Between secularism/s: Islam and the institutionalisation of modern higher education in mid-nineteenth century British India

This paper problematises clean distinctions between secular and religious by tracing the history of modern higher education of Muslims in British colonial India. Grounded in the interpretive research tradition and with an empirical focus on the formative mid-nineteenth century, the article argues that relational notions between singular secularism and multiple secularisms best capture this historical trajectory. The institutional imaginary of colonialism constituted a significant milieu that, on the one hand, resulted in British policies in India that were at a tangent to similar developments in England at the time and, on the other, informed Muslim agency in its own institutionalisation of higher education. Muslim educational philosophy, politics and even theology were shaped in a concrete, historical, power-laden context. One of the consequences of this was a peculiar construction of ‘secularism’ in relation to Islam – again, related but at a tangent to the same notion in Europe. With a view on contemporary Pakistan, it is argued that such relational histories must be accounted for if policy and academic discourse is to move beyond largely stale and unhelpful binaries of Islam vs. Western modernity in religious education.     

邓小平新时期知识分子思想研究

知识分子问题对中国革命和建设至关重要。邓小平一贯重视知识分子问题。尤其在“文革”后,多次就知识分子问题发表了重要讲话、指示,作出许多科学的论断,为恢复、制定和落实知识识分子政策,为继承和发展马列主义、毛泽东思想关于知识分子的理论,做出了杰出的贡献。     

论新形势下高校党外知识分子的政治引导工作

高校党外知识分子是实施"科教兴国"战略的一支重要力量,是高校改革发展的主力军,做好高校党外知识分子工作对抵制西方敌对势力"西化"、"分化"的政治图谋具有重要意义。在进入知识经济时代和我国建立社会主义市场经济体制的今天,高校党外知识分子的开放意识日益增强,民主意识日益增强,价值观日趋多元化,管理日趋社会化。因此,高校要重点做好党外知识分子代表人物和青年知识分子的培养工作,积极引导他们将实现个人价值与实现祖国现代化的伟大事业紧密结合起来,努力为他们参政议政创造良好的环境,寓教育于活动,把做好党外知识分子思想政治工作同解决他们的实际问题、满足他们的正当需要结合起来。     

俗世的大爱与大美——试论汪曾祺以故乡人事为题材的小说

汪曾祺是一位注重风俗和地域文化描写的作家,创作了大量以故乡人事为题材的小说,包括最为人称道的代表作《受戒》和《大淖记事》.他的小说展现出对俗世生活和普通百姓的浓厚兴趣,堪称一幅凝结着大美与大爱的画卷.     

知识分子与大学精神

知识分子的精神特质是衡量知识分子真义的内在尺度。大学与知识分子有着不解之缘。知识分子是大学精神的践履者、体现者和承载者;大学的起源与知识分子的精神诉求密切相关,大学是知识分子的社区,也是知识分子成长的摇篮。知识分子精神与大学精神具有内在的共通性与契合性,集中表现为自由、独立与批判精神。     

Public education and the post-fordist accumulation regime: A case study of Australia

This paper discusses the current radical changes in the Australian education policy. Central to the argument is the claim that the radical restructuring of the public sector hastened the loss of the possibility of any critical evaluation of national policy.The paper argues that this shift has been forced on the Australian state by the objective conditions expressed in a new realignment of the dominant transnational capital with the subordinate domestic capital, and in the shifts in a global capacity for consumption. The argument is underpinned by the claim that a new, post-Fordist (or flexible specialization) regime of capital accumulation is at present replacing the Fordist regime of mass production and consumption.The paper further argues that in order to achieve the system-preferred changes in the Australian education policy, the Australian government introduced radical changes in the production rules of policy formation. This involved a narrowing of policy making context and, crucially, an exclusion of voices critical of the shift towards economic reductionism.This loss of a critical sensibility constitutes the central concern of this paper. To advance the argument, in Part One, the paper discusses the relationship between the Australian state and the post-Fordist objective conditions of capital accumulation. Part Two argues that the lack of intellectual tradition in Australian public life was at least partially responsible for the easy passage given to neoclassical economics perspective in becoming a dominant public policy paradigm. Part Three locates the role of education within the context of the European philosophical tradition. It provides the link between critical sensibility, the project of Western civilization (which clearly extends beyond the modern vs. postmodern dichotomy), and the role of public discourse. Finally, the paper argues that education policy needs to take the issue of critical sensibility seriously. For this reason, it needs to be informed by a desire to go beyond the mere technical fit between graduates and the workplace, and allow itself to be inspired by new ideas, and new ways of seeing.     

