Emin Poljarević

Emin Poljarević is a Bosnian-Swedish academic whose research focuses on Islam and Muslim social movements, including political Islam, Salafism, and questions of Islamophobia and public policy. He is affiliated with Uppsala University’s theological faculty and has commented in Swedish and international media on debates concerning Islamism, state policy, and Muslim civil society.

Early life and education

Poljarević has Balkan roots and has spoken publicly about the legacy of the Srebrenica massacre and its continuing relevance for justice and memory.

He earned an MA from Uppsala University (2006), an MRes from the EUI (2008), and defended his PhD thesis in 2012.

Academic career

Poljarević is affiliated with the Uppsala University’s theological and religious-studies environment, including work in Islamic theology/philosophy and sociology of religion.

He worked as a research assistant and project coordinator at Uppsala University (Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies, 2004–2007) and was a visiting assistant professor at the SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen (2010/11).

Poljarević has also held visiting and external research affiliations at the University of Edinburgh in a programme on political Islam after the Arab uprisings.

Research

Poljarević’s doctoral work examined mobilisation and motivation among Muslim Brotherhood youth activists in Egypt prior to the 2011 revolution. In interviews, he has discussed contemporary Muslim activism, theological interpretation under modern social and technological change, and the dynamics of Islamophobia in Western contexts.

Public engagement and commentary

Poljarević has appeared as an expert commentator in Swedish media on political Islam and the Arab uprisings.

Critique of policy reporting and security framing

In 2017, Swedish media reported that a group of researchers criticised a Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) publication on Islamism, arguing that its claims were methodologically weak and could stigmatise Muslim civil society.

In 2022, in connection with the closure of a Muslim independent school where authorities relied on a Swedish Security Service (Säpo) assessment, Poljarević noted that the report’s framing risked encouraging suspicion toward Muslim leaders and presented contested claims about the Muslim Brotherhood as established fact. Also in a 2022 feature in Dagens ETC about public controversy surrounding the Swedish study association Ibn Rushd, Poljarević was cited as stating that allegations of organisational “Muslim Brotherhood” control lacked evidence and that claims should be assessed empirically by examining actions and documented organisational ties. In the same article, he argued that broad suspicion and insinuation can reproduce older far-right tropes about Muslims and “hidden agendas,” and he emphasised the need for stronger basic research when public authorities base policy on such claims.

Selected works

  • Poljarević, Emin. Exploring Individual Motivation for Social Change: Mobilization of the Muslim Brotherhood’s youth in pre-revolutionary Egypt. PhD thesis, European University Institute, defended 26 July 2012.

(Additional publications can be listed here using reliable bibliographic databases such as DiVA, Scopus, and peer-reviewed publishers.)

See also

  • Political Theology
  • Muslim Brotherhood
  • Sociology of religion