An anthropology of Muslims in Europe - A modest attempt by Martijn
Roel Meijer laat zijn licht schijnen over de discussie in Nederland over de protesten in Egypte. Waar de Egyptische facebook generatie juist een aardige combinatie had weten te vinden tussen individualisme en flashmobs, prudentie en duivelse moed, rationalisme en pathos, houden Nederlandse islambashers hun eigen vijandsbeeld in stand en lopen westerse belangen niet parallel met die van het Egyptische volk.
Groot nieuws vandaag: etnische komaf bepaalt schoolprestaties. Jammer, stellen dat een samenhang tussen etniciteit en schoolprestaties een causaal verband betekent is een denkfout. Vaststellen dat er een samenhang is, zegt evenmin heel veel; die samenhang moet juist verklaard worden.
Michael Billig coined the term ‘banal nationalism’ to direct our attention to the ways nationalism is quietly, invisibly and continuously reproduced in daily life rather then being overtly expressed. The idea of the nation is reproduced in ‘mundane’, ‘routine’ and often ‘unnoticed’ ways. In the public debates in the Netherlands the focus is usually on citizens conforming to the idea of a moral community. Sometimes however Dutch nationalism features ideas concerning race and nation. Commercial ads are very suited because they come directly in our homes and are often aired multiple times per evening during several weeks. Recent campaigns by dairy producer Campina and tea seller Pickwick reproduce the idea of the local by linking the idea of the nation with whiteness, authenticity and authochtony.
I had the honour of writing a chapter for a new volume Muslim Diaspora in the West edited by Haideh Moghissi and Halleh Ghorashi. In my chapter Understanding Dutch Islam – Exploring the Relationship of Muslims with the State and the Public Sphere in the Netherlands, I explore the culturalization of citizenship with the shifting modes of governance of minorities and the secular and the religious in the Netherlands during the last 30 years. The volume brings together work from experts within Europe and North America to explore the processes that shape the experiences and challenges faced by migrants and refugees who originate in countries of Islamic cultures. It addresses the realities of diasporic life for self-identified Muslims, addressing questions of integration, rights and equality before the law, and challenging stereotypical views of Muslims.
A fascinating article of John Vinocur in the New York times about the ‘failing integration of its increasinly large and alienated Muslim communities’. According to the writer Europe is in denial about its problems with Muslims. Only when something happens people wake up. He refers to the Netherlands as an exemplary case. Whether the Dutch model of integration policies was multiculturalist or not the situation is certainly more complicated than the author of the New York Times article suggests.
How should a modern secular State respond to the wishes and principles of religious minorities? A debate at Radboud University about implementation of Sharia’s in Europe. In his lecture, John Witte, specialist in family law and religious freedom, gave his views on these matters. Piet Hein van Kempen and Jan Jaap de Ruiter responded.
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.
Een wekelijks portie burgerschap. Met deze week Angela Merkel’s uitspraak ‘Multikulti ist absolut gescheitert’.
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.
The trial against Geert Wilders for insulting groups and incitement to hatred is still going on. Last Friday was the last day for the Dutch prosecutors, followed by the plaintiffs on Monday and the defence on Tuesday. Is it a case of ‘killing’ the messenger?
