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Public Renderings of Islam and the Jihadi Threat: Political, Social, and Religious Critique in Civil Society in Flanders, Belgium

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Secularisms in a Postsecular Age?

Abstract

Contemporary political-public concerns with connections between Islam and terrorist violence in West-European societies contribute to ‘the Muslim question’, that is, the construction of Muslims, Islam and Muslimness as essentially ‘different’ from Western culture and society. This chapter focuses on 2014–2015 instances of Flemish public renderings of the ‘jihadi threat’ and explores counter-voices emerging from small initiatives in civil society. The counter-voices are assessed for the ways in which they respond to ‘the Muslim question’ and as such create space for the construction of various forms of agency, religious/secular subjectivity, morality, and citizenship, for Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Moreover, the counter-voices are considered as local actors of religious critique/theory of religion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In literature, antiracism is not often explored in terms of what constitutes antiracist argumentations. As such, ‘antiracism’ is taken for granted and used as an adjective (antiracist organising, antiracist strategies, etc.). However, a recent article by Lamont and Flemming (2005) demonstrates the relevance of scrutinising what the authors call ‘strategies of equalization’, or rhetorical and practical aspects of ‘everyday antiracism’. The article contributes to understanding the benefits and disadvantages of various forms of antiracism, as some strategies may create opportunities for inclusion for some members of racialised communities, while still excluding others.

  2. 2.

    See for an argument for the importance of distinguishing between ‘ethical, historical, social, theological and culture-historical’ perspectives to analyse the various layers of current public controversies about minority practices in Western Europe, such as male circumcision: Westerduin et al. (2014).

  3. 3.

    See for an insightful discussion about the importance for understanding the difference between these political–analytical steps, and for doing both: Goldstein et al. (2016).

  4. 4.

    See, for example, various contributions to recent public debates: Maarten Rabaey, 30 September 2014, ‘Jozef de Witte verklaart: daarom telt België zoveel Syriëstrijders’, De Morgen; HLN, 28 February 2015, ‘“Wat Hebben Antwerpse Moslims met IS te Maken?”’; Knack, 19 April 2015, ‘Dé Syriëstrijder Bestaat Niet: Er Zijn Loser-Jihadi’s of Romanticus-Jihadi’s’; Bilal Benyaich, 7 March 2015, ‘Radicalisering, Extremisme en Terrorisme: Wat Moet de Federale Regering Niet Doen?’, Knack; Jan Blommaert, 16 April 2015, ‘Het Islamdebat en Racisme’, Kifkif; Maarten Boudry, 15 April 2015, ‘Links Vergist Zich in het Islamdebat’, Knack; Montasser Al-De’emeh, 16 January 2015, ‘Montasser al-De’emeh: “Het Zal Alleen maar Erger Worden”’, De Morgen; Philip Verwimp, 19 April 2015, ‘Waar Is Onze Aanpak voor Teruggekeerde Syrië-Strijders?’, De Tijd; Jef Poppelmonde, 4 January 2015, ‘Maarten Boudry en Sami Zemni over Islam, Koran en Fatalisme’, Apache; Amelia Malfait, Adel Mouchalleh, and Jonas de Schaut, 20 October 2014, ‘Mama, Ik Vertrek naar Syrië!’, Schamper.

  5. 5.

    At the end of September 2014, The Belgian federal government decided to support the US army in its attack on the violent spread of Islamic State (IS) in Iraq by sending six F-16 fighter aircrafts. Vandaag.be, 24 September 2014, ‘Pieter de Crem: ‘Kernkabinet Akkoord met Inzet Belgische F-16’s”.

  6. 6.

    Maarten Boudry, 13 September 2014, ‘Beste Gematigde Moslim, Gebruik de Koran Niet om de Barbarij van IS af te Wijzen’ De Morgen.

  7. 7.

