Modernities of Turkey’s Past

Baraza, Identity, Middle East, Turkey, , , , , ,

booknostalgiaI was raised in Turkey in a practicing Muslim family dedicated to fighting against the Kemalist secular ideology of the state, and attended a public school where this official ideology was taught with a passion. I quickly learned to keep my critical comments about the regime to myself. At school, Kemal Ataturk was depicted as a brilliant commander of the national war of independence, who had saved the country and fashioned Turkey into a modern Western republic. At home, my beloved grandfather would speak about the manner in which “that apostate (kafir)” betrayed the only true Islamic state, the Ottoman Empire.

This opposition was vivid in my mind as I read Esra Ozyurek’s Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey.

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Five Questions with B.R.P. Bhaskar

Baraza, Five Questions, India, South Asia, , ,

brp_04232012B.R.P. Bhaskar is one of Kerala’s most respected journalists, an avid blogger and currently a columnist for Gulf Today. He “started his career in journalism in 1952 and has worked in The Hindu,Statesman, Patriot, United News of India, Deccan Heraldand Asianet. He played an instrumental role in the launch of the Asianet television channel… He has been active in the socio-political scene of Kerala, especially in the field of human rights protection.” He has published numerous articles and books and adapted Malayalam novelist Takazhi’s epic novel “Kayar” for a Hindi language mini-series telecast nationally. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Kerala Chapter of Transparency International.

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Global Unrest Ushers in New Crises of Representation: Assessing the Present and Future of Area Studies

Arab Revolution, Arab Spring, Baraza, Freedom, Global South, Libya, Mass Movement, Middle East, News, Revolution, Tunisia, , , , ,

tunis_03292012_2The global wave of protests presently underway has ushered in a new crisis in the interdisciplinary field of area studies. The Arab Spring in particular has sounded an alarming wake-up call, leading many to challenge the relevance of modalities and methods currently employed within area studies. There is an existentialist quality underpinning this crisis, as scholars question how their personal subjectivities and academic training may be employed in a more constructive, responsible manner.

Although it is a relatively new field, this is not area studies’ first moment of crisis. As the United States rose to superpower status in the aftermath of World War II, area studies began to emerge as a field through which the government could cultivate regional “experts” to perform military and intelligence missions in areas deemed critical to Washington’s interests. Throughout the Cold War, dubious ties of many leading area studies scholars and departments with governmental and military agencies (ranging from the Central Intelligence Agency to the Department of Defense) were exposed. Many resulting issues of transparency and ethics, in terms of the often-ambiguous relationship between politics and academics, remain unresolved today. Continue reading Global Unrest Ushers in New Crises of Representation: Assessing the Present and Future of Area Studies →

Ekalavya Retold

Baraza, Culture, Dust to Digital, Freedom, India, Language, Narrative, Revolution, Sanskrit, South Asia, Text, , ,

2011_79_Strm1The story of Ekalavya is one of the many stories in the epic Mahabharata about the Bharata dynasty, and Vyasa is regarded as its author. Vyasa told Ganesha that he had to take the time to understand everything before he wrote it. It is the longest Sanskrit epic and was completed around 4th century CE.

Ekalavya is the son of a tribal chief. He wants to be an archer and wishes to become a disciple of the guru (or teacher) Dronacharya (Drona). Drona is the royal teacher to the Pandava and Kaurava princes. He is a Brahman and Ekalavya is a shudra. Drona refuses to teach Ekalavya, because Ekalavya wasn’t a kshtriya (warrior). Ekalavya returns dejected to the forest. He makes a clay figure of Drona and practices alone in front of it. In time, with practice, he becomes an excellent archer.

One day, when he’s practicing in the forest, the incessant barking of a dog disturbs him. He shoots arrows into the mouth of the dog without injuring it. When Drona sees the dog with its mouth full of arrows, he is amazed at the skill of the archer. Along with his disciples, the Pandava and Kaurava princes, Drona looks around the forest for the archer. When they come across Ekalavya, Drona praises him and asks him how he learned the art of archery. Ekalavya tells Drona that he learned it from him. He explains that he practices in front of a clay figure of Drona and he considers him his teacher. Continue reading Ekalavya Retold →

Monitoring Muslims

Censorship, Civil Liberties, Freedom, Islam, Islamic Studies, Jihad, Mass Movement, Middle East, News, Surveillance, Tunisia, , ,

NYPD surveillance of Muslims, particularly the surveillance which occurred on college campuses (including Columbia University), is controversial in part because of the strong rhetoric on both sides of the issue. The arguments weigh civil liberties with an emphasis on free exercise of religion against concerns for safety and national security. This is an old battle with many manifestations, though surveillance of Muslim students has risen to the forefront of highly charged local and national politics from an unlikely source: the implications of NYPD’s own argumentation. Continue reading Monitoring Muslims →