C L O S E R

An anthropology of Muslims in Europe - A modest attempt by Martijn

Author: martijn

Belief and Violence: Anders Breivik and Wilders' Freedom Party 5

International Terrorism / Religious and Political Radicalization

Belief and Violence: Anders Breivik and Wilders' Freedom Party

Is there a link between Anders Breivik shooting spree in Norway and Wilders’ ideology? There is of course no direct link between ideology and violent action, not even when the ideology condones, supports or even calls for violence which is not the case in Wilders’ Freedom Party ideology. It just doesn’t work like that. Nevertheless, as far as we can tell now, we should also not treat violence as something that is completely inseparable from ideology; ideology can legitimize violence and can give meaning to it and can give a particular direction.

Niqab en de morele ambities van de PVV 3

Multiculti Issues / Notes from the Field / Public Islam

Niqab en de morele ambities van de PVV

Fractie-medewerker van de PVV Sam van Rooij plaatste de volgende video onder de kop ‘Scheveningen anno 2011: kiemen van achterlijkheid’ op YouTube. Hij zette het filmpje eveneens op zijn Facebookpagina en noemde dames daar ‘tuig’. Er is al veel over te zeggen, maar hier twee zaken. Komen de dames eigenlijk wel uit Nederland? En, waarom valt Van Rooy de dames lastig als hij ze eigenlijk toch wil bevrijden? Het antwoord zit ‘m in de morele ambities van de PVV. Deze zijn zo sterk dat ze de veiligheid van gesluierde vrouwen kunnen bedreigen.

Srebrenica – Neither Here Nor There 1

anthropology

Srebrenica – Neither Here Nor There

The film ‘Neither Here Nor There’ is a portrayal of the struggles of the Selimovic family from Srebrenica, Bosnia, who resettled in Missouri after the worst single act of genocide in Europe since the end of World War II. The film traces the difficulties refugees have starting over in America, and how ties to the past remain an important, unbreakable part of their lives, especially for war refugees.

Campus Watch, but better – Freedom Party and politics of obstruction 3

Guest authors / Headline / State of Science

Campus Watch, but better – Freedom Party and politics of obstruction

On 20 & 21 June the Maurits Berger, professor of Islam in the contemporary West, was the convenor of a conference ‘Applying Sharia in the West, where participants discussed the (im)possibilities of implementing Islamic rules (‘Sharia’) in Western societies, with a focus on rules pertaining to family relations. Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party seized the opportunity to ask questions in parliament. Some of these questions based upon faulty assumptions and others were unclear as to what they were actually about, unless read as an accusation that the central questions of the conference were a ‘sign of progressive Islamization in education. In this blog article Maurits Berger reflects on the controversy arguing that the PVV uses a method that is as effective as it is perverse in using lies and distortions that eventually leads to an all pervasive self-censorship among academics.

New Book: Local Battles- Global Stakes 1

anthropology / Important Publications / ISIM/RU Research / My Research / Religious and Political Radicalization / Young Muslims

New Book: Local Battles- Global Stakes

Together with my colleague Edien Bartels I have written a chapter called Submission and a Ritual Murder; The transnational aspects of a local conflict and protest in a volume edited by my colleagues of VU University Amsterdam: Ton Salman and Marjo de Theije. In this volume Local Battles, Global Stakes. The Globalization of Local Conflicts and the Localization of Global Interests the authors challenge the often held assumption with regard to conflicts around the world that ‘the local’ and ‘the global’ are clearly distinct realms.

Voorbij de vrijheid van meningsuiting van Wilders 1

Multiculti Issues / Public Islam

Voorbij de vrijheid van meningsuiting van Wilders

Een rechtszaak als die tegen Wilders is te zien als een soort van ritueel; verschillende spelers nemen deel aan een juridische dans die een bepaalde gestandardiseerde vorm kent met voortdurende herhalingen en die een soort integratieve functie heeft. Complexe conflicten worden geritualiseerd: in een rechtszaak tot een oplossing gebracht waar alle partijen zich bij neer dienen te leggen. Het proces was niet noodzakelijkerwijze een slecht idee en kent wel degelijk positieve integratieve kanten. Niettemin kunnen we ons afvragen of strafrecht wel de beste bescherming is van minderheden tegen haatspraak van meerderheden. Kunnen we ons niet beter toeleggen op het verbeteren van de politieke participatie van minderheden?

Ritual slaughter in the Netherlands – From animal to ethical meat 1

anthropology / Morocco / Public Islam / Religion Other

Ritual slaughter in the Netherlands – From animal to ethical meat

The Dutch banned ritual slaughtering by Muslims and Jews. In a proposal heavily condemned by Muslim and Jewish organizations the Party of the Animals wanted a complete ban on dhabiha and shechita in cases where the animals were not stunned before the killing; the ritual slaughtering by Muslims and Jews. The ban will mostly effect orthodox Jews since all of the shechita slaughtering involves animals fully conscious while in the case of dhabiba this is the case in only 25%-40%. Or how ‘food’ has become field where people battle over political, religious, economic, social and animal welfare issues.

Closing the week 25 – Featuring Beyond Wilders' Free Speech 0

Blogosphere / Multiculti Issues

Closing the week 25 – Featuring Beyond Wilders' Free Speech

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 Wilders trial, freedom of speech and beyond.

Wilders on Trial VII – The dissensus ritual 1

anthropology / Headline / Multiculti Issues

Wilders on Trial VII – The dissensus ritual

In this entry I give an overview of the events of the trial against extremist anti-islam nativist Geert Wilders. A court case can be seen as a ritual that can offer a temporary solution to a complex and difficult political situation and that should transform a tense situation (as was clearly the case with Fitna) to a more balanced situation. It seems however that the whole trial did not lead to balance and social integration of conflictual standpoints, but to dissensus. A dissensus ritual does not (at least not immediately) lead to social integration but to a focus of the public on the existence of social crises and the escalation of such crisis. The distinction however is not that strong. By relegating the conflict between Wilders’ PVV and its supporters on the one hand and Muslims and anti-racism organisations on the other hand, and the state supposedly somewhere in the middle, decreases the conflictual aspects. It confirms that the natural order of how conflicts should be solved in this country is either by trial or by political debate. As such it establishes and reinforces a hierarchical order of how people should respond to the world. But dit it work?