Ripon College, a WIPCS member institution, and its Center for Politics and the People, hosted a webinar on “Can Islam Coexist with Democracy?” on February 9, 2021. The guests included Ali Abootalebi, professor of political science at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and board member of the Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, and Dr. Alexander Arifianto, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. The video recording is available here.
Professor Ali Abootalebi and Dr. Alexander Arifianto discussed the political, cultural, and socio-economic dynamism of political Islam in Muslim-majority countries drawing on their comparative experiences of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries to explain the complex web of variables central to understanding Islam and Islamism and the realization of political democracy and development. Iran and Indonesia are of primary focus in the webinar discussion. Dr. Arifianto participated in the webinar from Singapore, and Dr. Abootalebi from Eau Claire, WI.
The webinar was sponsored by the Center for Politics and the People of Ripon College.
Dr. Ali Abootalebi is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and has done research on Islam and democracy in the Middle East and Iran’s political economy. He is also a member of the Speakers’ Program for the Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Dr. Alexander Arifianto (Ripon College, ’99) is a Research Fellow with the Indonesia Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests are political Islam and contemporary Indonesian politics.
Host: Dr. Brian Smith, Professor Emeritus of Religion and Co-Director of the Center for Politics and the People