Presentation

Identity, Religion and Ethnicity are three terms interrelated and become all important issues in the European Union and its neighbourhood. The socio-economic transformations of societies resulting from immigration and emigration of people, mindsets, symbols are forcing the change on identity and citizenship relations. Today, a high degree of human mobility, telecommunications have contributed to the new understanding of citizenship as a mode of identity in relation to national identity, ethnicity, religion and social movements. Belonging to an ethnic-religious group and consequent features are increasingly either blurred or strengthened in the new national and international contexts. The motivations and modes of belonging and identifying are much more diverse. It is therefore useful to explore relatively new patterns of the interactions between religion, identity and ethnicity issues. As noted “ethnicity, and nationality” are not only concepts in the world but they are ways of perception of that world. They are ways of understanding and identifying oneself, making sense of one’s problems and predicaments, identifying one’s interests, and orienting one’s actions. They are also ways of recognizing, identifying, and classifying other people, of construing sameness and difference, and of “coding” and making sense of their actions” (Brubaker, Loveman, and Stamatov 2004). The workshop proposes to analyse the relation between these three notions interconnected in different political, cultural and economic cases to understand also some challenges and pitfalls in a pluralalistic societies.

Workshop issues

What are the relationships between identity, ethnicity and citizenship in a global world? What are the new patterns of ethnic identities in pluralistic societies? Can globalization de-ethnicize religion? How are ethnic and religious identities changed when faced with social and economic transitions? What are the roles of social movements in these undergoing changes? What are the challenges for the classic ethno-religious identity? Can ‘nation state models’ influence the plurality of religious and ethnic groups? How does EU reconcile with ethnic pluralism and diversity?

Participants in the workshop about Identity, Religion and Ethnicity will explore possible answers to these questions. The workshop will analyse the interaction and the interpenetration of nationality, ethnicity and identity through the problematic of transnationalism, globalization and nation-state perspectives. The workshop will be supplemented by practical visits to local communities. Participants are invited to consider the theoretical debates and issues in differing local areas with a variety of social practitioners and representatives to gain further insights of demographic, economic, philosophic, legal and socio-anthropological approaches. This workshop looks at identity, citizenship and ethnicity issues across Belgium as well as in Turkey, focused primarily on Belgium-EU cases.

Topics of Workshops

The workshop will be organized around three central themes.

Authors are invited to send abstracts (maximum 500 words) of their papers on themes of their own choosing, which may include (by way of example only):

• Ethnicity and ethno-nationalism
  • Multiple language policies and education
  • Racism and nationalism
  • Immigration, Assimilation and National History
• Religion and ethnic identities
  • Religious Minority and Identity
  • Immigration and Religion
• Politics and Ethnicity
  • Identity policies and Citizenship
  • Citizenship and Nation state
  • Multiculturalism and ethnic relations

Tuition Fees and Scholarships

There is no tuition fee for participants in the workshop programme. The IDP will organize and finance board, accommodation and airport transfers in cooperation with Suleyman Sah University. However, presenters and participants are expected to pay the costs of their flights to and from Turkey. A limited number of scholarships are available for outstanding candidates to cover travel fees as well.

Outcome

Within six months of the event, a book will be produced and published by the GCIS, comprising some or all of the papers presented at the Workshop. The papers will be arranged and introduced, and to the extent appropriate, edited, by scholar(s) to be appointed by the Editorial Board.

Copyright of the papers accepted to the Workshop will be vested in the GCIS.

Selection Criteria

The workshop will accept up to 20 participants, each of whom must meet the following requirements:

• have a professional and/or research background in related topics of the workshop;
• be able to attend the entire programme.

Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers as well as civil servants and professionals from intergovernmental and governmental agencies working in ethnicity, migration areas are encouraged to apply.

Since the Workshop expects to address a broad range of topics while the number of participants has to be limited, writers submitting abstracts are requested to bear in mind the need to ensure that their language is technical only where absolutely necessary and intelligible to non-specialists and specialists in disciplines other than their own; and present clear, coherent arguments in a rational way and in accordance with the usual standards and format for publishable work.

Timetable

• 1. Abstracts (300–500 words maximum) and CVs (maximum 1 page) to be received by 10th August 2012.

• 2. Abstracts to be short-listed by the Editorial Board and papers invited by 30th August 2012.
• 3. Papers (2,500 words minimum – 5,000 words maximum, excluding bibliography) to be received by 1st October 2012.
• 4. Papers reviewed by the Editorial Board and classed as: Accepted – No Recommendations; Accepted – See Recommendations; Conditional Acceptance – See Recommendations; Not Accepted.
• 5. Final papers to be received by 20th October 2012.

Venue

Suleyman Sah University, Istanbul, Turkey. The international workshop will be entirely conducted in English and will be hosted by Suleyman Sah University in Istanbul.

Papers and abstract should be sent to Erkan Toguslu erkan.toguslu@soc.kuleuven.be

For more information plz contact:

Erkan Toguslu
KULeuven Gülen Chair for Intercultural Studies
Parkstraat 45 - box 3615
3000 Leuven
erkan.toguslu@soc.kuleuven.be

Workshop Editorial Board

• Johan Leman, KULeuven
• Erkan Toguslu, KULeuven
• Ismail Mesut Sezgin, IDP and Leeds Metropolitan University

Workshop Coordinator

• Ismail Mesut Sezgin