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The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project on Islamophobia housed in Georgetown University.
The Bridge Initiative aims to disseminate original and accessible research, offers engaging analysis and commentary on contemporary issues, and hosts a wide repository of educational resources to inform the general public about Islamophobia.
Research & Resources
The Second European Commission’s Meeting on Combatting Anti-Muslim Racism
From 24 – 25 June 2019, a workshop on synergies and good practices on tackling anti-Muslim racism and discrimination that was co-hosted by the European Commission and the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security of Spain took place in Madrid. This is the second of its kind following a meeting on 3 December 2018, where the European Commission hosted a high level conference on tackling intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in the EU. One hundred fourteen participants from civil society organisations and public authorities across all the EU Member States came together to make progress on cooperation to tackle intolerance, hate crime and anti-Muslim racism. The program included not only keynote speeches and round tables, but workshops where civil society actors, state officials and people from bureaucracy came together to exchange experiences, ideas, and best practices examples.
Religious freedom for whom? Islamophobia at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom
Earlier this month, the State Department hosted its second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. Under the leadership of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, the Ministerial made sweeping calls for the protection of religious freedoms worldwide. Behind these lofty ideals, however, lurked a troubling reality: the conveners of the Ministerial have a long history of denigrating Islam and infringing on the civil rights of Muslims.
RSIS Distinguished Public Lecture by Dr John L. Esposito
The resurgence of religion, in particular that form of religious revivalism popularly referred to as “religious fundamentalism,” has had deep roots and a profound impact on global politics and society since the late twentieth century. The resurgence has occurred in all the world’s major religions and across the world, from Africa, North America and Latin America to the Middle East and Asia. The conventional wisdom in modernisation and development studies had been that modernisation required the secularisation of politics and society. As one prominent expert put it, the choice in the Muslim world was between Mecca or mechanisation!
The reassertion of religion in politics and society signaled a process of de-secularisation which has seen religion as a major factor and challenge in domestic and international politics and society in many parts of the world. This lecture will look at the role and future of religion in global politics and in combating violent extremism and terrorism in the 21st century. Distinguished Public Lecture by Bridge Founder and Director Dr. John L. Esposito.
Courtesy: RSIS