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2ndAUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON ISLAM“Radicalisation and Islamophobia: Roots, Relationships and Implications in Religiously Diverse Societies”Organised By:ISRA Australia, Islamic Sciences &#38; Research Academy of AustraliaCharles Sturt University, Centre for Islamic Studies &#38; Civilisationin partnership withThe University of Western Sydney, School of Social Sciences and PsychologyThe University of Melbourne, National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies AustraliaMonash University, Centre for Islam in the Modern WorldUniversity of South Australia, International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim UnderstandingWhile the themes of radicalisation and Islamophobia have been broadly addressed, to date there has been little or no investigation into the relationship between the two. Is radicalisation a response to Islamophobia? Or is Islamophobia a peripheral issue in light of the serious threat posed by radicalisation? Despite seeming to be independent from one another, there is a counter-intuitive link between radicalisation and Islamophobia as each serves to perpetuate its own radical narrative and generalisations. While radicalisation of Muslims causes fear and anxiety in the broader society, Islamophobia can be a source of excessive legal measures, discrimination of Muslims and vilification of Islam. Such Islamophobia feeding attempts are used by radical ideologues to justify their extreme narrative and recruit power which in turn increases Islamophobia.This conference aims to explore how radicalisation and Islamophobia feed one another and work hand in hand to pull society towards polar extremes. By tackling these issues from political, sociological, psychological and theological angles, this conference aims to explore the root causes of radicalisation and in particular the significant impact of Islamophobia to that process. The 2nd Australasian Conference on Islam invites abstracts for original and critical research papers addressing the theme Radicalisation and Islamophobia: Roots, Relationships and Implications in Religiously Diverse Societies.Topics of interest for abstract submission include, but are not limited to:Relationship between radicalisation and IslamophobiaImpact of radicalisation and Islamophobia on religiously diverse societiesExploring and contesting the legitimacy of the theological roots of radicalisation and IslamophobiaSocial roots of youth radicalisation in Western societiesRoots of Islamophobia and its link to religious radicalisation within other religious communitiesImpact of social media on extremism, radicalisation and IslamophobiaAlternative discourses/initiatives/movements to extremism, radicalisation and IslamophobiaCase studies from countries, social groups and faith based movements as alternatives to radicalisation and IslamophobiaEffects of Islamophobia on Muslims living in the WestThe empirical evaluation of counter-terrorism policy, counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation through theoretical and practical casesGender dimensions of radicalisation and IslamophobiaThe cultural construction and consumption of the radical and Islamophobic discourseStrategies and attempts to resist ‘radicalisation’, ‘de-radicalisation’ and ‘counter-radicalisation’ and the surrounding discoursesStrategies and attempts to resist Islamophobia and incompatibility theoriesRigorous evaluations of the local contexts fuelling radicalisation and IslamophobiaAbstracts of no more than 300 words must be submitted together with the contributor’s short biography (no more than 200 words) by 30 March 2015. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper must be submitted by 25 September 2015.Submit abstracts should be submitted to Dr Derya Iner diner@csu.edu.au and copied to info@isra.org.au. Abstracts should be in Word format with the following information in this order:a) author(s) name; b) affiliation; c) email address; d) title of abstract; e) body of abstract; f) author’s biography.Email subject should be titled: Australasian Conference on Islam Abstract Submission.Use plain text (Times New Roman, 12 point, double spaced) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline).We will acknowledge receipt and respond to all abstracts submitted. If you do not receive a reply within a week, assume we did not receive your abstract. We suggest to then look for an alternative electronic route or resend.Select papers will be published in peer-reviewed publications.Organising chairpersons:     Dr Derya Iner, diner@csu.edu.auProf Mehmet Ozalp, mozalp@csu.edu.au