Monthly Archive: November 2010

Award for anthropologist Jan Blommaert: Language, Asylum and the National Order 2

Award for anthropologist Jan Blommaert: Language, Asylum and the National Order

Jan Blommaert has been awarded with the first Barbara Metzger Prize for his article Language, Asylum, and the National Order published in the journal Current Anthropology in August 2009 (vol. 50, no. 4). Jan Blommaert is professor of language, culture and globalization at Tilburg University, the Netherlands and professor in African linguistics and sociolinguistics at Ghent University in Belgium. In his article Blommaert probes the way in which officials try to ascertain the authenticity of those seeking asylum in Western Europe. He shows that officials sometimes rely on assumptions about linguistic competence of asylum seekers that may be inaccurate when applied to citizens of often multi-lingual communities.

MESA – Transnationalism and Religious Authority: Exploring the Salafi Movement 0

MESA – Transnationalism and Religious Authority: Exploring the Salafi Movement

The Nijmegen research group on Salafism as a Transnational Movement will present itself in a panel at the annual MESA conference in San Diego. We are very pleased that Jocelyne Cesari agreed to be our discussant at this panel. Our focus in this panel will be on the issue of religious authority.

The Ideology and Influence of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi 9

The Ideology and Influence of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi

Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, is hardly known among Muslims outside Salafi circles and almost a complete unknown among non-Muslims outside specialists of radical Islam. Still, within those two groups, everybody knows who he is. Today Joas Wagemakers will defend his PhD thesis on Al-Maqdisi, one of the most important scholars about jihad. On Closer a guest contribution by Joas Wagemakers about his research.

New Book – Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective 1

New Book – Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Together with Roel Meijer I wrote a chapter Going All the Way: Politicization and Radicalization of the Hofstad Network in the Netherlands. In this chapter we analyze the shift from a politicized identity to a radicalized identity of (members of) the Hofstad network. This chapter will be published in Identity and Participation in Culturally Diverse Societies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective edited by Assaad E. Azzi, Xenia Chryssochoou, Bert Klandermans, Bernd Simon. The book presents an original discussion of how the links between identity, political participation, radicalization, and integration can provide a scientific understanding of the complex issue of coexistence between groups in culturally diverse societies.

Handboek en symposium over jongeren en religie 1

Handboek en symposium over jongeren en religie

Zappers, relishoppers, legobouwers. Jongeren in Nederland; je ziet ze nauwelijks nog in de kerk of de moskee. Toch zijn ze wel degelijk bezig met zingeving en religieuze activiteiten. Ze bewegen zich in diffuse sociale netwerken en zijn moeilijk te traceren, laat staan langdurig te binden. Hoe stellen deze jongeren hun eigen bouwpakket van zingeving samen en waaruit kiezen ze? Uit de tradities van de grote wereldreligies? En waaruit nog meer? Welk effect heeft de religieuze erfenis van ouders op jongeren? Welke bronnen boren moslimjongeren aan voor hun religieuze zingeving? Wat voor adviezen kunnen jongerenwerkers geven aan religieuze instituten? Het Handboek jongeren en religie toont de stand van zaken met betrekking tot onderzoek naar christelijke en moslimjongeren en laat zien welke rol voor godsdienstige instituten als de kerk en de moskee kan zijn weggelegd.