CERC Public Seminar: 'Islam, Europe and cultural identity, challenges and opportunities for the future'

Friday 18 May, 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne

presented by

Dr Barrie Wharton

(Visiting Fellow, National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury;
Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Limerick, Ireland )

Abstract

The tragic events of September 11th, 2001 with the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York by Al-Qaeda terrorists catapulted Islam and the Islamist movement onto television screens and the front pages of newspapers worldwide. The events of that momentous day have left an indelible imprint on the mindset of contemporary society and subsequent military campaigns and terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq and closer to Australia, in Bali have maintained the Islamist movement at the forefront of global attention. However, this concern with the growth of “political” Islam is not new and over the last forty years, the rise of Islam or more correctly, the Islamist movement as a political force across the Muslim world is a phenomenon which has been greeted with fear and trepidation by both European governments and academics. The rapidly changing face of the new Europe and the evolving nature of the immigrant Muslim communities, an often fragmented diaspora within a fragmented continent, render the issue an extremely difficult one to address and it is undoubtedly a question which requires a multi-layered analysis as its study within neat geographical or chronological parameters will only be able to offer misleading results which may not be merely erroneous but also more importantly, of significant danger. The study of the position of Muslim immigrants in Europe, their perception of cultural identity and their future role in European society therefore requires a framework which not only investigates socio-political factors but moreover, one which also examines the cultural present and future of Muslims in European society for it will be the ability of the European cultural sponge to absorb Muslim communities which will determine their real future on the European societal and political landscape.

Biography

Barrie Wharton graduated in 1994 with a first class honours degree in European Studies from the University of Limerick (Ireland). He was awarded the perpetual silver medal for the highest marks amongst college graduates that year. In receipt of the President's scholarship, he then completed a Ph.D. at the same university in 1997 on comparisons between the Islamist movement in Egypt and movements of social protest in Europe. As part of his undergraduate studies, he studied for two years at the University of Valladolid (Spain) and during and after his Ph.D., he lived and worked in Egypt. he has lectured widely throughout Europe ( Portugal, Greece, etc) and the Islamic world (Egypt, Iran, etc) and he has published widely in refereed journals throughout Europe, the Middle East and North America. He is a regular contributor to the international press and media on questions relating to Europe and Islam.