Ogłoszenie
The Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz, Poland
The Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University, Poland
The Department for European Islam Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland
Khayrion, Bratislava, Slovakia
have the pleasure to invite you to participate in
the 9th International Symposium
“Politics and Society in the Islamic World”
Lodz, 21-23 October 2026
Planned as a joint initiative of the Department of Middle East and North Africa (University of Lodz), the Institute of the Middle and Far East (Jagiellonian University), the Department for European Islam Studies (University of Warsaw), and Khayrion (Bratislava), the 9th International Symposium “Politics and Society in the Islamic World” aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for scholarly reflection on political, social, and cultural processes in societies shaped by Islam in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Symposium departs from the assumption that research on the Islamic world remains of crucial importance not only in relation to the Middle East and North Africa, but also in the context of Muslim communities living beyond traditionally defined “Muslim-majority” regions. Contemporary political dynamics, global migration, transnational religious networks, and the growing visibility of Muslim diasporas in Europe and other parts of the world increasingly challenge territorially bounded and essentialist understandings of Islam and Muslim societies. As such, the conference seeks to bridge regional studies of the Middle East and the broader Islamic world with research on Islam in Europe and other diaspora contexts.
While fully recognizing the social, cultural, political, and theological diversity of Muslim societies, the Symposium encourages participants to critically reflect on the use of the “Muslim” and “Islamic” frameworks of analysis. These categories may be treated either as meaningful tools for scholarly inquiry or as concepts that require careful questioning and reconsideration. The relationship between “Islam” understood as a religious tradition and “Muslims” as social and political actors is often complex and contested, and remains a key issue in contemporary academic debates. The Symposium therefore welcomes contributions that examine how religious beliefs, discourses, and practices interact with politics, international relations, security, social change, identity formation, and power relations, both in Muslim-majority societies and in minority and diaspora contexts.
The Symposium invites researchers from a wide range of disciplines — including political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, religious studies, and regional studies — who employ diverse theoretical approaches and methodological perspectives.
Proposed thematic areas include (but are not limited to):
- Politics, governance, and religion in Muslim societies
- International relations, geopolitics, and religious factors
- State, civil society, and religion: dynamics of cooperation and contestation
- Nationalism, citizenship, secularism, and religion
- Religion and social movements, activism, and political mobilization
- Religious practices, norms, and traditions and their impact on political and social interactions
- Identity politics: religion, ethnicity, gender, and generation
- Islam in Europe and beyond: Muslim diasporas, integration, and transnational ties
- Global migration and the category of the “Muslim refugee”: analytical challenges and political implications
- Religion and responses to humanitarian crises and conflicts
- Religious perspectives on climate change, environmental protection, and sustainability
- Islam, religion, and technological change (digital religion, media, AI, surveillance)
- Security, radicalization, counterterrorism, and the politics of religious discourse
- Comparative and transnational approaches to Islam and Muslim societies
- Literature, cultural production, and narrative representations of Islam, politics, and society (including diasporic and postcolonial perspectives)
The above subjects are not restricted to any specific region; we invite case studies from across the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and other global contexts. Contributions may adopt national, regional, comparative, or transnational perspectives and combine insights from multiple disciplines.
Important information:
Conference venue:
University of Lodz
Faculty of International and Political Studies
Narutowicza 59a Street, 90-127 Lodz, Poland
Applications for participation in the symposium should be sent via the online form forms.office.com/e/sCL3r3egMn
until June 15, 2026. In order to participate in the conference it is necessary to obtain feedback on the inclusion in a group of speakers and pay the non-refundable conference fee of 120 EURO until June 25, 2026. The fee for PhD candidates is 80 EURO.
Account holder
UNIVERSITY OF LODZ
Narutowicza 68, 90-136 LODZ
The account number
47 1240 3028 1111 0011 6438 3996
SWIFT / IBAN
PKOPPLPW / PL
(i.e. SWIFT: PKOPPLPW; IBAN: PL47 1240 3028 1111 0011 6438 3996)
Payment reference
KF26 Politics and Society in the Islamic World, Name and Surname of the Participant
Information on the transfer will be sent in a separate message to qualified participants.
The conference fee includes:
- conference materials
- 2 lunches, coffee breaks, dinner after the first day of the conference
- city tour
- publication of an article (in case of positive reviews)
The conference fee does not cover the cost of travel and accommodation (organizers provide assistance in finding accommodation if needed).
