Muslim cosmopolitanisms in a transnational world: implications for the education of Muslims

ABSTRACT

In a transnational world, Muslim cosmopolitanisms are both numerous and diverse. These cosmopolitanisms constitute a broad spectrum of views and practices, representing a range of interpretations and expressions of Islam, some of which are polarized and polarizing. In this reflective, theoretical paper, I discuss the potential implications of Muslim cosmopolitanisms for the education of Muslims in a transnational world and argue that the teachings of Islam are sufficiently open to interpretation to support various Muslim cosmopolitanisms. While resistance to change has typified the education of Muslims historically in many parts of the world, this resistance is being challenged in new ways, characteristic of the Information Age, wherein near-instantaneous, transnational exchanges of information and ideas are democratizing and adding complexity to Islamic hermeneutics and praxis. In this context, I contend that Muslim cosmopolitan discourses have become necessary, and the outcomes of these discourses will be crucial in shaping the future education of Muslims. Given historical precedents, however, I posit that the triumph of Muslim educational orthodoxy is expected if these discourses lead to or reinforce polarization.     

The impact of migration on national identity in a globalized world: a comparison of civic education curricula in England,France and Ireland

This article examines the extent to which citizens of migrant origin are included within discourses of national identity in civic education curricula in England, France and Ireland. We explore how much space is given to citizens of migrant origin in discourses of national identity in civic education curricula and how they fit with central values normalized by a higher degree of recognition in schools. Although early immigration systems assumed that incorporation of migrants into the national polity would take place via socialization in education, the failure to include citizens of migrant origin in the contemporary ‘imagined community’ articulated in civic education discourses risks marginalizing some citizens which gives rise to a sovereignty gap. The disparity between legal and cultural belonging of some individuals in Western Europe presents a major challenge for education systems which are tasked with making national identity discourse resonate with a globalized citizenry. The study found that despite commonalities around the promotion of human rights and democracy, civic education curricula diverge with regard to representation of religion. Moreover, nationalistic aspects of the French model contrast with a multicultural, and recently global, approach to citizenship education in England and the promotion of European citizenship in Ireland.     

Pluralism,identity, and the state: national education policy towards indigenous minorities in Japan and Canada

This paper examines educational policies toward indigenous minorities in Japan and Canada during the period of nation‐building, from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century. Both Japan and Canada first segregated indigenous children into separate educational institutions and then tried to assimilate them into mainstream society. Beneath these broad policy similarities, however, lie different rationales, with substantially different implications for education and social policy in diverse societies. In Japan, national integration was promoted through a cultural or ethnic rationale, a socially coherent approach that nonetheless allows little room for minorities. Canada approached national integration using a notion of citizenship that both allows considerable space for minorities but is challenged by unity. These two strategies can be seen in two polar models of the state – a civic‐assimilationist approach of the ‘French model’ and an ethnocultural exclusionist model of the formation of the German state. The paper argues for a multicultural pluralist model including both civic and cultural/ethnic identities.     

Higher education for Palestinian Muslim female students in Israel and Jordan: migration and identity formation

The article investigates the migration of Palestinian Muslim women, citizens of Israel, to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem or to Jordanian universities for academic studies, and the influence of this migration on their norms, behavior and identity. Narrative interviews were conducted with Palestinian Muslim women graduates: eight from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and eight from Jordanian universities. Findings revealed that the women’s migration from their home communities to academic campuses involves issues of affiliation and identity; studies in Jordan constitute temporary cyclic emigration between two safe spaces, while studies in Jerusalem often involve alienation and foreignness. In both cases, higher education is a powerful force shaking up women’s lives. Following graduation, Hebrew University graduates remain in Jerusalem’s environs and migration to Jerusalem may become permanent. Higher education enables these women to engage with and confront identity issues, empowering them to reconsider their value and belief systems and relations with others.     

Student politics in the third world

Student political activism remains a key issue in the Third World despite its decline in the industrialized nations. Students continue to be active in politics and frequently have an impact on societal events. The historical development of student politics and student involvement in independence struggles, the role of students as incipient elites, and the fragility of the political structures of many Third World nations all contribute to the efficacy of student politics. Universities, as key intellectual institutions in their societies, also play an important role in Third World societies. Students, especially those in the social sciences, are fairly easy to mobilize and they often have a basic interest in political and social issues. It is argued that student movements emerge from their social and political environment and it is not surprising that activism continues as a powerful force in the Third World.     

Religious studies,religious education and the aims of education

This article interacts with a recent article by Denise Cush and Catherine Robinson in which they call for a new dialogue between religious studies in universities and religious education, and identify a number of developments in religious studies that have implications for the practice of religious education in schools. Cush and Robinson are representative of an influential body of opinion among religious educators that looks to religious studies for inspiration. It is argued that they, along with others, fail to appreciate the difference between the aims of religious studies and those of religious education and that this unrecognised difference leads them both to engage uncritically and superficially with the history of post-confessional religious education and to fail to recognise that the roots of some of the weaknesses in contemporary religious education can be traced to the influence of religious studies over it. Showing that religious education has (and is required to have) a different set of aims from religious studies (though some aims may be held in common) alerts us to its distinctive nature, and this in turn facilitates a clearer understanding of its role in schools, which can serve both to direct and to evaluate educational outcomes.     

皖北地区回族女性宗教信仰现状研究

安徽省回族是典型的散杂居少数民族。大量的田野调查资料显示,在皖北回族女性中,真正了解伊斯兰教教义、虔诚实践宗教功修的人较少。同时,多数回族女性具有强烈的民族认同感,内心充满对真主的依恋和敬畏。宗教信仰的日益内化已经成为散杂居回族文化的一个主要特征。     

Identity and national identity

This article reviews the history of international mobility of students from China to other countries over the century and a half from 1870 to the present day. Different motivations, goals, courses, and knowledge are considered, together with how the purposes of individuals have matched national policy. Implications for the future development in a globalized context are briefly considered.     

Identity politics,the ethos of vulnerability,and education

In this article, identity politics is understood as a form of politics stressing collective but malleable group identities as the basis of political action. This notion of identity politics also allows thinking of identity as intersectional. The focus of this article, and a problem related to identity politics, is that when discussed in the context of the neoliberal order, identity politics has a tendency to become harnessed by the ethos of vulnerability. Some implications of the ‘vulnerabilizisation’ are considered in the field of education, which is a field currently thoroughly affected by neoliberalism. Therefore, it is also important to look closer at the relationship between identity politics and the ethos of vulnerability. In addition, we re-consider poststructuralist thinking as a theoretical and political approach to see what it can offer in terms of re-thinking identity politics and in analyzing the ethos of vulnerability. When categories of vulnerability keep expanding into various psycho-emotional vulnerabilities defining subjects that can be known and spoken about, it is crucial to ask whether we regard these changes as educationally and politically progressive. The article discusses some problematic policies in educational environments and the phenomenon of trigger warnings.