday, 7 April to:
Gurvinder Aujla-Sidhu, gaujla-sidhu@dmu.ac.uk
Rinella Cere, r.cere@shu.ac.uk