The Irmgard Coninx Stiftung has announced the Twelfth Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality and will be fielding essays on the subject of “Cultural Pluralism Revised: Religious and Linguistic Freedoms”:
The massive migratory movements and violent civil wars of the twentieth century have spurred a lively debate on cultural pluralism and cultural autonomy, which has brought new public and scholarly attention to questions of religious and linguistic rights. In the spirit of this debate and as part of a series of conferences and workshops organized under the title “I Have A Dream: Political Culture in Divided Societies” (for more information, see: http://www.irmgard-coninx-stiftung.de), the Twelfth Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality will focus on religious and linguistic minority rights and the challenges of multicultural societies.
Based on an international essay competition, the Roundtables will bring together about 40 junior scholars, activists, and journalists to discuss their work in two interdisciplinary workshops and panel discussions from 7-11 April 2010. In addition, the workshops will be accompanied by evening lectures held by international experts. The essay competition and workshops seek to promote the analysis and comparison of different practices and policies with respect to religious and linguistic minorities. Applicants are invited to submit essays addressing the topic of “cultural pluralism” from the perspective of practitioners, field experience, or theoretical research informed by academic disciplines such as religious studies, education, sociology, history, anthropology, political science, law, and others.
Essays will be judged by a panel of top-flight scholars, including Immanent Frame contributor José Casanova. You can find details on the conference and competition here and a background paper on this year’s topic here (PDF).