Contemporary Islam

by Browers, Michaelle

The aim of this article is to account for the origins, to analyze the character and, to some extent, assess the significance of the recently increasing coordination among these various oppositional elements in Egypt that had in many respects backed themselves into an ideological corner by the shrill character, as well as sheer volume, of discourse aimed at criticizing, discrediting, even demonizing their political opponents. While much of the focus here is on the groups that that are often grouped with the now well known Egyptian Movement for Change, or Kifaya, is not only the existence of this ideologically diverse grouping, but the links it has created with the country’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, that reveals the most about the changing landscape of Egyptian politics.

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0006-y
Online Date: 3/31/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Ibrahim, Yasmin

Since the bombing of the twin towers, ‘Islam’ as a cultural narrative has entered a new temporal phase which in many ways signifies the re-imagining of a religion through the visual imagery of 9/11 and the global events which have unfolded since the apocalyptic images were first witnessed by the world. The distant proximity of 9/11 and the relocation of the perceived Islamic ‘resurgent atavism’ within the heartlands of power in Western soil constitute the formation of a new sociological imagination of Islam and 9/11 as a new liminal temporality. The association of the religion with a new category of risks in urban sites and the constant state of insecurity in seemingly secure spaces represents a new narrative phase of geo-politics in which the locus of this re-imagining mediated through ICTs, is one that happens not just in faraway places but within the ‘ontological securities’ of Western modernity, posing a liquid threat which is impervious to territorially bounded spheres.

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0007-x
Online Date: 3/31/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Larsson, Göran

A large amount of academic research has analysed and documented the fact that Muslims are often presented in a negative or stereotypical way in Western media and popular culture. This article focuses on how the Internet can also be used in spreading and publishing anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim opinions. Although the Internet is significant in the development of contemporary society, no studies have focused on the importance of information and communication technologies in spreading Islamophobic opinions. However, the new technologies can also be used for monitoring and combating Islamophobia, and many Muslim organisations are today using the Internet for these purposes. The article is based on an indepth analysis of both anti-Muslim and pro-Muslim homepages that can be related to the debate over Islamophobia.

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0002-2
Online Date: 3/31/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Hellyer, H. A.

Whether one chooses to view it as a negative or a positive development, history refers us to a difficult fact to ignore; the development of European civilization and consequently European identity, is impossible to imagine without Islam and Muslims. How deep the input has been is open to discussion and debate by historians, but it is clear that it was significant and considerable, and as twenty-first century Europe moves towards creating more cohesive societies in the EU, the impact of Muslims on European society, historically and presently, has become a topic of concern. With such a background, and the effect of Islamophobia on Muslim communities, how can Muslim communities negotiate their space in European societies?

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0008-9
Online Date: 3/31/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Varisco, Daniel Martin

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0004-0
Online Date: 3/31/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Shank, Michael

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0001-3
Online Date: 3/29/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Varisco, Daniel Martin

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0009-8
Online Date: 3/29/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink

by Marranci, Gabriele

DOI: 10.1007/s11562-007-0005-z
Online Date: 3/28/2007
Print publication date: 6/1/2007
View article on SpringerLink