Making a case for the “open” mosque as methodology: Muslim leaders as agents in challenging boundaries to belonging

Elisabeth Becker
Yale University

Muslims in Europe remain designated to an “outsider” status, bounded from the mainstream by the belief that they cannot—on account of their culture—fully belong. This idea dominates not only the media but also the academy, as the vast majority of scholars study Islam from the outside. Failing to engage with actual Muslim communities, scholars of Islam mostly focus on discourses surrounding (or stemming from) failures at acceptance. They center on reactions to this religious presence and increased prioritization of religious identity among young European Muslims. Continue reading “Making a case for the “open” mosque as methodology: Muslim leaders as agents in challenging boundaries to belonging” →

Why Globalization Wins? Hint: It’s Not Because of Democracy. Or Science.

Malcolm Fairbrother
University of Bristol

As negotiations unfold around the world for many new agreements on trade and investment, it’s easy to forget that not long ago the governments of most countries used to be much less enthusiastic about globalization than they are now. In 1980, for example, the governments of Canada and Mexico issued a joint statement flatly rejecting “current informal proposals for trilateral economic cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States.” As it turned out, of course, policymakers in both of those countries eventually changed their minds, and by 1994 we had NAFTA. Continue reading “Why Globalization Wins? Hint: It’s Not Because of Democracy. Or Science.” →

What the Great Depression’s Occupiers Teach us about Money

Jakob Feinig
Binghamton University

The newly elected labor leader proposes that the Bank of England invest directly in infrastructure and housing. The Swiss are likely to decide about the abolition of bank-created money by popular vote. On the other side of the Atlantic, an economist and a hedge funds manager writing in Foreign Affairs suggest that the Fed should spend money directly instead of lending to banks to ensure that cash finds its way into citizens’ pockets. These proposals all have the potential to re-invigorate the politics of money. Continue reading “What the Great Depression’s Occupiers Teach us about Money” →