Riaz Hassan

Riaz Hassan AM, FASSA is an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, Flinders University.

In his academic career spanning over 40 years he has conducted research in a number of areas including sociology of housing, sociology of suicide, organizational culture and Muslim societies. He has taught at Flinders University, National University of Singapore, Gadjah Mada University, University of California Los Angeles and Yale University.

In 2001 he completed a 10-year multi-country study of Muslim religiosity in which he explored key aspects of Islamic consciousness. In his findings from this study Hassan argues that the genesis of modern Islamism is located in the historical, social, political and material conditions of Muslim countries and the imperialistic policies of Western nations. The outcomes from his investigations have been published in, Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society (Oxford University Press, 2002), and Inside Muslim Minds: Understanding Islamic Consciousness (Melbourne University Press, 2008). His other recent books are; Life as a Weapon: The Global Rise of Suicide Bombings (Routledge 2010) and Suicide Bombings (Routledge 2011); Islam and society: sociological explorations (MUP 2013); Afghanistan: The Next Phase, coaouther with Shahid Jarvid Burki and Iftikhar Ahmed Chowdhury (MUP 2015); Indian Muslims: Struggling for Equality of Citizenship (MUP 2016)

In 2006 Hassan was awarded one of Australia's largest research grants by the Australian Research Council to investigate 'Suicide Terrorism: The Use of Life as Weapon' which includes compiling data on suicide attacks, and exploring the ideology and motivations of terrorist organizations using suicide missions as a strategy. The grant project aims to advance knowledge relevant to protecting Australia from threats of terrorism and providing information which may contribute to the development of appropriate responses to terrorism.[1] His work in this area fell under the international spotlight when, in the aftermath of 9-11 hysteria, Australian anti-terror laws were established which prohibits anybody, including researchers and scholars, from conducting interviews or having any contact with terrorist groups.[2]

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia on 12 June 2006 for "service to sociology, particularly as an educator, author and researcher, and as a contributor to the understanding of housing needs of disadvantaged individuals and communities."[3] His other books include: Singapore: Society in Transition(Oxford 1976); Families in Flats: low income families in public housing ( Singapore university press 1977); A Way of Dying: suicide in Singapore (0xford 1982); Suicide Explained: Suicide in Australia (MUP 1995); Local and Global: modernisation in Southeast Asia ed. Brill 1997); Cambridge handbook of social sciences in Australia co ed( Cambridge University Press 2002).