Dossiers Archive | Page 5 of 20

Dossiers

The choice of Francis as his papal name by Jorge Mario Bergoglio immediately signaled the doctrinal orientation of his pontificate. Following in the footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi, the new Bishop of Rome would uphold three guiding principles: love for the poor, care for our common home, and a commitment to a culture of encounter and peace. A commitment that his critics have sometimes labeled as populist—despite his explicit rejection of that label. Pope Francis’s outlook was, in fact, open, transnational, and pluralistic—the very opposite of European populisms. From his earliest symbolic gestures—from refusing the papal apartments to embracing migrants in Lampedusa—Bergoglio embodied a “Church that goes forth,” one that engages with the world not with doctrinal arrogance but with a spirit of service. His language, stripped of curial formalism, brought the papacy closer to the people, while the vision of the pope “from the ends of the earth” shifted the Church’s center of gravity away from Europe, toward the peripheries of the planet, and above all toward a new alliance between faiths, cultures, and peoples. In this dossier, we offer a series of reflections on the legacy of his pontificate and the future prospects of the Church.

Islamic Philosophy in the Age of Ethical Malaise and Local Turmoil

Like other classical world traditions and civilizations that seek renewal for survival, continuity and contribution to world affairs, the Islamic one is convened and questioned, maybe more than others and more than ever before, seeing its geographical and intellectual positions between the so-called East and West, an archaic dichotomy that disrupts politics and stirs philosophy at the same time. The ongoing dire socio-political chaos in the Arab-Islamic world questions the intellectual tradition of this part of the world, to see where it stands, and what contributions it offers to overcome the turmoil. Reset-DoC is pleased to present three reflections on Islamic Philosophy by Mohammed Hashas (PhD), as part of an ongoing conversation with a civilization that was, and a worldview that is still vibrant and confident that it can still contribute to world intellect and local politics.
Intercultural Lexicon What Does Toleration Mean?

Ever since the dawn of Enlightenment, toleration has been considered one of the most solid bastions of social peace in liberal and pluralist civilization. Acknowledging and protecting freedom of religion, ideas and speech, the modern rule of law can be considered as a political-institutional as well as juridical fulfillment of what previously was only a hoped-for virtue: toleration. What does tolerating those who are different, those who think or act differently, really mean? Is toleration a form of resignation and indifference regards to the mistakes of others? Or is it rather a synonym for respect for and interest in diversity? Who is called upon to be tolerant? Individuals or institutions?
Boko Haram, When Ignorance Becomes Atrocious Obscurantism
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On April 15, about 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in the town of Chibok, in the Nigerian state of Borno. 60 more were kidnapped on June 23. Responsibility for the kidnappings was claimed by Boko Haram, an Islamic jihadist group that has been spreading terror for years in northeastern Nigeria, opposing what it calls the “Westernization” of the country. Over the past years, Boko Haram has attacked schools and killed thousands of civilians, including many students. The kidnapping of the girls has spurred outrage throughout the media and around the globe, including the Muslim world. Here are some examples.
Egypt, Sabahi Challenges the Regime: Spring Will Return
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On May 26th, 27th and 28th Egyptians have voted to elect a successor to Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s president elected in 2012 and deposed by the army in July 2013. There are only two candidates; the now well-known general Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, and Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the progressive Egyptian Popular Current, a pro-Nasser activist who opposed Sadat and Mubarak, who had him imprisoned 17 times. In 2012, with 21.5 per cent of the votes, Sabahi came third behind Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq. He did not hesitate to criticise Morsi’s authoritarian shift, describing him as “a new Mubarak.” He has also expressed his disapproval of abuses of power by the transition government imposed by the army. Today, with the slogan “one of us” and a ‘left-wing’ election campaign, he is supported by important personalities in the world of culture such as Alaa Al Aswany and Khaled Youssef. The secular and ‘socialist’ Sabahi aims to obtain the votes of working class citizens and the young revolutionaries. However, few believe his liberal appeal has any chance at all of overcoming the electoral machine fielded by former general Al Sisi. Sabahi, however, is not giving up. He explains why in Azzurra Meringolo’s interview for Resetdoc.
Habermas: This is Why the Anti-European Left is Wrong
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With an eye on the upcoming European elections, Resetdoc reopens the debate on the European Union and its future with an essay by Jürgen Habermas, written a year ago when sociologist Wolfgang Streeck’s book Gekaufte Zeit (Buying Time) was published. Habermas’ essay marks the beginning of a true Europa-Streit, a controversy on Europe, in which the German philosopher accuses the European Left of having never moved beyond nostalgic positions and of not being able to firmly addressing the Right and the Centre’s populist trends. The essay is introduced by Luca Corchia, who summarizes the controversy between the two authors contextualizing it within the debate on Europe, which, although still defective in the large arenas of state and party politics, is instead spreading in magazines, newspapers and books throughout the continent.
Blasphemy between past and present. Punishment, decriminalization and politics
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Blasphemy, an insult addressed at God, a religion or its symbols, is once again an issue in many countries, even where it appeared to have been resolved. Why and in what forms? From Pakistan to the United States, from Europe to Jewish and Christian jurisprudence, the problems raised by blasphemy in the modern world are still many, and they do not only concern religion, but also politics, society and co-existence.
Building a Pluralist Europe. Resentment and Intolerance: Sources and Remedies

