nettime's_qualquant on Sun, 5 Aug 2007 18:27:58 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> what is to be studied digest [x4: recktenwald x2, geer x2] |
Subject: Re: <nettime> the fate of Middle East studies "Benjamin Geer" <benjamin.geer@gmail.com> Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de> Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de> "Benjamin Geer" <benjamin.geer@gmail.com> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 11:13:02 +0300 From: "Benjamin Geer" <benjamin.geer@gmail.com> Subject: Re: <nettime> the fate of Middle East studies 2007/8/4, Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de>: > IMHO it is not the business of Arabs to make the West listen to them. Which brings us back to my original question: who persuades Westerners to listen to people in the rest of the world? Who persuaded them to listen to Latin Americans? Maybe academics... > Maybe the business of Western journalists in Egypt etc to report what is > really happening. In Gaza etc. OK, but how do you define "what's really happening"? A friend of mine was working recently for Associated Press in Cairo, and I asked her why most Western news reports about Egypt are about discoveries of Ancient Egyptian artefacts or about violence, while there's very little about the basic realities of life in Egypt today. She said that unfortunately, a story only becomes "news" when an event with significant effects happens, like an explosion, a scientific discovery or a major change in government policy. If a problem has been going on for years, and nobody is doing anything about it, it isn't news. Maybe that's why most Westerners seem to imagine that Egypt consists entirely of pyramids, camels and terrorist bombings. Ben - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:54:19 +0200 From: Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de> Subject: Re: <nettime> the fate of Middle East studies Hi, Benjamin Geer wrote: > Which brings us back to my original question: who persuades Westerners > to listen to people in the rest of the world? Who persuaded them to > listen to Latin Americans? Maybe academics... I dont think they have much influence outside of universities. Indymedia etc may have more..;-) >> Maybe the business of Western journalists in Egypt etc to report what is >> really happening. In Gaza etc. >> > She said that unfortunately, a story only becomes "news" when an event with > significant effects happens, like an explosion, a scientific discovery or a > major change in government policy. If a problem has been going on for years, > and nobody is doing anything about it, it isn't news. There are a lot of Muslims in Germany, in France, the US etc and they are starting to try to build nice clean mosquees. Out of backrooms, with or without high towers, with or without a speaker on that tower, the are hot topics today in Cologne and Berlin. Conclusio, again: the Muslims themselves will raise awareness by just being here. Best, H. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:03:42 +0200 From: Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de> Subject: Re: <nettime> the fate of Middle East studies And btw, we should not overlook them: > There are a lot of Muslims in Germany, in France, the US etc and they are > starting to try to build nice clean mosquees. Out of backrooms, with or > without high towers, with or without a speaker on that tower, the number of > parking lots and the visibility of Muslims in general, that are hot topics > today in Cologne and Berlin. > > Conclusio, again: the Muslims themselves will raise awareness by just being > here. There are famous "new Arab quarters of Marseille", see http://www.leonardo.info/isast/spec.projects/artandwar/artwar.malina.html for example, where more or less no cars were burning in those hot days in France some years ago. Arabs in France, H. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 14:48:11 +0300 From: "Benjamin Geer" <benjamin.geer@gmail.com> Subject: Re: <nettime> the fate of Middle East studies 2007/8/5, Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@uni-bonn.de>: > Conclusio, again: the Muslims themselves will raise awareness by just > being here. Europe's recent history shows that minorities can "be here" for a long time, in large numbers, without raising enough awareness about themselves to ensure their well-being or even their survival. And there are disturbing similarities between the current political climate in Europe and that of the 1930s. Presence is not a guarantee of being understood. Instead, I think understanding depends on the work of people who create and spread ideas (journalists, academics, writers, filmmakers, bureaucrats, politicians, activists). Edward Said's book _Orientalism_ showed, for example, how Western academics created Orientalism as a field of knowledge that had broad influence outside academia. The discourse of Orientalism was used by the most influential novelists and the most powerful politicians, and shaped Europeans' "common sense" about "Orientals", making it seem natural for Europe to dominate them. Orientalism is now contested, but it's still very influential. Just look at Jackie Salloum's film "Planet of the Arabs", a montage of Hollywood images of Arabs: http://www.jsalloum.org/films.html An alternative "common sense" about Arabs and Muslims won't just appear by itself in the West. It will appear, if it appears, because people (Arabs, Muslims and others) worked to create it, because they had a successful strategy for doing so, involving academia, the media and the arts. Ben - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@kein.org and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org