Resolving conflicts, learning dialogue: the role of the history of ancient Sicily - Noradica Final Conference (Catania, 25 October 2019) (original) (raw)

Dealing with Religious Multiple Belongings and Beliefs. Key Issues for Education

In recent years, the question of religion’s role in public life has dramatically reemerged not only in Europe but worldwide due to the increasingly multicultural character of contemporary societies in which multiple religious identities coexist with various forms of secularization. As a mirror of society, school is closely involved in this issue, particularly when it touches on minority groups such as Muslims in Europe. Schools have the task of educating future citizens in societies that are more and more heterogeneous and fragmented, yet neither harmoniously integrated nor genuinely pluralistic and inclusive. In addition, religion continues to be a significant source of intra- and infra-group identification processes, individual and collective behaviour and knowledge transmission. Moreover, it cannot be denied that religion is occupying a prominent yet ambiguous place in the public sphere after the turn of the 21st Century despite predictions of religious decline. Conversely, religion in contemporary societies often risks being essentialized as a cultural ‘fact’ and even used to fuel enduring social and political conflicts.

Designing a Social Media Strategy against Violent Extremism Propaganda: The #heartofdarkness Campaign 1

The paper presents a participatory approach, developed in the context of the EU funded project SAFFRON – Semantic Analysis against Foreign Fighters Recruitment Online Networks (www.saffron-project.eu), to design a social media campaign for the prevention of violent radicalisation among European youngsters (age 15 to 30). The empirical research undertaken by SAFFRON included seven participatory design workshops and focus groups in Italy and France which involved 47 individuals: young people (political refugees, young converted to the Muslim faith, representatives of the Muslim community, university students, secondary school students etc.) considered as potential targets of the radicalized recruiters and experts (practitioners, journalists, media educators, academics, representatives of the Muslim community) considered as qualified testimonials. The paper will therefore present the general outline of the SAFFRON campaign, named " #heartofdarkness " , which was launched online in March 2017. Bibliographic Information: Caterina Mazza, Sara Monaci, Gabriella Taddeo (2017): Designing a Social Media Strategy against Violent Extremism Propaganda: The #heartofdarkness Campaign. In: Sally Hohnstein and Maruta Herding (eds.): Digitale Medien und politisch-weltanschaulicher Extremismus im Jugendalter. Erkenntnisse aus Wissenschaft und Praxis. Deutsches Jugendinstitut: Halle (Saale), pp. 213–242. ISBN 978-3-86379-260-2