Global mobility, migrations and a growing cultural and religious diversity are shaping the identity of 21st century Europe. But many obstacles are still in place before European societies will become genuinely pluralist societies: in an age of economic turbulences, politics of fear, spreading populisms and new racisms, political imagination and democratic forces still need to be mobilized in order to break out of the trap of reciprocal rejection or misrecognition and the spiraling of negative feelings. Part of this enterprise can focus on understanding different facets of the trap itself, unraveling the nature of reactive and hostile identities, the political-mediatic creation of ‘exceptionalisms’ and the construction of so-called ‘communities of fear’ through the stigmatization and securitization of migrations.
Fostering Pluralism: Received Models under Scrutiny

With three essays from our Istanbul Seminars, Resetdoc carries on the debate on viable models for the coexistence of diversity. We believe that philosophical reflection on this topic is most helpful if developed before the trap of resentment and retaliation is cocked, let alone set off. Beate Roessler’s article addresses the fundamental problem for intercultural relations of how to conceive that flourishing of a culture (and persons within a culture) which then specific legal provisions or administrative policies may enhance or stifle. David Rasmussen revisits the notion of the political, while Fuat Keyman addresses these issues with reference to the centrality of the ‘Kurdish Question’ for the consolidation of Turkish Democracy.
Saudi Arabia’s other face: stories of women, activism and dignity
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The wave of ‘Arab Springs’ that has resulted in political and social upheaval in most of the Arab World does not appear to have reached Saudi Arabia, the stronghold of Wahabi Islam and one of the richest conservative countries in the Middle East. And yet, there, members of civil society and activists have been fighting in the shadows for years to achieve change and rights for citizens, women and minorities. Their story is told by Liisa Liimatainen, a Finnish journalist and political analyst who has devoted years of research to Saudi Arabia and also wrote the book Saudi Arabia’s other face: brave women and cyber-youth, soon to be published in Finland.
Islam and the Emerging Patterns of its Political Transformation

With this summer issue of its Essays collection, Resetdoc presents to its readers the research and thoughts of three prominent intellectuals on the political transformations experienced by Islam and its numerous interlocutors throughout history up to present time. Akeel Bilgrami focuses on the internal flaws of popular and pundit-instigated perspectives of the relationship between Western and Islamic public opinion as a ‘clash’ or a ‘conflict’, while José Casanova draws our attention to a fundamental difference between anti-Islamic xenophobia that is widespread in contemporary Europe and its counterpart in the U.S. Zaid Eyadat’s article analyses the constant presence of dialogue within the history of Islam and the ensuing exchange with Western culture.