An anthropology of Muslims in Europe - A modest attempt by Martijn
On France24 Annette Young meets John R. Bowen, anthropologist and author of “Can Islam be French?” Islam is the second most widely practised religion in France, but how do Muslims live their religion in a country which is known for its fierce secularism?
Dertig Nederlandse commando’s en mariniers zijn naar Afrika vertrokken voor de grote anti-terreuroefening Flintlock. En dat uitgerekend in Mali, waar een ontvoerde Nederlander nog altijd spoorloos is, al-Qaeda trainingskampen heeft en rebellen een bloedige strijd voeren met de regering. ‘De minister doet alsof het een training op de Veluwe is met een hek eromheen. Dat is niet zo.’
Dr. Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, was the keynote speaker for Arab Spring Symposium at the Army War College. In his inspiring lecture he engaged with the question of pluralism and democracy. This is only the first step in which we see the beginning of the crumbling of the iron wall of authoritarianism in the Arab world that has been there for 60 or more years. You can watch his entire, interesting and very accessible lecture here.
Eén van mijn vaste lezers maakte mij attent op een stuk over ‘geïnstitutionaliseerd Marokkaantje pesten’ in de campagne Kombijdepolitie.nl. Hierin wordt gebruikt gemaakt van stereotype afbeeldingen van Marokkaans-Nederlandse jongeren, met de vraag ‘Kun jij duidelijk maken dat nietsdoen ook overlast kan opleveren?’ Aan de hand van een Amerikaans onderzoek naar Nederlandse hangjongeren van Erin Martineau een korte beschouwing.
Joumana Haddad is a Lebanese writer and poet. In 2010 she published I Killed Scheherazade: Confessions of An Angry Arab Woman which is a really interesting, sometimes a somewhat confusing and contracting book. Dutch TV had an interview with a new darling of Western media.
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.)
Ondanks een negatief advies van Raad van State zet de regering haar plan voor een verbod op de boerka, gezichtsbedekkende kleding door. Een kort overzicht.
Zijn de overleveringen over profeet Mohammed vooral legende of leren ze ons daadwerkelijk iets over het leven van de profeet. Een bijdrage van Nicolet Boekhoff – Van der Voort die in Nijmegen promoveerde op dit onderwerp.
Why do researchers pick up a particular theme? How does their own life history influence their choices. We often assume and assert that our interest in particular topic is only motivated by the desire to do science. Often of course this is not entirely true. Jessica Stern, a leading expert on terrorism and radicalization, wrote a book. Her book Denial: A Memoir of Terror. About her own coming to terms with being raped as a teenager. She tries to extend her own personal experience to her research on terrorism by focusing on shame and humiliation. A brave account.
Israeli PM Netanyahu visited the Netherlands. In his speech in the Portugese Synagogue of Amsterdam which you can watch here, Netanyahu refers to the critique on Israeli policies with regard to the Palestinians and Iran as a ‘theatre of the absurd’. But for his opponents his equation of jewishness with Israel and his views on Palestinians and Iran would equally amount to be part of a theatre of the absurd.
