Looking at Muslims: the visibility of Islam in contemporary French cinema

ABSTRACT

Tarr analyses the representation of Islam in five feature films made since 2006 that centre on the changing identities of Muslims in contemporary France. She locates the films within the context of the rise in Islamophobia in France following 9/11 and anxieties about immigration and terrorism, but also in relation to France's troubled postcolonial history and French republican ideology. In particular, the French notion of laïcité (secularism) has given rise to active hostility to any public expression of religious or cultural difference, particularly on the part of Muslims. Cinematic representations of Muslims, and particularly of the children of migrants from the Maghreb, have, therefore, since the mid-1980s, been treated with caution in order not to alienate mainstream Franco-French audiences and to facilitate the second generation's integration into French society. However, the five feature films addressed here—two mainstream popular comedies, Mauvaise foi/Bad Faith (2006) and L'Italien/The Italian (2010), and three independent, low budget, auteur-led, realist films, Dans la vie/Two Ladies (2008), Dernier maquis (2008) and La Désintégration/Disintegration (2012)—offer new narratives that challenge fears of Islam by foregrounding the protagonists' negotiation of their Muslim identities in a French context and, by implication, argue for the integration of Islam as a legitimate referent of French identity. However, their construction of Islam does not extend to positive representations of young veiled women, and they thus still risk confirming the oppressive majority view that certain practices associated with Islam, such as the wearing of the veil, are incompatible with the secularism of the French Republic.     

Thinking citizenship and its constitutive subject: interrogating the 2004 Irish citizenship referendum debate

This article considers a referendum which was held in the Republic of Ireland in 2004 involving a proposal to qualify the existing universal constitutional entitlement to birthright citizenship. Existing analysis of this referendum reflects dominant trends in citizenship scholarship. It does so by framing the issue in terms of two opposing perspectives – one particularistic (exclusive) and one universalistic (inclusive) – and positing the question of the ‘politics’ of citizenship as a trade-off between these diverging models. This article argues, however, that Rob (R.B.J.) Walker's notion of the constituent subject of (sovereign) politics challenges this dualistic framework as the necessary starting point for discussions about citizenship. It does so by problematizing the premise upon which it is based which is the taken-for-granted autonomous existence of persons (individuals) who are understood to be connected to, but ultimately separate from, ‘the state.’ This article concludes with reflections on what an alternative framework for exploring citizenship (based specifically on a historicization of subjectivity in relation to sovereignty) might look like. It suggests that this provides us with a different starting point to the prevalent form of a timeless dialectic of inclusion and exclusion, particularism and universalism, polis and cosmopolis currently determined by the boundaries of the Irish state.     

Opposing Islamification or promoting Islamophobia? Understanding the English Defence League

ABSTRACT

The emergence and growth of the English Defence League (EDL) in the past two years as a socio-political mass movement are unprecedented in the British setting. Initially dismissed and duly condemned as a racist and Islamophobic far-right organization, little is known about the EDL. Allen's article begins by tracing the development of British far-right political groups that were trail-blazers in campaigning against the alleged threat posed by Muslims and Islam since 2001. The rise—and subsequent fall—of the British National Party is considered as a vehicle for understanding the climate in which hostility to Muslims has become increasingly apparent. It is in this context that the messages and discourse of the EDL are explored, as well as in regard to the organization's roots in the English football hooligan fraternity and specific events in Luton in the spring of 2009. Allen looks at the EDL's innovative use of social networking—in particular its use of Facebook—to support its street marches and protests, as well as its recognition of the economic impact it has had, given the costs associated with policing its marches and protests. Having established how the EDL is supported both actively and passively, not least through a somewhat unique coalition that brings together sometimes disparate groups on the basis of ‘the enemy of my own enemy is my friend’—including groups that have historically been discriminated against by the far right—Allen considers the the arguments for recognizing the EDL as a multicultural movement. He concludes that the messages of the EDL are indeed Islamophobic—understanding Islamophobia as an ideological phenomenon—in that they create a form of order that clearly demarcates Islam as the Other.     

Liberalism and the anxiety of belief

Anxiety about perceived threats to liberal freedom has played a double role in liberalism. On the one hand, such anxiety has driven the development of liberal institutions aimed at safeguarding freedoms. Yet another, problematic, side of this anxiety can also be found in the history of liberalism and in the policies and practices of contemporary liberal states. From the beginning, liberal intolerance of those perceived to be connected, through religious affiliation or beliefs, with arbitrary or absolute power and therefore deemed to pose a threat to the existing order has justified social exclusion and, in many cases, systematic violence. Rae’s article examines the theoretical and political roots of this distinctive form of liberal anxiety, tracing the connection between anxiety about Catholicism and Catholics in John Locke’s time and contemporary anxieties about the relationship between Islamism and Muslims in liberal states.     

The impact of the conflict in Gaza on antisemitism in Belgium

ABSTRACT

Taking Belgium as a case study, this article aims to assess the impact of a foreign conflict (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip) on intergroup relations in Europe. It asks whether intensification of the conflict in Gaza increases the number of antisemitic incidents in Belgium, and makes use of a database of complaints to the Centrum voor gelijkheid van kansen en voor racismebestrijding (Center of Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism), a federal anti-racism agency, and of an analysis of political claims-making in the written press. It is often stated that the conflict between Palestine and Israel leads to increased levels of antisemitism in Europe but rarely is this based on statistical analysis. The authors of this article undertook such an analysis and concluded that complaints about antisemitism in Belgium indeed showed a statistically significant increase during the Israeli military operation Cast Lead (December 2008–January 2009). Time series and intervention analysis on data spanning a period of one-and-a-half years, however, showed that this effect was not lasting and wore off after a couple of weeks. Apart from the temporary effect of the Gaza war on domestic intergroup relations, there seemed to be no systematic and continuous link between events in the Middle East and acts of antisemitism in Belgium.     

