International scientific online-conference "Xenophobia and Extremism: Global Challenges and Regional Trends", October 26, 2021
The Center for Extremism and Radicalism Studies at the Moscow Economic Institute (CERS) held an International scientific conference "Xenophobia and Extremism: Global Challenges and Regional Trends" on October 26, 2021.
The event aimed at expert discussion of new challenges faced by the international community in the process of countering extremism. Challenges related to the nature and manifestations of extremism, social xenophobia, the policy of the authorities and the activities of radical organizations.
The conference was attended by 45 speakers from 15 countries, including Russia, USA, Canada, Argentina, France, Britain and many others. Greetings to the participants were addressed by: President of the Moscow Economic Institute Dr. Igor Surat, Academician-Secretary of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dr. Valery Tishkov, Deputy Head of the Department for Supervision of the Implementation of Laws on Federal Security, Interethnic Relations, Countering Extremism and Terrorism of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation Mr. Alexey Zhafyarov, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Dr. Grigory Lukyantsev.
Among the researchers who participated in the Conference, we have to mention such specialists as Dr. Victor Shnirelman, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading expert in Radical Rights in Russia, Dr. Ahmet Yarlykapov, Senior Researcher of the University of the International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, one of the best Russian specialists in Islamism, Dr. Rinat Pateev, Director of The Center for Islamic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, Dr. Alexander Rostokinsky, Head of the Department of Criminal Law Disciplines of the Moscow City Pedagogical University, leading Russian expert in the field of legal aspects of the fight against extremism, professors of the Rutgers University (USA) Dr. Stephen Brenner and Dr. Alex Hinton, leading experts on the history and practice of Genocide, professor of the International Christian University in Tokyo Dr. J. Shani, leading scientific expert on extremist practices of the Far East and South Asia, lawyer, Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right in London, former head of the anti-racist organization Southern Centre for Poverty Alleviation (USA) Mr. Mark Potok and many others. The participation of experts of such level means, on the one hand, the high relevance of the problem, and on the other hand, it means the demand for such scientific events.
The high level of participants determined the high level of the discussion itself, as a result, the 7 hours allotted for the conference (and this is a lot for an online event) flew by unnoticed.
The following topics were discussed during the Conference:
- The main definitions of Extremism in modern science.
- Features of legislation and law enforcement practice in countering Extremism.
- Extremism, Radicalism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Genocide and other related concepts – cause-and-effect relationships, common and distinctive features.
- Prerequisites and forms of extremism, models of formation of extremist groups in different countries.
- Risks of failure to take measures to combat Extremism.
- Conflict between the basic values of the state and security interests as a consequence of countering Extremism.
- World trends in anti-extremist legislation and in law enforcement practices.
- Dynamics of Xenophobic sentiments in society in the OSCE area.
- Dynamics of Extremist crime. General trends.
- The role of digital technologies in the radicalization of society.
- Current trends in the activities of extremist organizations. Right and left extremists. Islamism. The main risk factors in the OSCE region.
It is obvious that this event is an important contribution to the development of the scientific research in the field of the study of Extremism and Radicalism, since the very fact of a meeting of high-level specialists to discuss common issues is already a big breakthrough in scientific researches, serves as an incentive for further scientific research. The Moscow Institute of Economics is preparing a collection of conference papers. You can get acquainted with the Conference Program and with a video recording of the participants' speeches here.
CERS is a scientific and expert center established at the Moscow Economic Institute in April 2021. Its purpose - monitoring and analysis of the nature, content and on the consequences of the manifestations of Extremism and Radicalism in the world, to conduct expert research in order to identify the signs of Extremism in the activities of individuals or organizations, preparation of educational content for students, advocates and Human rights defenders.
Moscow Economic Institute is a non-governmental educational private institution of higher education in the Russian Federation, which specializes in research and educational activities in the field of Economics, Law and Design. The training of specialists at the Moscow Economic Institute is carried out in 9 areas of undergraduate, 4 areas of master's degree, 1 specialty of secondary vocational education.
