(Re)interpreting Islam in Europe

Call timetable

15th January 2016: Deadline for the submission of summaries (300 words) and a brief biographical note (100 words). 

10th February 2016: Authors are informed of the results of the selection process. 

15th May 2016: Submission deadline for the complete articles (see: instructions for authors).

All written correspondence should be sent to Jordi Moreras, lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, jordi.moreras@urv.cat 

Proposals will be accepted in Spanish, English and French. 

Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals number 115 will be devoted to analysing the new realities being defined around the configuration of an Islam in Europe that shows evidence of going beyond the migratory dimension. Academic output on the Muslim communities in Western Europe has represented their presence as the result of the settlement of migrant groups arriving from Muslim countries. After describing and analysing the processes of fit and integration of these populations, observing the emergence of the new generations of Muslims born in Europe, describing the various controversies produced by the treatment of Islamic symbolism in the European public sphere, and dissecting the foundations of the prejudice on which Islamophobia grows, the academic agenda is moving in new interpretive directions.

The analysis of the multiple realities in which Muslims participate in Europe can no longer be understood solely in terms of migration: their transnational dimension goes beyond the opposition of societies of origin and reception; their belonging to one group or another is not defined only by family inheritance; and their identities do not just call on elements of individual or collective religiosity. This requires the development of new interpretive approaches to what being Muslim in Europe means. It is no longer formed of an expression of loyalty to a specific cultural or national tradition, but of multiple allegiances being developed within a framework of societies as plural, complex and contradictory as the European. 

For this edition consideration will be given to all contributions of original work with an empirical basis that present new methodological approaches to analysing these constantly evolving processes. Contributions on the following themes are suggested:

• New methodological approaches to the study of Islam in Europe.
• Public controversies and the limits of recognition in liberal societies.
• The emergence of other public voices: from religious authorities to civil ones.
• The trivialisation of Islamophobia in political and public discourses.
• Ritual practices as points of negotiation with European societies.
• Aesthetics and belonging: the emergence of a Muslim youth culture.
• Wired Islam: the new Muslim public sphere.

Created in 1982, the Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionalsis anacademic publication on international relations that is published every four months. A pioneer in the Spanish-speaking world, it offers the reader in-depth analysis of international issues from various points of view and perspectives, combining information and analysis. It is published in both paper and digital formats (open access).