Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Authenticity in the Middle East
Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Authenticity in the Middle East
Edited by
Roel Meijer
A publication from the European Cultural Foundation
First Published in 1999
by Curzon Press
Published 2013 by Routledge
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Editorial Matter 1999 Roel Meijer
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ISBN 13: 978-0-700-71059-1 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-700-71056-0 (pbk)
Contents
Roel Meijer
Sami Zubaida
Stphane Yerasimos
El-Sayed Yassin
Munira al-Fadhel
Hamida Naana
Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid
Ahmad S. Moussalli
Ridwan al-Sayyid
Slaheddine Jourchi
Laith Kubba
Abdellah Labdaoui
Schirin H. Fathi
Ahmed Abdalla
Mohamed Sayyid Said
Dia-gnosis was established by the European Cultural Foundation as part of its activities within and with the Mediterranean region, one of its geocultural priorities. The intention is that it should be an intellectual meeting place in Europe for the Arab world and as a platform for its cultural dialogue with the European world.
Dia-gnosis holds an annual seminar of a pluri-national and a multi-disciplinary nature which aims at sensitising Europeans to cultural and intellectual developments in North Africa and the Middle East as well as improving mutual knowledge and understanding. Writers and intellectuals from Arab countries bordering the Mediterranean discuss with each other and their European colleagues current cultural and socio-political issues of great concern to them. The seminar ends with a public debate where conclusions are presented and discussed.
In 1994, Dia-gnosis started with a seminar held in Rotterdam. It examined the role of intellectuals in the Mediterranean region. The second Dia-gnosis seminar The Future of Cosmopolitanism in the Middle East took place in 1996 at Oegstgeest. Its outcome is the present publication Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Authenticity in the Middle East.
European Cultural Foundation
The initial idea for Dia-gnosis was launched by Professor Adriaan van der Staay, Director of the Social and Cultural Planning Office (Rijswijk, the Netherlands) and the European Cultural Foundation, currently directed by Dr Rdiger Stephan, Secretary General. The seminar The Future of Cosmopolitanism in the Middle East was coordinated by Roel Meijer and Ahmed Abdalla, in cooperation with Annette van Beugen and Odile Chenal of the European Cultural Foundation.
The English editing was undertaken by Matthew Teller and Daan van Osch. Paolo De Mas, Fred Leemhuis, Noha el-Mikawy, Sjoerd van Koningsveld, Gema Martin Mufioz, Rdiger Stephan and Sami Zubaida are thanked for their contribution to the seminar as moderators.
Special thanks should be offered to the following co-sponsors of the seminar: the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Amsterdam.
The European Cultural Foundation, Amsterdam, was established in 1954 to encourage a cultural dimension in the post-war European movement. It aims to promote cultural cooperation in Europe by developing projects in priority areas and running a grants programme.
European Cultural Foundation, Jan van Goyenkade 5, 1075 HN Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Sami Zubaida Reader in Sociology, Department of Politics and Sociology, Birkbeck College, University of London. Author of Islam, the People and the State and numerous articles on the Middle East.
Stphane Yerasimos Director of the French Institute of Anatolian Studies (lInstitut Franais dEtudes Anatoliennes) and professor at the University of Paris VIII. Author of numerous articles on the Ottoman empire.
El-Sayyed Yassin Former director and present councillor of the Centre for Political & Strategic Studies, Al-Ahram Foundation in Egypt. Editor in Chief of The Arab Strategic Report. Author of The Arab National Character (in Arabic), An Analysis of Arab National Thought (in Arabic), Rich Countries, Poor Countries in the Middle East, (edited with Malcolm Kerr) and The Egyptian Bureaucracy.
Munira al-Fadhel Assistent professor, Department of English, University of Bahrain. Head of the cultural committee of the Writers Association in Bahrain. Author of a number of short stories which appeared in Katibat and Kalimat, literary journals published by the Writers Association of Bahrain.
Hamida Naana Syrian novelist who now lives in Paris where she works as journalist for the magazine Le Nouvel Afrique-Asie. Author of the non-fiction work Debates with Western Thinkers. Her latest novel The Homeland has been translated into English.
Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid Professor of Islamic Studies, Cairo University. Visiting professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Author of The Concept of the Text: A Study of Quranic Sciences (in Arabic), Criticism of Islamic Discourse (in Arabic).
Ahmad S. Moussalli Assistant Professor, Department of Political Studies and Public Administration, American University of Beirut. Author of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: The Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb and numerous articles on Islamic political history and theory as well as philosophy of contemporary Islamic social movements.
Laith Kubba Director of public relations at Al Khoei Foundation in London, head of the project Islam 21 and author of numerous publications on Islam.
Ridwan al-Sayyid Editor-in-chief of al-Ijtihad and al-Fikr al-Arabi. Director of the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies, and director of the Arab Development Institute. Author of Die Revolte des Ibn al-Ashath und die Koranleser and numerous articles in Arabic on Islamic thinkers, Islamic philosophy and politics.
Slaheddine Jourchi Journalist and former editor-in-chief of the journal El-Maarifa, organ of al-Nahda movement in Tunisia. Editor-in-chief of Ralits and 1521. First vice-president of the League for Human Rights in Tunisia. Author of Le mouvement islamiste dans la tourmente: critique de la pense de Sad Kotb and Le reformateur algrien Ibn Badis.
Abdellah Labdaoui Assistant professor of political science at the Faculty of Law, University of Marrakech. Member of the editorial board of the journal
