Call for Paper

On behalf of the organising committee, we would like to open the first call for papers for the AAIMS’ Fourth National Conference in any area of Islamic and Muslim Studies within this year’s conference theme of ‘Islam in a Polarised World’ broadly understood. Current and prospective AAIMS members are strongly encouraged to apply to present their ongoing or recent research.

The central theme of ‘Islam in a Polarised World’ draws attention to the roles, contemporary place, and future of Islam in the emerging multipolarity in global politics with its accompanying shifting power relations and turbulences. It also draws attention to the multiple forms of cultural, political and religious ‘polarisations’ both in the local and global contexts and what these mean for not just peaceful co-existence but also Islam and Muslims in both Muslim majority and Muslim minority contexts. Hence the conference will explore, among others, the following sub-themes:

• The roles and place of Islam, Muslims, and Muslim states, in the emerging multipolarity in global politics
• Muslims in minority contexts, including Australia, in the backdrop of global multipolarity and polarisations
• Trends in polarisations in contemporary societies and their implications for Islam, Muslims, and Muslim states and societies
• The theological, ideological and discursive developments within Islam and Muslim societies in the context of polarisations and multipolarity
• Social media and polarisations
• The evolution of youth cultures in the context of current polarisations
• Women and other minority issues in the context of polarisations

These sub-themes are meant to be taken very broadly, and papers from different theoretical, methodological, disciplinary, and empirical backgrounds/perspectives are welcome.

The conference welcomes presentations by academics of all levels including early career researchers and PhD students. We will have specific sessions to support participants involved in Higher Degree Research and Early Career Academics (ECRs).

We welcome both individual papers as well as panel submissions relevant to the study of Islam and Muslim societies within the central theme considered very broadly. Proposals can be submitted for the traditional panel format as well as roundtable discussions.

Proposals of up to 300 words should be sent to aaims2023-ss@uwa.edu.au by 17 June 2023 to be reviewed on an ongoing basis by members of the AAIMS organising committee. Please include relevant affiliation, a 200-word bio and contact information in a single Word document, along with the abstract. Presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes.

Selected conference papers will be published as a Special Issue of a Q1 journal.