Conference language: English
The Committee of the Conference:
Andrzej Stopczyński Phd (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz) Head of the Organizing Committee
Prof. Marek M. Dziekan (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz) Head of the Department
Prof. Izabela Kończak (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz)
Prof. Marta Woźniak-Bobińska (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz)
Prof. Krzysztof Kościelniak (Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
Prof. Przemysław Turek (Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
Prof. Agata S. Nalborczyk (Department for European Islam Studies, University of Warsaw)
Krzysztof ZdulskiPhD (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz)
Ewa Linek PhD (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz)
Agata Dąbrowska PhD (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz)
Magdalena Pycińska PhD (Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
Michał Lipa PhD (Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
Agata Karbowska PhD (Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow)
Konrad Zasztowt PhD (Department for European Islam Studies, University of Warsaw)
Katarína Hildebrand PhD (Khayrion)
Bartosz Kurowski MA (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz) I Secretary of the Conference
Jacek Małecki MA (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz) II Secretary of the Conference
Łukasz FraszkaMA (Department of Middle East and North Africa, University of Lodz) III Secretary of the Conference
Contact:
andrzej.stopczynski1@wsmip.uni.lodz.pl (Head of the Organizing Committee)
bartosz.kurowski@edu.uni.lodz.pl (I Secretary of the Conference)
Plakat
Program
First Day, Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Council Room
10.00 – Conference opening by the Dean of the Faculty of International and Political Studies
10.15-11.00 Keynote 1
György Busztin (Khayrion, Bratislava) Central Europe and the Gulf in the Shadow of Aggression
11.00-11.30
Hybrid Panel with James M. Dorsey
11.30-11.45 Coffee break
11.45-13.45 Panel on Syria
Erzsébet Rózsa (Ludovika University of Public Service, Hungary/Khayrion) Regional Power Rivalry in Syria
Diaa Bara, Katarina Hildebrand (CEO Khayrion) Syria at a Crossroads: Key Challenges in Rebuilding a War-Torn Nation
Ibrahim Imre El-Khalid Bethlen (Corvinus University, Hungary/Khayrion) Islamic Identity & Security in Post-Assad Syria
Maharram Akbarov (University of Warsaw, Poland) From Violent Jihad to Statecraft: The Evolution of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in the Syrian Conflict
13.45-15.00 Lunch at Dzielna
15.00-16:40 Panel on Israel-Palestine, Lebanon and Türkiye
Marek Čejka (Ambis University, Czech Republic) Common Voices, Different Faiths: Haredi Jewish-Muslim Relations Beyond Zionism
Magdalena Pycińska (Jagiellonian University, Poland) The Secular Sacred: How Secular Security Discourse Sacralises Violence in Israel-Palestine
Ali Mert Aytekin (University of Warsaw, Poland) Why the Makkah Pact? Explaining Türkiye’s Security Diversification and Rapprochement with Saudi Arabia
Agata Maria Karbowska (Jagiellonian University, Poland) Digital Religion, Media Infrastructure, and Algorithmic Governance in Türkiye
16:40-17.00 Coffee break
17.00-18.45 Panel on Women, Gender and Art
Mariam Menawi Female circumcision in the Nile Basin and Surrounding Area
Amber Hammad (University of Sydney, Australia) Reframing Veiling and Unveiling: Art, Representation, and Muslim Women’s Agency
Márta Wollner (Eötvös Lorand University Budapest, Hungary) Ritual Purity in Islam Myths legitimizing Female Circumcision (khifad) changing gender hierarchies in contemporary Egypt
Marta Widy-Behiesse (University of Warsaw, Poland), Reclaiming Identity through Art: The Aouchem Group and the Role of Modernist Painting in Algeria’s Decolonization
19.00 Conference dinner at Dzielna
Parallel Panels
Room 102
11.45-13.15 Panel on Islamic Thought and Discourses I
Marcin Styszyński (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland) Research methodologies on modern political discourse in the Arab world
Moussa Fatahine (University of Djilali Bounaama Khemis Miliana, Algeria) The Phenomenon of Religious Discourse between Critical Thinking as an Epistemological Tool and the Logic of Technological Consumption
