Chair: Gerson Moreno-Riano

The purpose of this workshop is to explore the concept of fundamentalism and its many appearances as these pervade Western European as well as other non-Western political cultures throughout the world. It will take place as one of the many workshops within the International Society for the Study of European Ideas conference at the University of Malta.

Given the complexity of the concept of Fundamentalism, this workshop invites scholars to offer papers addressing theoretical, conceptual, social, political, and religious issues surrounding the notion of Fundamentalism. In particular, scholars could address a variety of issues such as:

1. Theoretical-Conceptual definitions of Fundamentalism
2. Operational definitions of Fundamentalism (i.e., how to measure/assess it)
3. Causal factors (e.g., psychological, historical, socio-economic, political, cultural)
4. The Construction of Fundamentalism (e.g., How is fundamentalism portrayed?)
5. Fundamentalism and Politics (e.g., terrorism, mainstream sociopolitical groups, identity politics and constitutionalism)
6. Future Prospects for Fundamentalism (e.g., Is fundamentalism a part of various historical cycles that occur periodically? Is it a random historical event?)
7. Managing or Solving the Problem of Fundamentalism (i.e., how should societies deal with Fundamentalism and some of its problematic consequences?)
8. Other issues/questions and new approaches are welcomed.

The workshop is interdisciplinary in nature and welcomes scholars from a variety of disciplines such as history, economics, political science, religious studies, law, sociology, culture, philosophy, and psychology.

Please send paper proposals with a brief abstract to the contact below by December 15, 2005. Electronic submissions are welcomed.