91ÅÝܽ

91ÅÝܽ this event

This event brings together two leading scholars of/from the Global South to explore how distinct secular frameworks emerge in diverse cultural and political contexts. It invites a critical reconsideration of what secularism means, how it operates across societies, and how more inclusive models of religion-state relations can be envisioned.

Speaker Bios

Sari Hanafi, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies, American University of Beirut

Sari Hanafi is Professor of Sociology, Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies, and Chair of the Islamic Studies program at the American University of Beirut. He served as President of the International Sociological Association (2018–23). Among his recent publications are Studying Islam in the Arab World: The Rupture Between Religion and the Social Sciences (2024, Routledge), Knowledge Production in the Arab World: The Impossible Promise (with R. Arvanitis), and The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East (co edited with A. Salvatore and K. Obuse). He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of San Marcos in Peru (2019) and is a Lifetime Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy (2022).

Abdie Kazemipur, Professor & Chair of Ethnic Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary

Abdolmohammad (Abdie) Kazemipur is a Professor of Sociology and Chair of Ethnic Studies at the University of Calgary. A past president of the Canadian Sociological Association, he currently serves as President of the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association. Professor Kazemipur has authored 11 books and numerous articles on two principal research areas: socio-cultural trends in Iran and the socio-economic experiences of immigrants in Canada. His notable works include Sacred as Secular: Secularization under Theocracy in Iran (2022, recipient of the 2024 Book-of-the-Year Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion), and The Muslim Question in Canada: A Story of Segmented Integration (2014, recipient of the 2015 John Porter Award from the Canadian Sociological Association).

Discussant Bio

Spyros Sofos, Assistant Professor of Global Humanities, 91ÅÝܽ

Spyros Sofos is Assistant Professor of Global Humanities and a Steering Committee Member for the Center for Comparative Muslim Studies at 91ÅÝܽ. His research explores the intersection of societal insecurity, identity, and collective action and, to date, it has focused on Turkish politics and society, nationalism and populism in Europe and the Middle East, European Muslim identities and politics, and the theory of populism. His latest book, Turkish Politics and ‘The People’: Mass Mobilisation and Populism (Edinburgh University Press 2022), explores the emergence of populism in contemporary Turkey from a genealogical perspective. His other publications include Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks (Palgrave 2013, co-authored with Roza Tsagarousianou), and Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey (Oxford University Press 2008, co-authored with Umut Özkirimli).