    Dyab Abou Jahjah, 15 September 2014, ‘“Beste Radicale Atheist”: Dyab Abou Jahjah Antwoordt Maarten Boudry’, De Morgen; Yassine Channouf, 16 September 2014, ‘Als Moslim Ben Ik U, Maarten Boudry, Dankbaar dat U Denkt in Mijn Plaats’, De Wereld Morgen; Björn Siffer, 16 September 2014, ‘Verleen Je de Koran Teveel Autoriteit, dan Speelt dat Recht in de Kaart van de Fundamentalisten’, De Morgen; Merijn Oudenampsen, 16 September 2014, ‘Beste Islamcriticus, Uw Islamkritiek Werkt Radicalisering en Extremisme Net in de Hand’, De Morgen; Maarten Boudry, 17 September 2014, ‘Een Verhit Debat Over de Islam is Beter dan Geen Debat’, De Morgen; Brecht De Smet, 19 September 2014, ‘Geradicaliseerde Jongeren Zijn Géén Probleem van de Islam’, De Morgen.

  8. 8.

    http://www.prijsreligieuzespiritueleboek.be/de-genomineerde-werken/; http://www.kifkif.be/actua/halal-monk-genomineerd-voor-de-prijs-van-het-religieuze-boek-2015; http://www.medianetwerkplus.be/?p=555

  9. 9.

    www.sincollectief.be/over-sincollectief/

  10. 10.

    Katrien V, 16 March 2015, ‘Reizen Jihad: Van Party Animal tot Jihadi’, De Wereld Morgen.

  11. 11.

    http://www.monty.be/nl/voorstelling-detail/818/reizen-jihad

  12. 12.

    http://www.arkprijs.be/arkprijs-laureaten.html

  13. 13.

    http://www.arkprijs.be/index.html

  14. 14.

    See for its advertisements: www.cvhs.be/docs/flyerHALALVERZET.pdf; http://www.kifkif.be/actua/verzet-is-halal

  15. 15.

    Azabar’s opening speech can be found and downloaded from: http://www.motief.org/sfeerbeelden (http://www.motief.org/phocadownload/inleidingverzetishalal.pdf)

  16. 16.

    http://www.motief.org/index.php/en/visieenmissie/wat-doet-motief; http://www.motief.org/index.php/en/visieenmissie/onze-inspiratie-en-identiteit

  17. 17.

    See the work of Thomas Sedlacek (2011) for a recent academic exploration into transcendental concepts present in various economic systems in different geopolitical and historical settings, such as the notion of the ‘invisible hand’ and the ‘homo economicus’ that are building blocks of current capitalist economies.

  18. 18.

    http://www.boeh.be/; see also BOEH!’s speech at the Arkprijs prize award ceremony for Fikry El Azzouzi (who wrote the play Travels-Jihad), published at http://www.kifkif.be/actua/fikry-el-azzouzi-wint-de-arkprijs-van-het-vrije-woord-baas-over-eigen-hoofd-speecht

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Nella van den Brandt

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  1. Nella van den Brandt
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) and New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Mapril

  2. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Ruy Blanes

  3. Department of Anthropology, Universidade Federal Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Emerson Giumbelli

  4. Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Erin K. Wilson

Additional information

I would like to thank the editors for their efforts to organise ‘The Good Shepherd’ panels at the EASR of 2014 in Groningen, the Netherlands; to publish this volume as a result from those panels; and for including and supporting my presentation and chapter. My gratitude goes to Matthea Westerduin, who generously provided insightful thoughts and critical remarks on an earlier version of the chapter. I take full responsibility for the final chapter, including potential omissions and mistakes. I would like to acknowledge both the Centre for the Study of Culture and Gender at Ghent University (BE) and the Gottinger Centrum fur Geschlechterforschung at Gottingen University (DL) where I was during 2015–16 provided with the facilities to write and finish this chapter.

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van den Brandt, N. (2017). Public Renderings of Islam and the Jihadi Threat: Political, Social, and Religious Critique in Civil Society in Flanders, Belgium. In: Mapril, J., Blanes, R., Giumbelli, E., Wilson, E. (eds) Secularisms in a Postsecular Age?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43726-2_6

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