Closing the week 47
Most popular on Closer this week
- Public Anthropology – 10 years from Researchpages to Closer (1999/2000 – 2009/2010)
- Islamizing Europe – Muslim Demographics
- Geenstijl.nl – Marokko.nl
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Anthropology / Research
Mind Hacks: I only read it for the articles
When the swimsuit issue was the magazine with more articles, the guys said they valued having more articles to read and chose that one. When the bikini babes appeared in the publication with more sports, they said wider coverage was more important and chose that issue.
This, as it turns out, is a common pattern in studies of this kind, and crucially, participants are usually completely unaware that they are post-justifying their choices.
Remember Bhopal « Anthromodernity
It has been 25 years of denial, deceit, and injustice. The people who were injured when 40 tonnes of toxic waste, methyl isocyanate, leaked out from the US owned Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India has still not been compensated. Union Carbide was found to be faulted for the lack of safety at the factory which caused the disaster, and up to date the company refuses to take responsibility for their actions. I and many with me think that these actions are distasteful.
Plutocracy of blood? Afghanistan post-election « Islam, Muslims, and an Anthropologist
This model is something that the Afghan people have been, without real consultation, asked to test, accept and live with. Eight years of suffering have offered the great majority nothing tangibly better than the poverty they were used to, the violence, killing and rape they suffered before, as well as both a lack of security and real future.
From the Annals of Anthroman: The End of an Oprah
With all of these pots on the fire, Winfrey is probably betting on the fact that she’ll be even more influential after they shutter the doors to her studio show. I wouldn’t doubt it.
The latest book by Anouar Majid, We Are All Moors: Ending Centuries of Crusades against Muslims and Other Minorities (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) provides a provocative thesis, suggesting that we examine the issue of Muslim minorities in contemporary Europe through the prism of history, specifically the treatment of the Moors (los Moros) in Spain. Here is a sample of his argument (from pp. 3-4).]
Indeed, anyone watching the events unfolding in Europe and the United States in recent years cannot help but be struck by the confluence of the two overriding concerns of these two continental states: the mounting anxiety over coexisting with Muslims and the seemingly unstoppable waves of illegal and nonassimilable immigrants. All sorts of explanations have been offerd about these twin elements fueling the global crisis — bookshelves are filled with books about Islam, minorities, and questions of immigration — but no one seems to be reading the intense debate over immigration and minorities who resist assimilation as the continuation of a much older conflict, the one pitting Christendom against the world of Islam. We are often being asked to ponder “what is wrong with Islam” and “what is wrong with the West,” as if these two abstract, ideological entities suddenly bumped into each other in their travels and were jolted by the shock of discovery. The West encountered an archaic Islam stuck int he primitivism of pre-modern cultures, whereas Muslims discovered a dizzying, fast-dissolving secular West that is guided by the fleeting fantasies of materialism.
ASA Globalog :: Why don’t more people make their own money?
What can anthropology offer someone who wants to understand money better?
Social Networking in Iran « media/anthropology
Inaugurating our new regular online-only feature Social Text invited pieces from scholars of Iran, new media, and visual culture, and asked them to think through the contradictory promise of technology.
Muslims and integration into something
Dutch government increases requirements for marriage migration and civic integration
Politics of Burka and Niqab Heat Up in Canada | Womens eNews
The Muslim Canadian Congress is lobbying to ban the burka and niqab, but authorities say apparel is a matter of individual expression. Young women who have adopted the clothes say they like the modest attire.
Middle school tests Va. Muslim girl’s decision to wear head scarf – washingtonpost.com
Boldly modest declaration of faith
For a Fairfax County teenager, middle school represents a major test of her decision to wear a head scarf as a sign of her devotion to IslamSmar Abuagla is 13 years old and a typical American teenager. She also happens to wear a head scarf at school. In her own words, she describes how she arrived at this decision and how her classmates have come to regard her.
Last year when she made this walk to the bus stop on the first day of school, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt; her hair was in braids. But this year she’s a different Smar. In addition to looser, more modest clothing, her hair is completely hidden under a head scarf.
Meet MMW’s Fatemeh Fakhraie – elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture
Editor, writer, blogger, and now textbook author, Fatemeh Fakhraie is known for her smart critiques, keen analysis and unique perspective. But how did she get started as a writer? Where does she hope her career will go? elan steals a moment from the busy schedule of the woman behind Muslimah Media Watch to learn about her professional goals, the women she admires and her aspiration of becoming the next pleasant, pantsuit-wearing Wilhelmina Slater.
