An anthropology of Muslims in Europe - A modest attempt by Martijn
There are several studies highlighting the role of conformity to authority and which provide an interesting comment to power in contemporary societies and to the perceived dichotomy between conformism and individualism. In this post I will summarize a few studies (with interesting youtube films) and try to extend the lessons to the Dutch debates on Islam.
In discussies over de relatie tussen secularisme en religie speelt het lichaam een belangrijke rol. Het lichaam is voor vrijwel alle religieuze en secularistische instituties een ideaal veld om religiositeit te stimuleren volgens hun eigen agenda en opvattingen. Dit zien we deels terug in de recente controverses over de komst van islamitische predikers Al Maghraoui en Al-‘Arifi naar Nederland.
Al Jazeera has a very interesting series Muslims of France. In three episodes they reflect on three different, but overlapping and continuing era’s: colonials, immigrants and citizens.
De beste en slechtste nieuws- en blogs over islam en moslims in 2011. Stuur uw suggesties nu in!
On 17 December 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire; an act of protest that not only ignited the revolution in Tunisia but that also inspired other uprisings throughout the Middle East. On 18 December 2011 Vaclav Havel died. What Havel and Bouazizi have in common, nevermind the obvious differences, is that they ignited a revolution that emerged out of despair and humiliation.
How and when can people adapt their knowledge and imagination? This essay by anthropologist Samuli Schielke is about Egypt, revolution, Lenin, Tahrir, Islamists, poetry, choice and destiny.
Eén bepaalde iemand stuurde mij een Wikileaks cable en even later zag ik hem ook op twitter voorbij komen. De cable geeft een inkijkje in hoe het Nederlandse leger en diplomaten in de loop van 2009 pleitten voor een verlenging van de missie in Uruzgan na augustus 2010. Dit deden ze, volgens de cable, door het proberen te beïnvloeden van bezoekers en beleidsmakers in Den Haag door de positieve aspecten van de Nederlandse missie naar voren te brengen. Oftewel hoe verkopen we een missie of hoe doe je dat juist niet?
Irshad Manji is on tour to promote her new book Allah, Liberty and Love – The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom. She was in the Netherlands this week and during a debate with Green Left MP Tofik Dibi in De Balie a group of about 20 Muslim activists of Shariah4Belgium and Shariah4Holland entered the room and disturbed the debate. An overview of the reactions and a short reflection in terms of theatrical resistance, spectacle and activism.
Onderzoeksbureau Motivaction heeft onderzoek laten uitvoeren onder 1570 moslima’s (met en zonder hoofddoek) en andere Nederlandse vrouwen. Het onderzoek heeft interessante, maar bepaald niet nieuwe, bevindingen. Ik heb de nodige bedenkingen bij dit type onderzoek.
Mesa 2011 ended last Sunday. It was a rewarding conference this year in Washington DC. I met several new people, saw some old colleagues back after quite a while and attended several interesting panels. On Sunday morning I participated in a round table discussion with Gudrun Kraemer, Free University Berlin – Mirjam Kuenkler, Princeton University – Thomas Pierret, University of Edinburgh – and Hilary Kalmbach, University of Oxford; the latter also being the convenor and chair of this session. The title of this panel was Mapping Change in Islamic Authority: Shifting Cultures of Knowledge, Learning, and Practice. I’m not going to summarize this panel for you but I will share with you my notes which I used for a brief talk and ideas that came up in the discussion.
