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Monash University hosts expert on Islamic radicalism

13 August 2008

Professor Farhad Khosrokhavar

Professor Farhad Khosrokhavar, an expert on Islamic radicalism and internationally-acclaimed author of Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs and Muslims in Prison: a comparative perspective between Great Britain and France, will visit Australia this month to present a series of public lectures about jihadism in Europe and the Middle East.

Monash University's European and European Union Centre has organised the visit to facilitate discussion on the common challenges faced by Europe and Australia, including dealing with the threat of Islamic radicalisation.

Professor Khosrokhavar will speak at Melbourne's State Library on Wednesday 20 August at 5 pm -- one of five talks he will give in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney during his 19-day visit.

An expert in the fields of Islam, violent radicalisation and Iranian society after the Islamic revolution, Professor Khosrokhavar is well-known for having personally interviewed detained, suspected young recruits of Al Qaeda to determine what leads them to contemplate terrorism.

Earlier this year, he was part of a working party on violent radicalisation whose report Radicalisation Processes Leading to Acts of Terrorism questioned the perception that jihadism is a unique phenomenon.

Director of Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre Dr Pete Lentini said Professor Khosrokhavar was regarded as one of the world's leading scholars of jihadist political violence.

"His work is unique -- few academics have had first-hand knowledge of the radicalisation of Islamic youth," Dr Lentini said.

"His research can provide a basis for identifying patterns that lead (mostly) young men to such violent forms of political expression.

"His insights will appeal to a broad audience including community leaders and youth workers, law enforcement, media and those interested in terrorism and counter-terrorism."

Professor Khosrokhavar teaches at the leading French Institution for Social Research, L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris.

He has also published extensively and will release his new book on jihadi terrorism in November this year and another on youth in the holy city of Qom in 2009.

For more information visit the European and European Union Centre website.