Lecture and workshops

Key-lecture "God is everywhere" - religious vitality and conflicts in Dutch society

Martijn de Koning & Johan Roeland

Meeting between Salafi muslims and Humanists:
Salafist speaker: “What do you mean, religion is private? God is everywhere, so we are Muslim in public as well!”
Humanist speaker: “Oh, well we'd better prepare ourselves then!”

Although the Netherlands may be a secularized country, given the marginalization of the once virtually omnipresent churched Christian religion, there are other stories to tell about the fate of religion in Dutch society than that of its inevitable decline. In our contribution, we address Evangelicalism and Islam, which are among the most popular, vital and visible strains of religion among contemporary Dutch youth.

Characteristic of both religious orientations is their pursuit for purification: a search for a religion beyond what is seen as ‘inauthentic’ religious traditions and institutions. This, however, does not result in a privatized and individualized religion, as some observers have predicted. On the contrary: both Evangelicalism and Islam give shape to a shared religious orientation with a public face. In our contribution, we discuss the social and public face of both Evangelicalism and Islam, as well as the discussions and conflicts over religion that seem to be aroused by God's recent public manifestations.

Workshop 1: Moslims in het openbaar. ‘Geïntegreerd en toch moslim??’ (WN C-648)

(this workshop will be in Dutch)

Lang waren moslims nauwelijks  zichtbaar in de openbare ruimte in Nederland en elders in Europa. Daar is de afgelopen tien jaar snel verandering in gekomen. Een steeds groter deel van de jonge moslims komt terecht in het hoger onderwijs en in hoog gekwalificeerde banen. Ook op andere terreinen worden moslims ‘zichtbaar’. Dit leidt niet zelden tot wrijvingen over de vraag of het gewenst is dat religie zichtbaar wordt in de openbare ruimte die velen als neutraal en geseculariseerd beschouwen. In de workshop zal ik een documentaire tonen die betrekking heeft op deze problematiek. In de documentaire komen jonge moslims aan het woord over wat de islam voor hen betekent en hoe zij omgaan met de spanningen die de aanwezigheid van moslims in de samenleving kennelijk oproept. Daarna zullen we aan de hand van een aantal stellingen verder discussiëren.

On Friday 27 November, Prof. Thijl Sunier will hold his inaugural lecture, entitled ‘Beyond the Domestication of Islam in Europe: A reflection on research on Islam in European Societies’. The lecture begins at 15.45 sharp. Everyone is welcome to attend! (place: Aula of the University)

Workshop 2: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: It's not the religion, stupid! (WN C-629)

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is often described as one of clashing religions or as the last frontier between the West and the East. Religious themes are employed by various leaders in the world (on the ‘western/Israeli’ side and the ‘eastern/Muslim’ side) to describe, justify and explain the conflict. In this workshop we will deconstruct this employment of religious themes and discuss the conflict and what we believe it is really about.

Workshop 3: Doing research in conflict areas: Fieldwork under fire (WN C-640)

Research in conflict areas confronts the anthropologist with a variety of challenges. These relate not only to problems of analysis and theory, but also to questions of ethics, emotions, and personal safety. Based on first-hand experiences in Kashmir and Lebanon, this interactive workshop addresses a range of dilemmas that may arise while preparing, performing, and reflecting on ‘fieldwork under fire’. This workshop will be particularly useful for students who are preparing their own field research.