Monthly Archive: March 2012

Folk Devils: He is a Salafist! 1

Folk Devils: He is a Salafist!

In the case of Brussels and France people quickly pointed out that the perpetrators were salafists as a synonym for radical Muslims and Islam. The dichotomy between liberal Islam and radical Islam therefore emphasizes the need for reform in Islam, but in practice actually prevents that. The unreflected, taken for granted use of the label salafism says more about current society and politics in Europe than about Islam and Muslims and mainly serves the political elite.

Closing the Week 12 – Featuring The Rise and/or Waning of Radical Islam? 0

Closing the Week 12 – Featuring The Rise and/or Waning of Radical Islam?

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.)

Salafisme: de vijand die we graag haten 6

Salafisme: de vijand die we graag haten

De recente gewelddadige acties tegen een sji’itische moskee in Brussel en de schietpartijen in Frankrijk hebben veel mensen geschokt. In beide gevallen werd al snel in de richting van het ‘salafisme’ gewezen als synoniem voor de radicale islam. Het lijkt alsof geweld door moslims altijd wordt herleid tot islam of salafisme en niet tot psychologische of sociale achtergronden. Wat is salafisme eigenlijk?

Amshir – Music, Habitus and Revolution in Egypt 0

Amshir – Music, Habitus and Revolution in Egypt

What do long hair, rolling tobacco, and kufiyas have to do with being revolutionary? Anthropologist Samuli Schielke about the spread of a revolutionary habitus creating a space for creative expressions of a politically and socially critical attitude. But at the same time it has become a distinctive marker of that attitude, and as such it is by nature exclusive.

Anthropology and Egyptian Revolution – Beyond the Visible 1

Anthropology and Egyptian Revolution – Beyond the Visible

Great, American Ethnologist has a special issue on the Arab Spring! And even better: Free Access!. What they have in common is that the contributions go beyond the easy and very visible dimensions of Egyptian society such as the secular and the religious (that rule much of the media discourse on the Arab spring) and the highly mediatized protests at Tahrir (by for example looking at how people in a particular village or women at home in Cairo experienced the uprising and the collapse of the regime). I’m listing the titles and abstracts here.

Wie beschermt de burger tegen mediageweld? 3

Wie beschermt de burger tegen mediageweld?

De actie van Kinneging tegenover Rutger van Powned is te zien als zelfverdediging van burgers die gefrustreerd zijn door een beroepsgroep die denkt dat ze zich alles kan veroorloven. Het is zonder meer terecht dat journalisten beschermd worden en dat de staat deze beroepsgroep niet teveel moet belemmeren, maar wie beschermt de burger tegen het mediageweld de journalisten?

Women of Tahrir Square 0

Women of Tahrir Square

When the people in Tahrir called for “Dignity, Freedom, and Social Justice.” they challenged stereotypes of Arabs as apathetic, politically backward and submissive to their authoritarian leaders. For women these stereotypes were even stronger since they were seen as not only having to deal with the authoritarian leaders in the political elite but also at their homes. Now with the revolutions it were in particular the men who were portrayed as the hero’s and there worries that women would become victims of the revolution. Here two films challenge that assumption.

White Union – The whiter we are, the stronger we are? 2

White Union – The whiter we are, the stronger we are?

The European Commission spread a viral video showing a white (as European) woman facing down Chinese, Indian and Brazilian fighters. This video, entitled Growing Together, led to accusations of depicting Chinese, Indian and Brazilian people or non-Europeans in general in a racist manner. Furthermore it depicts Europe as self-evidently white with women as the carriers of whiteness.