Homeland security and citizen response to emergency situations: a perspective on the need for a policy approach to information access

Open access to public information is a hallmark of American political culture; however, the terrorist attacks on and before September 11, 2001 have prompted a reevaluation of how “freedom of information” should be balanced against the need for enhanced homeland security. This essay begins with a summary of legislative and executive actions that have led to restriction of environmental and health-related information formerly available to the public. Drawing on studies of disaster behavior, it is argued that citizen responders may be significantly hampered by restriction of environmental and public health-related information formerly available by means of public access web sites. The Lasswellian policy decision process is examined to explore the basis for a balancing test for agencies contemplating restriction of information related to environmental and public health-related threats. It is suggested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) implement guidance for federal agencies in weighing decisions concerning the public status of information.

民事诉讼中法院调解结案与判决结案的协调

民事诉讼中法院调解制度在我国有着优良的传统和深厚的历史背景,并因其独特的优势得到了司法工作者的偏爱。然而,现行司法实务中,调解结案的方式已经过分白热化,给判决结案造成了消极影响。如何从诉讼法的角度正确认识调解的社会本质,并在实践中正确把握两者的平衡度,应是司法实践中研究的重点所在。     

Migration management for the benefit of whom? Interrogating the work of the International Organization for Migration

This paper examines the relationship between the nation-state and migration through the activities of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM operates at the intersection of nation-states, international human rights regimes, and neo-liberal governance. We find that the IOM enforces the exclusions of asylum seekers and maintains the central role of nation-states in ordering global flows of migration. In addition, we argue that the IOM acts on behalf of nation-states by using the language of international human rights, as though working in the interests of migrants and refugees. In providing a geographic appraisal of the IOM alongside its image and presentation with an analysis of its activities on voluntary returns, we address the new spaces of ‘networked’ governance that control and order migratory flows in the interests of nation-states.     

社会保障资源安排中的逻辑与政治——以华北一个村庄为例

采用"质的研究"方式,对社会转型期华北一个村庄内各种保障或救济性质的资源安排进行了微观分析。相对于宏观政策层面的简单与明晰,正式的社会保障资源在农村社区的分配与利用过程中的功能、内容和形式都更为丰富,如作为消解其他政策和项目所带来的负面影响的工具,或演变为被争夺的竞争性经济资源,或将动态的保障制度异化为长期的养老保障,或作为维稳和社区治理的一种政策性工具等;这些变异一方面有悖政策初衷,使得政策目标发生偏离,另一方面也可能侵蚀社会公正。因此,社会保障政策制定与执行过程中需要充分考虑农村社区复杂而多元的现实,更具规范性、透明性和参与性,这也要求建立起更为健全的农村社会保障体系以及相应的监测与评估机制,厘清社会保障与社会治理的关系,尽可能避免进入政策资源异化与资源补偿型维稳的怪圈。与此同时,非正式的保障资源或社区内部的某些安排则在一定程度上弥补了正式的政策性资源的缺位或短缺,而如何将正式的保障政策资源与社区的、社会的力量有效结合起来是有待进一步研究的课题。     

北京四区县农民部分法律权益实现情况调研报告

根据调查所掌握的基本情况,本调研报告针对进一步实现和维护农民法律权益提出五项建议。选择农民最需要、与农民生产生活联系最密切的法律知识和观念作为宣传重点,以法制宣传、集中培训、现场教育等为主要形式,搞好普法工作,真正让法律进乡(村)。依法进行调解,充分发挥调解在我国新农村建设中的积极作用。切实推行《婚姻法》、《妇女权益保障法》,真正实现男女平等。推行《老年人权益保障法》和《农村五保供养工作条例,》保证老有所养。进一步健全村民自治组织,确立和保障农民的自治权利。     

The Use of Drones in Pakistan: an Inquiry into the Ethical and Legal Issues

It is clear the United States and other major powers see drone warfare as the wave of the future. Today more than 70 countries possess drone technology and many others are seeking to acquire it. It is expected that within 20 years, there will be swarms of drones and many autonomous fighters and bombers in use around the globe. If the trends continue as anticipated, these drones will usher in a ‘boundless and borderless war without end’. The development of technological improvements will eventually lead to a militarisation of foreign policy and unnecessary conflicts. While the circumstances in Pakistan are unique, the questions surrounding the US drone programme in non‐combat zones such as Pakistan raise important issues regarding how drone use should be governed in the future. This article is an attempt to analyse legal and ethical issues raised by the US use of drone technology in non‐combat zones such as Pakistan, and it looks into its underpinnings and also its repercussions as tool in prospective warfare.     

Withdrawing (from) waste,and the end of law: reflections on DeLillo’s prophecies in Mao II (1991) and Underworld (1997)

ABSTRACT

An often heard phrase these days is “There is something about this chaotic 21st century of ours ...”. This “something”, it is argued here, lies at the heart of a new form of life which has become predominant in recent decades in globalizing culture: the life of aspiring, radicalizing sovereigns. This “something”, then, could the called the end of Law. In an age of aspiring and radicalizing sovereigns the Law, indeed law in all its forms and shapes, has become not just an irrelevance, but a nuisance and embarrassment as well. One of the manifestations of this irreverent sovereign attitude is the growing inability to accept waste, that is, an inability to live with all that generates waste (i.e. Law), and an inability to live with all that is waste. Waste, i.e. the accumulation of spent potential, is not what the aspiring, radicalizing sovereign wants. The sovereign's desires are all about conserving all potential. Although this new form of life has become manifest only very recently, it had been predicted by the novelist Don DeLillo in his novels Mao II and Underworld. The themes and images in both these novels are the focus of this contribution.