Social Responsibility

The 2nd Annual AMSS-UK Conference, “Social Responsibility:Challenges for the Future,” took place October 21-22 at the University ofWestminster, London. Scholars from the United Kingdom, Ireland,Malaysia, the United States, Western Europe, and Turkey presented fortytwopapers. Over one hundred participants attended the two-day event. TheConference featured scholars such Malik Badri, Kamal Hassan, MuradHofmann, Abdelwahab El-Affendi, in addition to emerging intellectualssuch as Mashood A. Baderin and Fauzi Ahmad. The vital participation ofgraduate students and junior faculty at the AMSS-UK and the AMSS-USconference in Washington, DC, the prior weekend indicates the growingpresence of Muslims in western academia.Asad Ahmad was master of ceremonies and Yusuf El-Khoie from theKhoie Foundation gave the opening remarks. The keynote address inauguratedthe conference and was followed by a plenary session. Paper sessionscomprised the rest of the event with a “book Iaunch” and final plenary sessionconcluding the program Sunday afternoon.Paper sessions were organized around various subthemes directly relatedto social responsibility and the future. Presenters reflected upon social welfare,the state, social policy and community development, law, health andsocial care, grassroots action, globalization and the media, education, andmethodologies and gender. The direct link between the Conference themeand paper sessions encouraged a lucid and fertile ground for intense discussion,paving the way for an emerging discourse on social responsibilityin Islam.The keynote address was delivered by Kamal Hassan, rector,International Islamic University, Malaysia, and established the importanceof scholars and academics in promoting social responsibility. He reflectedupon the role of universities in promoting social responsibility under globalization.At present, universities are reacting to globalization by adoptinga “corporatization of curriculum” and a “market driving” approach to ...