Ergens tussen 2005 en 2010 schreef ik dit: ‘In de afgelopen jaren heeft het begrip ‘integratie’ een welhaast magische lading gekregen. De betekenis ervan kan veranderen aan de hand van wie dat begrip gebruikt, wanneer het gebruikt wordt, de reden waarom het gebruikt wordt en nog een hele rits redenen meer. Zo kan ‘integratie’ in… Continue reading De mechanismen van in- en uitsluiting
De infantilisering van Nederland – deel 1: Statistiek
door Birol Akkus Vanaf het moment dat de Koude Oorlog als definitief gevochten kon worden gezien werd door deze en gene benadrukt dat er behoefte zou ontstaan aan een nieuwe vijand. En ook toen al werd de Islam als een goede kandidaat gezien voor deze vacature. Dit ondanks het feit dat er sprake was geweest… Continue reading De infantilisering van Nederland – deel 1: Statistiek
Europe needs a shared social identity, and fast!
Comparing the recent rise of populism in Europe (or really across the world) with the rise of fascism and Nazism in the 20th century is sometimes presented as inflammatory, distasteful and stigmatizing. However, if we want to know what’s happening now, it wouldn’t be helpful to restrict our scope, to maybe even establish that the… Continue reading Europe needs a shared social identity, and fast!
Evolutionary flaws and right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is undeniably on the rise in Europe. Parties such as the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) are on all time highs in the polls, while their counterparts, most notably the German chancellor Angela Merkel, are increasingly pushed in the defensive. Surely, the refugee crisis fuels fears and fear is the wind in the sails… Continue reading Evolutionary flaws and right-wing populism
Tsipras, Corbyn, Sanders: signs of a trend?
It was in 1992 when the political scientist Fukuyama famously declared the ‘End of History’. The Iron Curtain had just come tumbling down (quite literally in some places) and communism was defeated through the Cold War by the liberal democracies of the West. Fukuyama believed (at the time) that this would be the final ideological… Continue reading Tsipras, Corbyn, Sanders: signs of a trend?
The Cologne Incidents: Sexism and misogyny, or us versus them?
2016 didn’t start under the best auspices, especially in Cologne, Germany. We may not know every detail currently, but it sure seems that numerous women were assaulted, harrassed and even raped during the New Year’s festivities in the center of the German metropolis. More aggravating even is the all too credible observation that these assaults… Continue reading The Cologne Incidents: Sexism and misogyny, or us versus them?
The Greece crisis: What’s Culture got to do with it?
No need to reiterate or even summarize the many accounts of how the draconian ‘deal’ with Tsipras’ Greece was conceived. We don’t know what we know or don’t know, until maybe in a few decades a few of the protagonists decide the world is really ready for their tell-all memoirs. What we do know, presumably… Continue reading The Greece crisis: What’s Culture got to do with it?
Understanding Pegida: fear for cultural change as political drive
The reaction in Germany to the rise of Pegida (Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes) was predominantly one of shock and shame. How could Germans, of all people, after their bitter history, fall for xenophobia? The indignation was prominent across the board, and everyone seemed to condemn this new movement, from conservatives to liberals,… Continue reading Understanding Pegida: fear for cultural change as political drive
Turkey Elections 2015: the last elections, or was that the one before?
You might think it’s quite late to give a prediction, just two days before the elections. That might be the case, but that doesn’t make it easy or even more accurate on beforehand. Sure, the general trends are clear: AKP will lose some, CHP and MHP will gain some, and HDP will be close and… Continue reading Turkey Elections 2015: the last elections, or was that the one before?
Rejhaneh Jabbari, hanged for killing her rapist, and her last words to her mother…
I don’t believe in deities, and as such would be considered a criminal myself in Iran. I do believe in justice and Rejhaneh Jabbari certainly wasn’t afforded it by the clerics that rule her country. That’s one reason for me not to believe in deities. Below you’ll find the translated transcript of her last will… Continue reading Rejhaneh Jabbari, hanged for killing her rapist, and her last words to her mother…