International Conference on “Society and Culture in the Muslim World”

The International Conference on “Society and Culture in the Muslim World” (SCMW) seeks to explore the suitability of the concept in dealing with the main issues faced by Muslim societies and communities.

Various discourses about the ‘Muslim World’ concept exist both within and outside academia. The Islamist discourse may use this concept to portray a unified Ummah or a glorious civilization in the past and call for a return to it or to construct a new Islamic civilization based on its legacy. The anti-Islamist discourse may appeal to the same concept in order to illustrate a unified enemy for the non-Muslim world, especially ‘The West’, which threatens the modern civilization and therefore fuel the Islamophobia movements and attitudes. The social science discourse may see some value in categorizing Muslim groups, entities, communities and societies as a distinct sociological reality for descriptive and explanatory purposes while others may refute to do so based on the argument that these kinds of differentiations between human societies may tend to portray ordinary social and cultural differences as essential and unresolvable disparities. While adopting a social science approach to the concept in question, the International Conference on “Society and Culture in the Muslim World” (SCMW) seeks to explore the suitability of the concept in dealing with the main issues faced by Muslim societies and communities.

The main questions for this conference are as following: Is there such a deep divergence between Muslim and non-Muslim societies which necessitates distinct conceptualization and theorizing? Are there multiple Muslim worlds or life worlds with no substantial coherence or they share a level of convergence which makes them a distinct reality for sociological inquiry? Are there – and if yes, what are – indigenous social science achievements and products in Muslim societies?

Following the international conference on ‘Social Policy in the Islamic World’ in May 2018, Allameh Tabataba’i University (the largest public university specialized in humanities and social sciences in Iran) has the pleasure to announce the second conference on “Society and Culture in the Muslim World” (SCMW) to be held on 30-31 May 2020 in Tehran.

Enjoying active partnership of a wide range of national and international academic entities, the conference aims to provide a suitable platform for researchers from across the world interested in issues concerning Muslim societies and communities.

Therefore, the conference themes address a wide range of issues pertaining to society and culture from a multidisciplinary perspective and welcomes contributions from any academic discipline in arts, humanities and social sciences. You can submit your paper simultaneously to the SCMW International Journal and presenting it at the conference.

Important Data

Abstract Submission Deadline: 2020-05-15

Paper Submission Start Date: 2020-05-16

Paper Submission Deadline: 2020-06-01

Open Panel Submission Deadline: 2019-12-10

Full Paper Submission: 2020-06-01

Conference Date: 26-27 September 2020

Venue: Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Conference Website: scmwconf

Conference Themes: 

Main themes of the conference are listed below. Researchers from any discipline within the broad fields of arts, humanities and social sciences can address the following themes as well as other themes not covered in the list but related to the overarching theme of ‘society and culture in the Muslim world’. Papers written from an interdisciplinary perspective are especially welcome.

1. Social Thought, Muslim Social Thinkers and Indigenous Social Sciences
2. Identities, Values, Social Changes and Religious Developments
3. Globalization, Modernity and Muslim Societies
4. Sects, Denominations, Ethnicities and intercultural Relations
5. Diaspora (Muslims in Non-Muslim Societies and Non-Muslims in Muslim Societies), Migration and Refugees
6. Children, Youth and Generational Issues
7. Media, Communications and representations
8. Family, Women and Gender
9. Social Problems and social work
10. Islamophobia and Interfaith Understanding
11. Democracy, Social Movements and Civil Societies
12. Social Development, Social policy and Welfare
13. Socio-environmental Issues
14. Leisure, Sports and Tourism
15. Cooperation, Social Innovation, labor and production
16. Cities, Rural Areas and Regional Development
17. Population Dynamisms and Policies
18. Science, Education and Technology
19. Conflicts, Resistance, Peace and Proximity (Taghrib)

     20. Cultural Heritage, Arts, Popular Culture and Cultural Policy