“Not an epoch of change but a change of epoch.” This is how, in November 2015 in Florence, Pope Francis described the current historical situation: a profound shift that overturns several aspects of our societies.<\/p>\n
The Oasis Foundation took up the Holy Father’s challenge by launching, on 30 May, a new project aiming to analyse this historical turning point with particular attention, in keeping with its own vocation, to the evolution of Islam and the Muslim presence in Europe.<\/p>\n
Speaking of change in the Muslim world may seem inappropriate, insofar as it is perceived as a context frozen in immutable traditions. On the contrary, a major shift is currently reshaping Islam, not only from the outside through contact with the West, but also from within.<\/p>\n
French sociologist Leila Bab\u00e8s, who led the first day of the seminar in Milan, stated in this respect that “what is happening today is not a clash of civilisations, but a clash within<\/em> Islamic civilisation”. The question therefore is, on the one hand, to study these changes at the sociological and political level, and on the other, to determine to what extent they are assumed at the level of thought, particularly religious thought. In this context, even the development of contemporary Salafism may be seen as one \u2014 albeit paradoxical \u2014 way of engaging with the ongoing change.<\/p>\n Since 2004, Oasis has been studying and promoting mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims, and sees in this new project the opportunity to deepen research on what Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan and founding president of Oasis, has called “the interbreeding of civilisations”.<\/p>\n The project, carried out with the support of Fondazione Cariplo, is structured around two axes, “Islam in migration” and “the conflict of discourses and interpretations”. Placed under the scientific direction of the Foundation, it is conducted by a team of four researchers and enriched by the participation of international experts. The contents produced within the project will be disseminated through the Foundation’s website and social media.<\/p>\n The work and public conferences will continue throughout 2016 in Milan; the second seminar will take place on 22 and 23 September and will be chaired by Felice Dassetto, Emeritus Professor of Sociology of Religions at the Catholic University of Louvain, and by Jorgen Nielsen, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Copenhagen. A third meeting, scheduled for 2 November, will feature the participation of Joas Wagemakers, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Utrecht. A public conference chaired by Cardinal Scola will conclude the project’s activities at the end of November.<\/p>\n For more details on the Foundation and the project: www.oasiscenter.eu\/en<\/a>, oasis@fondazioneoasis.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Not an epoch of change but a change of epoch.” This is how, in November 2015 in Florence, Pope Francis described the current historical situation: a profound shift that overturns several aspects of our societies. The Oasis Foundation took up the Holy Father’s challenge by launching, on 30 May, a new project aiming to analyse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"date_tournage":"","lieu":"","nature_evenement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classe"],"date_tournage":"","yoast_head":"\n