C L O S E R

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

C L O S E R Blog

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?

Open Brief – Geen innovatie zonder wetenschap 0

anthropology / Guest authors / Headline / State of Science

Open Brief – Geen innovatie zonder wetenschap

Antropologisch onderzoek naar kannibalisme in Papoea Nieuw Guinea leidde bijvoorbeeld tot de ontdekking van de prionziektes (Nobelprijs 1976 en 1997), waartoe ook de gekkekoeienziekte behoort. En zo zijn er meer voorbeelden van fundamenteel onderzoek als de motor voor innovatie en ontwikkeling. Peter-Paul Verbeek, Appy Sluijs, Beatrice de Graaf (jonge academici van de KNAW) betogen in deze brief aan de regering dat haar bezuinigingsplannen, die betekenen dat middelen eenzijdig worden overgeheveld van fundamenteel naar toepassingsgericht onderzoek, leiden tot een radicale ondermijning van de wetenschap

Some first thoughts on Moroccan reforms and khitab 2

Society & Politics in the Middle East

Some first thoughts on Moroccan reforms and khitab

Last night Moroccan king Mohammed VI announced reforms and a constitutional referendum. This can be seen as the answer of the Moroccan establishment to the protests in Morocco. Will it be sufficient for the protesters? The ideas of the king sounded healthy and promising but isn’t it more of the same…again? At the same time I’m also not that sure of the ‘revolutionairy spirit’ is so strong anymore. Furthermore it remains to be seen whether the supporters and opponents of reform will get an equal share of media publicity in the weeks leading up to the referendum. And if the referendum will be a clear yes for the reform, will the reforms eventually lead to a substantial decrease of the power of the current elite? Journalist Achmed Benchemsi has a good first take I think on the speech at Al Jazeera.

Theologisch debat – Dialoog en geloof in actie 1

[Online] Publications / Important Publications / ISIM/RU Research / Multiculti Issues

Theologisch debat – Dialoog en geloof in actie

Het tijdschrift Theologisch Debat doet haar naam eer aan en heeft een debatsectie; ditmaal over interreligieuze dialoog. De opening wordt verzorgd door kersverse hoogleraar interreligieuze dialoog Marcel Poorthuis. Andere artikelen zijn van Gé Speelman (Een integere en respectvolle dialoog – Opmerkingen bij de Islamnota van de PKN), Bernhard Reitsma (Wat er achter de dialoog schuil gaat) en van uw blogger en antropoloog: Dialoog en Geloof in Actie.