Islamophobia and Colonial Violence: Solidarity and Civil Resistance in Post-9/11 Manitoba

On Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 1pm, CHRR will host Dr. Youcef Soufi who will present a seminar on “Islamophobia and Colonial Violence: Solidarity and Civil Resistance in Post-9/11 Manitoba.”

Dr. Youcef Soufi is a Research Associate with the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto, where he led an international working group funded by the Connaught Global Challenge Foundation studying anti-Muslim racism within Western societies. He is an expert in the history of Islamic law and his first book, The Rise of Critical Islam: 10^th-13^th Century Legal Debate (Oxford University Press 2023), pushes back against secularist assumptions that Islam and critical speech are inherently at odds. His recent publications analyze North American Muslim communities’ responses to anti-Muslim racism in the aftermath of 9/11. He is a contributor to the volume Systemic Islamophobia in Canada, published by the University of Toronto Press earlier this year and his forthcoming book tentatively titled On the Outskirts of Empire: Radicalization and State Surveillance on the Canadian Prairies will be published with NYU Press in 2024. Dr. Soufi is a former faculty member of the University of British Columbia’s Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies Department, responsible for the department’s Islamic Studies program, and the former Chair of the Canadian Association for the Study of Islam and Muslims (CASIM).  

The free talk will take place in Room 108 St. John’s College, University of Manitoba from 1:00 – 2:30pm CT.