Public education and the post-fordist accumulation regime: A case study of Australia

This paper discusses the current radical changes in the Australian education policy. Central to the argument is the claim that the radical restructuring of the public sector hastened the loss of the possibility of any critical evaluation of national policy.The paper argues that this shift has been forced on the Australian state by the objective conditions expressed in a new realignment of the dominant transnational capital with the subordinate domestic capital, and in the shifts in a global capacity for consumption. The argument is underpinned by the claim that a new, post-Fordist (or flexible specialization) regime of capital accumulation is at present replacing the Fordist regime of mass production and consumption.The paper further argues that in order to achieve the system-preferred changes in the Australian education policy, the Australian government introduced radical changes in the production rules of policy formation. This involved a narrowing of policy making context and, crucially, an exclusion of voices critical of the shift towards economic reductionism.This loss of a critical sensibility constitutes the central concern of this paper. To advance the argument, in Part One, the paper discusses the relationship between the Australian state and the post-Fordist objective conditions of capital accumulation. Part Two argues that the lack of intellectual tradition in Australian public life was at least partially responsible for the easy passage given to neoclassical economics¹ perspective in becoming a dominant public policy paradigm. Part Three locates the role of education within the context of the European philosophical tradition. It provides the link between critical sensibility, the project of Western civilization (which clearly extends beyond the modern vs. postmodern dichotomy), and the role of public discourse. Finally, the paper argues that education policy needs to take the issue of critical sensibility seriously. For this reason, it needs to be informed by a desire to go beyond the mere technical fit between graduates and the workplace, and allow itself to be inspired by new ideas, and new ways of seeing.Parts One and Two of this Article appeared in INTERCHANGE, Vol. 26, #2, 1995.     

愈挫愈奋 再接再厉──中国近代知识分子群体的产生与发展

用近代知识分子群体命名传统的资产阶级维新派和革命派,是一个全新的概念。本文初步探讨近代知识分子群体的内涵及其产生和发展的时间。     

Religious education and hermeneutics: the case of teaching about Islam

ABSTRACT

This article attempts to do three things: the first is an exploration of the ways in which Islam is presented in an essentialist way (with a focus on religious education (RE) in England and Wales), leading to stereotypes and unsubstantiated generalisations that are then embedded in resources and agreed syllabi, secondly, it provides a critique of essentialism, and finally a case is made for the role of hermeneutics in the teaching and learning of Islam. We argue that a hermeneutical approach is a sound way to both conceptualise the phenomenon of Islam and a pedagogical opening to make sense of it, that may help overcome some of the weaknesses of the current ways of teaching about Islam.     

Disenchanting secularism (or the cultivation of soul) as pedagogy in resistance to populist racism and colonial structures in the academy

This article explores pedagogic strategies for resisting the racism of contemporary populism and age-old coloniality through challenging secularism in the academy, especially in social theory. Secularism sustains racism and imperialism in the contemporary academy and is inscribed, in part, through the norms of social theory. Post-secular social theory has been positioned by some as the decolonial answer, but often replicates the most problematic aspects of secularism. Whereas post-secularism affirms the previously denigrated side of the secular vs religious dualism, I am more interested in unworking those classificatory schemas, setting the critical thought of religious teachers in relation to ‘secular’ social and political theorists such that boundaries erode. The ambition in this is to resist the hierarchical orderings of knowledge that pit Islamic, indigenous, feminised subjectivity as backwards, dangerous or intrinsically inferior to secular, Christian, rational knowledge. It is also to disenchant the secular gods (progress, money, growth, health) and hold open space for critical play in relation to the transcendental—to create a permissive, legitimising, space for students’ spiritual dimension, conocimiento or the ‘cultivation of soul’. The article draws theoretical inspiration from Gloria Anzaldúa, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Sylvia Wynter. It also draws on a practical experiment in disenchanting secularism through teaching an undergraduate module in social theory called Capitalism and Religion.     

