“Does Islam Need a Reformulation to be Compatible with the West?”
A conference organized by the Alliance Program and the Middle East Institute of
Columbia University
Wednesday, March 29
1-5:30 pm
Room 1501, International Affairs Building, Columbia University
Introduction by Olivier Roy - Professor at EHESS, Associate Researcher at CERISciences Po
“Does Islam Need a Reformulation to be Compatible with the West?”
Session 1. 1-2:45 pm
- David Westbrook, Professor of Law, State University of New York at Buffalo
“Contemporary Muslims, Secularists, and Anxieties over the Nature of History”
David Westbrook is the author of “City of Gold: An Apology for Global Capitalism in a
Time of Discontent”
- Alexandre Caeiro (ISIM, Leiden) “The Political Economy of Fatwas in Europe”
Alexandre Caeiro is a sociologist with an interest in Islamic normativity specialised in the
study of Muslims in the West. He has published a number of articles on Islam in Europe,
state-church relations, religious authority, and fatwas.
- Aziz Huq, Associate Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law,
Discussant
Session 2, 3-5 pm
- Frank Peter (ISIM, Leiden) “Muslim Preachers in France: Carriers of New Islamic
Discourses?"
Frank Peter holds a Ph.D in Middle Eastern History and Arabic from Aix-en-Provence,
France (2002). He has taught at the universities of Hamburg and Berlin and was a postdoctoral research fellow at ISIM. In 2006, he will take up a research position at the
European University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder. He is currently engaged in a research
project examining processes of reform in French Islam in their relationship to discourses
on civil religion, authority and (self-) education.
- Amel Boubekeur (EHESS/ENS, Paris) “What is a Post-Islamist Norm?”
Amel Boubekeur is a sociologist, studying the contemporary transformations of Islam in
the West (Europe/USA). Her current research focus on the New Islamic Elite, Muslim
Women Leadership, and Political Islam. She is the author of “Le Voile de la Mariee:
Jeunes musulmanes, voile et projet matrimonial en France.”
- Olivier Roy, Discussant and Conclusion
5-5:30 pm General discussion with the audience