Konrad Zasztowt (University of Warsaw, Poland) The attitude of Ottoman and Turkish reformist thinkers towards Islam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
13.30-15.00 Lunch at Dzielna
15.00-16.40 Panel on Islamic Thought and Discourses II
Md Toha, Minhazul Abedin (Manarat International University, Bangladesh/Istanbul University, Türkiye) Misplaced Sovereignty: A Gubernaculum–Jurisdictio Critique of Postcolonial Islamic Political Theory
Roma Wijaya (Ankara University, Türkiye) The Meaning of Surah al-Ma'idah verse 51 and the Polarization of Identity Politics in Indonesia
Yasser Salimi Namin (University of Warsaw, Poland) From Zurkhaneh Diplomacy to a Gas OPEC: The Limits of Ali Khamenei’s Civilizational Internationalism
19.00 Conference dinner at Dzielna
Second Day, Thursday, 22 October 2026
Council Room
10.00-10.45 Keynote 2
Aida Mohamed Yehia Abd El Rehim (Galala University, Egypt) Egypt’s Role in the Region: Strength, Weaknesses and Perceptions
10.45-11.00 Coffee break
11.00-13.00 Panel on Iran and Europe
Maryam Ayad (University of Helsinki, Finland) Victory as a polarized concept: The challenge between conceptual metaphors of victory in Shi'i exegetical, ritual, and modern political discourse
Josef Kraus (Masaryk University, Czech Republic) The Iranian War: Regional and Domestic Religious Propaganda and Conflict Framing
Omid Hedayati (University of Szeged, Hungary) Under the Shadow of War: What the Iran-Israel Clash Reveals About Europe’s Strategic Limitations (2024-2026)
Agata S. Nalborczyk (University of Warsaw, Poland) The Evolution of the Role of Imams and the Mufti in the Internal Documents of the Muslim Religious Union in Poland and its Relation to the History of the Union
Katarzyna Gucwa (Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland) Building Muslim Communities in Poland: Religion and Social Ties at the Muslim Cultural Centre in Warsaw
13.00-13.15 Coffee break
13.15-14.55 Panel Beyond the Middle East
Aruzhan Yeleussizova (University of Warsaw, Poland) Constructing Authenticity Online: Kazakh Islam, Digital Authority, and Identity Formation
Viktor Forian-Szabo (University of Erfurt, Germany) Parliamentary State-Building and Legal Reform in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, 1918–1920
Lenka Hrabalova At the Edge of Taliban Rule: Wakhi and Kyrgyz Communities in the Wakhan Corridor
Maria Eleonora Hebisz (University of Lodz, Poland) Intercultural Education and Rural Schooling in Pakistani Punjab: Anthropological Field Research in Lahore and the Village of Parnawan
14.55-16.00 Lunch at Dzielna
16.00-17.40 Panel on Activism, Literature and Poetry
Adel Lahbib (El Anis Association for Youth, Algeria) Civil Society, Youth Engagement, and Citizenship in Algeria: The Role of Associative Action in Promoting Social Cohesion and Participatory Governance
Hamad Obaid Alajmi (Kuwait University, Kuwait) Cognitive Poetics and Political Vision in the Poetry of Abdullah ibn Mu‘tazz
Abdullah Alotaibi (Kuwait University, Kuwait) Poetry, Cultural Memory, and the Construction of Political Legitimacy in Modern Arabia
Jeremi Jan Chelis (University of Warsaw/University of Lodz, Poland) Modern Egyptian horror fiction as a social commentary: a study of selected works by Ahmad Khaled Tawfiq
17.45 Closing of the Conference
Third Day, Friday, 23 October 2026
Łódź City Tour for Conference Participants
10:00 – Meeting point: In front of the Faculty of International and Political Studies building (Składowa Street)
On the final day of the Symposium, participants are invited to join a guided tour of Łódź – a city whose nineteenth-century industrial growth transformed it into one of the largest textile centres in Europe. Often referred to as the “Polish Manchester,” and sometimes compared to Detroit because of its rapid industrial development and subsequent economic transformation, Łódź offers a unique insight into the social and cultural history of Central Europe.
The tour will include selected landmarks connected with the city’s industrial heritage, including the White Factory (Biała Fabryka) and the Central Museum of Textiles, the Poznański Palace, as well as the revitalized former factory complexes that today serve as cultural and commercial centres. Participants will also have an opportunity to explore Piotrkowska Street and learn about the multicultural character of Łódź.