江泽民对党的知识分子理论的创新与发展

十三届四中全会以来，江泽民坚持与时俱进，以战略的眼光关注时代的变化和发展，把知识分子问题与现代化建设和国家前途联系起来，提出了关于知识分子阶级属性、地位作用、成长道路等一系列重要思想和理论观点，并进一步发展和完善了党的知识分子政策，从而使党的知识分子理论得到创造性的丰富与发展。     

"清":魏晋士人的社会生活理念

魏晋士人往往被视为张狂放荡的群体，但实际上，在他们的社会生活中洋溢着“清”的理念，其个性、才干、容貌、家庭生活、言辞和音乐等方面都体现出“清”的特色，而魏晋时代特定的社会、政治、文化背景是产生这一现象的根源。     

楚雄州"人才立州"战略的理论分析与实践思考

“人才立州”战略是楚雄州顺应形势发展，继“农业富民”、“工业强州”、“引资兴州”之后提出的又一重大决策部署。当前，我州人才队伍建设在取得成绩的同时。还存在许多不足。要改变这一现状，必须从理论上深刻把握“人才立州”战略的基本要求和丰富内涵。并在此基础上采取有效措施予以认真贯彻和实施。     

我校中高级职称教工健康状况调查

对2003年中高级知识分子的体检资料进行了分析,结果显示,高血脂、脂肪肝的患病率较高,中青年高血压的患病率也呈现增高的趋势.     

晚清知识分子婚恋观变化述论

晚清知识分子婚恋观的变化既受到了明清同情妇女思潮的影响,也是中国近代社会妇女解放运动兴起的结果。晚清知识分子婚恋观的变化主要体现在主张婚恋自由、提倡晚婚和文明婚礼等方面。当时的知识分子一边批判旧的婚恋观,宣传新的婚恋观,一边身体力行,实践着新式婚姻。晚清知识分子婚恋观的变化反映了时代的进步,具有积极的社会意义。     

Gender and higher education experience: a case study

This research seeks to contribute to current discussion of gender differences in experience of higher education. Its specific focus is to compare the assessment of various university services by male and female students. The research sample consisted of 9793 students who participated in three University of Western Sydney surveys in 2004 and 2005. The results suggest that, first, female students place higher importance on the majority of the university’s services than do male students; second, as female students advance through their studies, they appear more demanding about the quality of services, while male students remain comparatively tolerant; and third, while all students consider that some areas warrant improvement, this is significantly more so for female than for male students. Specifically, the key areas for improvement from female students’ perspective are the relevance and instructional clarity of the course and efficiency of administration. It is recommended that, considering the current trends in higher education across gender, a sharper focus on these areas for improvement action could help the university ensure equity and better manage competition.     

The other partition: religious and secular education in British Palestine

The recent critical turn toward post-secularism, particularly on behalf of theorists working from the perspective of Christian societies, has highlighted the difficulty of approaching the history of the Middle East through the binary of religion and secularism. This article argues that such terms are of little explanatory value in and of themselves, but rather must themselves be explained as unique historical objects. Through an analysis of the Arab public school system created by the government of Mandatory Palestine, this study demonstrates how the transformation of Islamic education occurred within a matrix of colonial domination that promoted its unique understanding of religion as a universal standard. By tracing the emergence of ‘religion’ as a distinct category of knowledge and human experience in modern Palestine, this article draws attention to the factors that distinguish the development of colonial secularism from phenomena observed in the Euro-American context.     

Religious education and the pandemic: postcolonial perspectives

ABSTRACT

This article provides a critical, historical analysis of religious education and the pandemic through the perspective of postcolonial theory. Showing through an interdisciplinary lens how colonialism and contagion have conjointly configured cultural and civilisational change, it shows how sources from religious and literary history can illuminate the current critical landscape of decolonisation. The article opens with some general contextual remarks about decolonising the curriculum at the interface of postcolonial theory and education. Demonstrating, then, the political-theological currency of contagion, the article frames contemporary church closures during the pandemic as presenting contrasting lessons in theology from the pandemic present and world history. Revisiting the colonial on this basis, the article shows how religion and education have also been at the epicentre of empires. Thus, the spread of Biblical literacy had the unforeseen historical consequence of interconnecting erudition and the eradication of peoples. The article outlines here how and why, therefore, the role of religion and education is integral to the critical contours of postcolonial theory. These analyses provide, it is argued, potentially liberating disciplinary frameworks for religious education itself; and lessons, too, to which postcolonial theory could also well attend, that is the abiding importance of religion in education.