Debates
Arab Times :: Same-sex marriages organised in Kuwait
Two same-sex marriages were allegedly conducted in Kuwait recently, reports Al-Seyassah daily. According to the source, two Kuwaiti men got married in Salmiya, which coincided with another wedding ceremony between two women in Kheitan that lasted for three hours, adding both ceremonies took place in the presence of several homosexuals. The source wondered why this phenomenon is fast growing and publicized at a time when the country is embroiled in a grilling process over the inclusion of music in the schools curricula.
“We mothers, whose hearts are burning, have come together so that there will be no more pain. We do not want our children to die.” These words belong to Nurten Ekinci, a woman who lost her son during his military service. Another woman, Sakine Arat, lost three children after they joined the pro-Kurdish terrorist organization, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). “This war does not benefit anyone,” she says. “It has lasted for years, and it needs to end.”
Broaching Birth Control With Afghan Mullahs – NYTimes.com
The mullahs stared silently at the screen. They shifted in their chairs and fiddled with pencils. Koranic verses flashed above them, but the topic was something that made everybody a little uncomfortable.
“A baby should be breast-fed for at least 21 months,” said the instructor. “Milk is safe inside the breast. Dust and germs can’t get inside.”
It was a seminar on birth control, a likely subject for a nation whose fertility rate of 6 children per woman is the highest in Asia. But the audience was unusual: 10 Islamic religious leaders from this city and its suburbs, wearing turbans and sipping tea.
After Neda: “Now I Have Left Iran, I Can Cry Out To Break The Silence” – Neda soltan – Jezebel
In an interview with yesterday’s Guardian, Makan discusses his relationship with Neda, her political involvement, and the attempts by the government to suppress the truth following her violent death. Neda’s death was one of 80 reported during the protests against the presidential elections, but unlike the others, Neda died live on camera, in a clip that quickly traveled around the world, turning Neda into a symbol of reform-minded Iranians’ struggle. According to eyewitness reports, Neda was shot by a member of the religious militia. Her face, and the face of her death, became a central image in the protests, a rallying point for people all over the globe. But as the Guardian notes, “symbols destroy lives.” And Neda’s was not the last.
In the days following Neda’s murder, Makan spoke out to foreign news stations, before suddenly disappearing.
The Dutch government implements new admission and civic integration measures with respect to family migration, in particular marriage migration. Targeted measures prior to and after arrival should lead to fewer people with unfavourable prospects starting the process of family migration. Promotion of participation and the combating of fraud are central in this approach. It will improve the starting position of new family migrants, relieve society’s resilience, benefit integration and prevent children from growing up in a disadvantaged position from the start. This is written by Minister Van der Laan for Housing, Communities and Integration and Minister Hirsch Ballin and State Secretary for Justice in a letter to the Lower House, to which the Dutch Government has agreed.
nrc.nl – International – Integration in the Netherlands ‘largely successful’
The heated Dutch debate about ethnic minorities and their integration could leave the impression that immigration in the Netherlands has been a complete failure. But a government report released this week says some progress has been made in the past ten years.
A hundred mosques and synagogues throughout North America and Europe took part in the second edition of twinning. The annual event involves meetings between local Muslim and Jewish congregations aimed at launching joint activities. The New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, founded by Rabbi Marc Schneier, has been organizing the event, which this year focused on saving the environment, protecting immigrants, combating anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and fighting poverty. The Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the World Jewish Congress and the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims supported the initiative.
News | Switzerland will not hear sound of Muslim prayer
Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz on Tuesday told voters that the call of the muezzin, or Muslim imam who calls people to prayer, would not sound in Switzerland, as he campaigned against a referendum motion seeking to ban the building of minarets.
“Muslims should be able to practice their religion and have access to minarets in Switzerland too. But the call of the muezzin will not sound here,” said Merz in a video broadcast to the nation.
The Swiss are due to vote on Nov. 29 on the motion launched by right wing groups to ban the construction of minarets
This paper argues how the mediatization of issues related to the religion of Islam and its manifestations in the Dutch society effected the public debate and how political actors who portrayed themselves as experts, or who were portrayed by the media as experts used this political wave to put their issue on the political agenda.
t r u t h o u t | Women and the Struggle for Democracy in Iran: A Discussion With a Nobel Laureate
“The Iranian women’s movement is not simply demanding equal rights alone. It is demanding a larger universal reality, which is democracy.” – Shirin Ebadi, October 9, 2009
BBC NEWS | Africa | Saharan activist ‘facing court’
Saharan activist ‘facing court’
Aminatou Haidar on Hunger strike in Lanzarote
Aminatou Haidar’s supporters say the hunger strike has left her weakA Western Sahara activist on hunger strike in Spain’s Canary Islands has been told to appear in court on public order charges, her supporters say.
