Analyse d’un livre de Bernard Lewis. Suite aux attentats qui endeuillèrent New York, d’innombrables auteurs cherchèrent à dégager les causes profondes de cet antiaméricanisme, à cerner les motivations des auteurs des opérations du 11 septembre et à analyser le discours d’un radicalisme islamique dont les schèmes de pensées et les références religieuses d […].
L’Occident et les autres, de Sophie Bessis. La confiscation de l’universel
Pour un lecteur occidental, tout remonté qu’il puisse être contre l’impérialisme, L’Occident et les autres* représente un vertigineux Luna Park de l’esprit : il oblige à relativiser et à remettre en cause “un système depuis si longtemps établi qu’il se confond avec l’ordre naturel des choses”. Ça secoue, mais ça fait du bien, en bouleversant les repères t […].
“Islamic Societies”.
Conversation with Ira Lapidus. Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 1/14/03 1-Background Ira, welcome back to Berkeley. Thank you, Harry. Where were you born and raised? I was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised there. I went to high school there, and then I went to college and graduate school at Harvard. Looking back, how did your pa […].
“Islam and the State”.
Conversation with Vali Nasr (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 10/3/02 1-Background Vali, welcome to Berkeley. Thank you. Tell us a little about your background. Where were you born and raised? I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. I got my primary and secondary education in Iran, and in England. My family migrated to the United […].
“Islam and State Power in the Middle East and Central Asia”
Conversation with Vitaly Naumkin (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 2/19/03 1-Background Welcome, Professor Naumkin. Thank you. Where were you born and raised? I was born and raised in a very interesting place, which is the city of Yekaterinburg. This was a city where the first president of Russia, Mr. Yeltsin, was also born. It w […].
The war for Muslim minds*
From Fallujah and Peshawar to Amsterdam and Paris, is radical, militant Islam winning or losing its political battle for the support of the world’s Muslims? Gilles Kepel, leading analyst of post–9/11 global fractures, talks to openDemocracy’s Rosemary Bechler. openDemocracy: The first section of your book The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West expl […].
Upbeat on democracy in Iran.
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate, visited Indonesia last week. In her presentations she came across as a person who spoke out for what she believed in — the people’s fight for freedom, rooted in her conviction that this is the basic message of her religion, Islam. Ebadi’s conviction has brought her to odds with both authorities and acti […].
The Clash of Fundamentalisms
Tragedies are always discussed as if they took place in a void, but actually each tragedy is conditioned by its setting, local and global. The events of 11 September 2001 are no exception. There exists no exact, incontrovertible evidence about who ordered the hits on New York and Washington or when the plan was first mooted. This book is not primarily conc […].
Constitution et religion dans les Etats musulmans (4)
Lorsqu’on évoque la constitution et la religion dans les Etats musulmans, les concepts -ou même parfois simplement les termes- deviennent tellement à contenu ou à portée variable, qu’ils finissent par paraître rebelles aux définitions, voire même aux délimitations. Cela semble être vérifiable s’agissant de l’Etat musulman, de la constitution et de la reli […].
Constitution et religion dans les Etats musulmans (3)
Lorsqu’on évoque la constitution et la religion dans les Etats musulmans, les concepts -ou même parfois simplement les termes- deviennent tellement à contenu ou à portée variable, qu’ils finissent par paraître rebelles aux définitions, voire même aux délimitations. Cela semble être vérifiable s’agissant de l’Etat musulman, de la constitution et de la reli […].
Constitution et religion dans les Etats musulmans (2)
Lorsqu’on évoque la constitution et la religion dans les Etats musulmans, les concepts -ou même parfois simplement les termes- deviennent tellement à contenu ou à portée variable, qu’ils finissent par paraître rebelles aux définitions, voire même aux délimitations. Cela semble être vérifiable s’agissant de l’Etat musulman, de la constitution et de la reli […].
Constitution et religion dans les Etats musulmans (1)
Lorsqu’on évoque la constitution et la religion dans les Etats musulmans, les concepts -ou même parfois simplement les termes- deviennent tellement à contenu ou à portée variable, qu’ils finissent par paraître rebelles aux définitions, voire même aux délimitations. Cela semble être vérifiable s’agissant de l’Etat musulman, de la constitution et de la reli […].
Democracy is Closer to Islam Than Other Models of Governance.
Summary: Mohammad Javad Ardeshir Larijani, has been one of the controversial personalities in Iran during the post-revolution years, always being under the spotlight of the press. His record of service include membership in the presiding board of the radio and television organization (IRIB), membership in the Supreme National Security Council, deputy minis […].
Setting the Record Straight.
Interview with Edward Said. by Harvey Blume *. Born in Jerusalem in 1935 to a prosperous Palestinian Christian family, educated at Princeton, and currently a University Professor of Literature at Columbia University, Edward Said is a writer whose work has had extraordinary range. Perhaps because he himself lives on the cusp of so many cultures, he has s […].
Back to Iran.
I don’t like posting full articles or interviews unless that their reading is highly significant to Iranians and to the lay observer of Iranian affairs. That being said this is an interview published in the New Scientist concerning Soroush’s decision to return to Iran after a six year hiatus. For those of you who don’t know much about Soroush, he’s conside […].
“Islam, Empire, and the Left”.
Conversation with Tariq Ali (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 5/8/03 1-Background Tariq, welcome to Berkeley. Very nice to be here. Welcome back, I should say. Where were you born and raised? I was born in Lahore, long years ago in 1943, when it was still part of British India. When I was four years old, it became part of a new c […].
“The Political Imagination of Islam “.
Conversation with Olivier Roy (1). Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. 4/16/02 1-Background Olivier, welcome to Berkeley. Thank you. Where were you born and raised? I was born in La Rochelle in France, on the Atlantic coast, in ’49. Looking back, how do you think your parents shaped your character? Fortunately, my parents don’t unders […].
Contre Tous Les Intégrismes.
Dans la masse des commentaires sur l’islam suscité par les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 et disponibles en langue française, trois points de vue originaux et fort différents – au sens le plus littéral de la notion de « point de vue » – se dégagent : celui d’un Occidental, l’Italien Tiziano Terzani(1), installé en Inde, au coeur de l’Orient ; en […].
