Neither radicalism nor extremism is restricted to a particular religion or culture, it was observed at the fifth International Social Sciences Conference hosted by Qatar University College of Arts & Sciences (QU-CAS) recently.
Organised by the CAS Department of Social Sciences, the two-day conference - which had as its topic ‘Understanding the Rise of Global Radicalism’ - brought together scholars and public figures to discuss the ways in which radicalism has been on the rise worldwide in recent decades, and to make an important academic contribution to understanding the phenomenon and the reasons for its proliferation.
The event was inaugurated by QU vice-president and chief academic officer Dr Mazen Hasna and British ambassador Nicholas Hopton.
Participants included CAS officials, including dean Dr Eiman Mustafawi, associate dean for research and graduate affairs Dr Mohamed Ahmedna, associate dean for academic affairs Dr Hassan Abdulaziz, Humanities and Social Sciences Centre director Dr Kaltham Ghanim and department head Dr Maher Khalifa, College of Law dean Dr Mohamed al-Khulaifi as well as CAS faculty and social sciences faculty from Qatar and beyond.
Fifteen papers were presented on topics such as “Online Radicalism: from Sympathising to Radicalising”, “Armageddon in Social Media: The Christian Right on Islamic Radicalism”, “Radicalising Young Arab People: Education, Unemployment and Despair” and many others.
Dr Mustafawi said the phenomenon of radicalism turning to violent extremism is one of the major problems in most countries around the world, and that it remains one of the concepts that are difficult to identify. Neither radicalism nor extremism is restricted to a particular religion or culture, she stressed. “We are pleased to organise this conference that aims to attain a better understanding of the ‘radicalism’ terminology as it is presented in the political media and academic fields.”
Dr Hasna said: “This event is a great opportunity to address the underpinnings and issues of radicalism in the Middle East and worldwide for a better understanding of the reasons and the consequences of this phenomenon.”
Hopton noted that extremism afflicted all nations and a collective response by the international community would help meet the challenge. “In order to stem the rise of global extremism, we should keep in mind three factors: first, the fact that the nature of extremism differs from country to country, which has an impact on the approaches undertaken by each country to tackle the problem; second, the necessity to focus on the whole spectrum of extremism and to address all its forms in order to find an effective solution; and third, the importance of partnerships between governments, civil society organisations, communities and business to achieve this goal.”