Unfortunately, although near five months have passed since the elections ,detainment of prisoners still continues , last month Hangameh Shahidi was released on bail only after months of imprisonment and Vahideh Molavi , Raheleh Asgarizadeh and Somayeh Rashidi who had been arrested on Nov.4th were released on third party guaranty .
Negar Sayeh is Still in Solitary Confinement
Negar Sayeh , journalist and in charge of Mousavi’s youth election headquarters in district no. 19 , was arrested on the last days of November . She is still kept in solitary confinement ,according to her mother has been allowed to call home only once , while they were allowed to meet her in prison once as well .
The Haifa Wehbe apology tour – The Majlis
First, Beyonce caused an uproar in Egypt with her insolent sex party.
Haifa WehbeNow Lebanese crooner Haifa Wehbe is in trouble for referring to black Nubians as “monkeys” in one of her most recent songs. A group of Nubian lawyers submitted a complaint to Egypt’s public prosecutor and asked that the song be banned.
Wehbe has apologized profusely; she insists the offending lyric was written by an Egyptian songwriter, who said “Nubian monkey” was “an innocent term for a popular children’s game.” (Good rule of thumb: Comparisons between black people and monkeys are never a good idea, even if you’re Haifa Wehbe or the New York Post.)
Dr Amina Wadud: For a Progressive Islam | The Jakarta Post
The Islamic scholar, author, imam and activist — Dr Amina Wadud — started life as Mary, a Methodist child of the US borderline Southern State of Maryland in 1952.
Descended from Berber, Arab and African slaves who once answered the Islamic call to prayer, generations later Wadud would be born to an open-minded Methodist pastor.
She grew up witnessing African Americans sawing off the shackles of racial inequality during an often brutal period of US history.
As a 16-year-old, Wadud would have watched in horror the assassination in Memphis of Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
Perhaps it was this monumental tragedy in the formative years of an African American, who had tasted too often racism’s bitter fruit that led her in later life to work toward justice and equality with the foundation of that equality, housed in Islam’s sharia which translates as justice.
It’s Time to End Gender Segregation in Mosques « Muslim Reverie
The Qur’an teaches gender equality, and yes, women and men are different in many ways, but rather than limiting ourselves to roles based upon gender expectations, we should emphasize on celebrating and appreciating our differences. If we do not actively oppose the sexism and misogyny in our communities, it will persist and only move one step closer to becoming permanent.
Dutch
Bruggenbouwers » Aïcha en Kathleen in gesprek over het Offerfeest
Voor moslims én christenen is Abraham de gemeenschappelijke stamvader van het geloof. Beide religies kennen het verhaal van Abrahams’ offer. Maar welke betekenis geven zij hieraan? Aïcha en Kathleen willen vanuit hun geloofstraditie en -beleving betekenis geven aan dit verhaal. Aïcha Bouharras is een jonge Marokkaanse moslima en educatieve medewerker bij het Internationaal Comité. Kathleen Hoebregts is christen en werkzaam als pastor bij KAV Limburg. Ze gaan samen op zoek naar de diepere betekenis van het offer van Abraham.
Thijl Sunier wil voorbij integratiedenken « Standplaats Wereld
Het integratiebeleid ten aanzien van migranten met een islamitische achtergrond heeft zich in de laatste tien jaar als gevolg van de aanslagen in Amerika en Europa en de problemen in wijken van verschillende Europese steden toegespitst op criminaliteit- en radicaliseringpreventie, veiligheid, en een grotere controle op het doen en laten van moslims. Europese staten streven ernaar de islam te beteugelen en aan te passen aan nationale omstandigheden. Deze ‘domesticering van de islam’ is een beleidsprioriteit geworden in vrijwel alle landen van Europa.
Frontaal Naakt. Ongesluierde opinies, interviews & achtergronden » Islam kent mededogen
Het klopt dat je niet de letterlijke gulden regel tegenkomt in de Koran, maar wel vele variaties erop die op hetzelfde neerkomen en er staat wel tachtig keer dat God vergevend en barmhartig is, wat uiteraard impliceert dat van de mens wordt verwacht dat óók te zijn. Bovendien staat de gulden regel wel in een gezaghebbende hadith, volgens welke de Profeet stelt dat ‘niemand een gelovige is tenzij hij zijn naaste toewenst wat hij zichzelf wenst’.