Situated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about... Show moreSituated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about conventional ethnic, regional and religious identities. This volume adds a new global perspective to the history of the Philippines by juxtaposing Iberian, Chinese and Islamic perspectives. By navigating various underexplored archival resources, senior and junior scholars from Asia, Europe and the Americas explore the diverse cultural, religious, and economic flows that shaped the early modern Philippine milieu. By zooming in from the global to the local, this book offers eleven fascinating Philippine case studies of early modern globalization. Show less
Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, counter-terrorism legislation has been argued to be globally focused on a so called ‘suspect community’: the ‘Muslim community’. The media, politicians and... Show moreEver since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, counter-terrorism legislation has been argued to be globally focused on a so called ‘suspect community’: the ‘Muslim community’. The media, politicians and scholars speak about a new wave of terrorism where ‘Islamic’ is a common key denominator. Critical research, so far predominantly focused on the United Kingdom, has pointed at unintended consequences arising from political discourse in which a ‘suspect community’ is constructed, for society as a whole and the ‘suspect community’ in particular. Building on this research, this study analyses if and how Muslims are also constructed as a ‘suspect community’ in Dutch political discourse on terrorism in the period 2004-2015. The analysis shows that political discourse in the Netherlands has shifted significantly in this period. Whereas until 2011, terrorism was framed as a problem that originates in society and that is to be solved for society as a whole, it is currently seen as a problem that originates in Islam and which needs to be addressed by the ‘Muslim community’. All members of that ‘Muslim community’ are now considered as potentially ‘suspect’ when they do not openly and explicitly adhere to Western values and take action to distance themselves from the ‘Jihadist enemy’. Further societal implications of this discourse, in which the ‘Muslim community’ is constructed as a ‘suspect community,’ are also discussed. Show less
In this contribution, I will discuss two Turkish translations made by the famous Ottomancourt official, Wojciech Bobowski, alias Albertus Bobovius (d. ca. 1677ce). One ishis translation of the... Show moreIn this contribution, I will discuss two Turkish translations made by the famous Ottomancourt official, Wojciech Bobowski, alias Albertus Bobovius (d. ca. 1677ce). One ishis translation of the Anglican Catechism (1654), the other his version of the Ianua linguarumby Johannes Amos Comenius (Komenský, 1592–1670), the Czech philosopher,pedagogue and theologian (1658). Both texts have only survived as manuscripts andneither has been studied in any depth before. I will present the texts, as well as theirhistorical backgrounds, and shed some new light on the life of the translator as well. Show less
A rich body of historical and anthropological scholarship has critically interrogated the making and remaking of ‘Gujarat’, exploring not only the political and social contestations around the... Show moreA rich body of historical and anthropological scholarship has critically interrogated the making and remaking of ‘Gujarat’, exploring not only the political and social contestations around the formation of Gujarat as regional territory but also the articulation of distinct regional identities in various parts of the region and by various ‘minority’ communities. This article contributes to these discussions through a case study of a transnational community of Gujarati Muslims, Sunni Vohras from Charotar in central Gujarat, drawing on travel-along ethnographic research with a migrant visiting his ‘homeland’. The tensions brought about by the unfolding politics of Hindu nationalism in post-2002 Gujarat have influenced how mobile members of this group reproduce social relations in a transnational social field and cultivate social and material ties to the region. Conceptualizing the region as constituted by various kinds of mobilities, and paying special attention to social relations and social–economic practices, the article demonstrates how a regional homeland can be uncovered through ‘travel-along’ ethnographic research. Show less
