*ESRC Collaborative (CASE) +3 year PhD Studentship:
**Understanding and communicating Islam in official discourse and policy 
in Scotland and the UK*

*Globalisation, Communication and Democracy Cluster, Department of 
Geography and Sociology**, **University** of Strathclyde*

The Department of Geography and Sociology at the University of 
Strathclyde has been awarded an ESRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship 
in partnership with the Office of the Scottish Islamic Foundation. The 
PhD will be supervised by Prof David Miller and Dr William Dinan at 
Strathclyde and by Osama Saeed of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

We invite applications from potential UK/EU research students who have a 
good Masters qualification and meet the eligibility criteria for ESRC 
doctoral funding. Suitably qualified candidates from a wide range of 
social science disciplines - including sociology, media studies, 
politics, geography, anthropology and international relations - are 
encouraged to apply. ESRC meets the tuition fees and pays a basic (tax 
free) maintenance grant of £17,290 p.a. The collaborating organisation 
pays an additional £2,000 p.a.

This study will examine relations between, and policy communications 
about, Islam and governmental agencies in the UK. The focus will be on 
governmental strategies for dealing with Islam and British Muslims 
particularly in relation to issues of community cohesion, 
‘radicalisation’/’de-radicalisation’ and the management of particular 
themes or strands in Islam.

To do this the project will

    * systematically map the policy initiatives launched by the UK and
      Scottish Government (formerly Scottish Executive)
    * intended to deal with the issues arising from the attacks in the
      US on 11 September 2001 and those in the UK including most notably
      on 7 July 2005.
    * Analyse the historical progression of the strategies and examine
      both changes in policy and potential contradictions or tensions
      between differing government agencies
    * Examine the communicative relationships between Muslim
      organisations and individuals and governmental agencies in
    * relation to these policy issues
    * Analyse media output on these questions and how it interacts with
      policy processes.
    * Contribute to policy debates on the most appropriate way to
      respond to potential threats to public order.
    * Inform and contribute to Muslim 'community' responses to official
      policies

The research will catalogue varying government responses historically, 
and in terms of geographical and policy coverage. It will explore the 
formation of government policy in this area and look at the already 
evident contending agendas and approaches which exist inside government, 
such as those focused on a policing response and those seeking to engage 
and involve communities in decision making on the one hand, and the 
extent to which differing arms of government may be unwittingly 
undermining each other by operating in varying policy arenas such as for 
example the alleged conflict between and the Foreign Office and the 
Department for Communities, or the varying approaches to the 'war on 
terror' taken by the Cabinet Office (branded as 'UK Resilience') 
compared with proactive community work.

The origins of policy will also be examined through research on the 
strategies and activities of the various policy actors in public debate 
on these matters, including voluntary organisations, think tanks, 
journalists, civil liberties groups and other community based 
organisations. It will also take a prospective approach and follow how 
policies determined in Whitehall and Edinburgh operate in practice by 
attending and observing policy events such as cultural or religious 
events sponsored or supported as part of government policy.

A CV, letter of application (making a case why you should be appointed), 
a transcript of your qualifications to date, and anticipated results if 
you are still studying and the names of two referees, should be sent to 
Margaret Keoghan, Dept Geography and Sociology, 50 Richmond Street, 
Glasgow G1 1XU by Friday 15 June 2009 and short-listed candidates will 
be interviewed in the week beginning 22 July. The successful candidate 
will be expected to take up the studentship on 1 October

All nominees must satisfy the ESRC’s academic and residential 
eligibility requirements which can be downloaded from:

http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/GUIDANCE%20MARK%202_tcm6-7186.pdf

*For informal discussion and further details about the project, contact 
**Prof David Miller**, **0141 548 3794 / 07786 927 551** 
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