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A street memorial in Paris following the November attacks. Source: Wikimedia. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Inviting our future: liberal de-culturalization and the Paris attacks – Part two

Date:16 February 2016
Author:Religion Factor
In today’s post Ton Groeneweg continues his analysis of liberal de-culturalization as a deeper trend exposed by the responses to the attacks in Paris. In this second part of his blog, he focuses on how this process of de-culturalization has sincere consequences for our existence in liberal societies, and how the experienced threats to our liberal existence might offer some opportunities as well.
A street memorial in Paris following the November attacks. Source: Wikimedia. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Inviting our future: liberal de-culturalization and the Paris attacks – Part One

Date:11 February 2016
Author:Religion Factor
After a brief hiatus, today we continue our series of reflections on the broader meaning and consequences of events such as the attacks in Paris in November late last year. In today’s post, which is the first of a two-part blog, Ton Groeneweg reflects on the structures that create and sustain the image of superiority of liberal values and positions, supposedly under threat by the attacks in Paris. This image appears to be caught in a self-blinding mechanism that, in refusing to see its own specific cultural biases, threatens to further alienate and exclude those who do not conform to its implicit norms. In the second part of the blog, he will also briefly respond to the earlier contributions of Erin Wilson and Joram Tarusarira to this series.
Je suis Ahmed

What was worse, Charlie Hebdo or Boko Haram? Religion, violence and clicktivism.

Date:16 February 2015
Author:Religion Factor
The fallout from the Charlie Hebdo attacks around the tensions between “religion” and “freedom of speech” continue to feature prominently in public debate across Europe, particularly in the aftermath of the Copenhagen cafe shooting over the weekend.

Living together well: secularism, liberal democracy and uncertainty in the wake of Charlie Hebdo

Date:20 January 2015
Author:Religion Factor
The Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris have raised many questions about free speech, liberal democracy, freedom of religion and how to live together in multicultural, multi faith, multi political societies. In today’s post, Erin Wilson explores some of these questions and encourages us, rather than seeking for definitive answers, to see the conversation and debate these questions inspire as an answer in themselves.

Authority and Religion in Myanmar

Date:04 April 2013

In today’s post, Arnout Couperus contributes to recent discussions on the democratisation of Myanmar. He argues that the role of Buddhism should not be underestimated in the analysis of the current situation.

Islam and the Arab uprising

Date:07 January 2013
Author:Religion Factor
Guest contributor Prof Jeffrey Haynes from London Metropolitan University reflects on recent events in the Middle East and Northern Africa and their implications for how we understand the role of religion in public life.

On the Political and the Personal. Or, How to Retain a Sense of “Humanity” in Egypt? Part 2

Date:11 December 2012
Author:Religion Factor
Dr Vivienne Matthies-Boon is currently in Cairo. In this continuation of her previous post, she shares with us some of her experiences and reflections on the ongoing conflict between pro-democracy campaigners and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

On the Personal and the Political. Or, How to Retain a Sense of ‘Humanity’ in Egypt? Part 1

Date:08 December 2012
Author:Religion Factor
Dr Vivienne Matthies-Boon is currently in Cairo. In today’s post, she shares with us some of her experiences and reflections on the ongoing conflict between pro-democracy campaigners and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.