Monthly Archive: October 2010

Waarschuwing Gewelddadige Demonstratie Amsterdam 0

Waarschuwing Gewelddadige Demonstratie Amsterdam

In een doorstuurmail worden moslims gewaarschuwd voor de demonstratie van de Dutch Defense League, een zusterorganisatie van de English Defense League. De EDL heeft een zeer slechte reputatie opgebouwd op basis van intimidatie, racisme, islamofobie en gewelddadige rellen. In de mail worden echter ook voorvallen waarvan het onduidelijk is of ze aan de EDL toegeschreven kunnen worden onder die noemer geplaatst. Waar de EDL verbale en fysieke intimidatie als strategie lijkt te hanteren, is het gevaar met deze mails dat er eveneens een sfeer van angst wordt geschapen die bovenop de, in sommige kringen, toch al zenuwachtige sfeer komt en bijdraagt aan het vergroten van wantrouwen.

Closing the week 42 – Featuring the dying of the multicultural light 0

Closing the week 42 – Featuring the dying of the multicultural light

A weekly round up of writings on the Internet, some relevant for my research, some political, some funny but all of them interesting (Dutch/English). (As usual to a large extent based upon suggestions from Dutch, other European, American and Middle Eastern readers. Thank you all.) This week featuring the waning of multiculturalism in Europe.

NGG International Autumn Conference: Religious Authority – Past and Present 0

NGG International Autumn Conference: Religious Authority – Past and Present

Religious authority – both in its abstract and concrete forms – is the research object of many disciplines, and especially for the academic study of religion, anthropology and sociology. What is religious authority exactly? Which insights are supplied by the academic discourse on this topic? The concepts that we use in studying religious authority offer a rich array of approaches which will be scrutinized in this conference. The extensive debate on concepts, such as charisma, authority, power and status, shows that ‘religious authority’ is a captivating object of research in the academic study of religion.

Introducing Anthropology and Publicity 0

Introducing Anthropology and Publicity

Although anthropology is by definition ‘public’, the relationship between its practitioners and society, its social relevance and its connections with the wider audience, have always been controversial and complex. This will be the general theme of the meeting on 5 November 2010 at Ravenstein. To be sure, it is a vast and multifaceted topic.

New Book – Producing Islamic Knowledge: Transmission and dissemination in Western Europe 1

New Book – Producing Islamic Knowledge: Transmission and dissemination in Western Europe

How do Muslims in Europe acquire discursive and practical knowledge of Islam? How are conceptions of Islamic beliefs, values and practices transmitted and how do they change? Who are the authorities on these issues that Muslims listen to? How do new Muslim discourses emerge in response to the European context?

This book addresses the broader question of how Islamic knowledge (defined as what Muslims hold to be correct Islamic beliefs and practices) is being produced and reproduced in West European contexts.