Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

“ What future for Syria, particularly for democratic aspirations? Looking at HTS and SNA’s policies in the past, they have not encouraged a democratic space to develop, but quite the opposite. They have been authoritarian. No trust should be given to such forces, quite the opposite. “Only the self-organization of popular classes fighting for democratic and progressive demands will create that space and open a path toward actual liberation. Their capacity to do so, however, will have to overcome many obstacles from war fatigue to repression, poverty, and social dislocation. Only the development of civil society’s organizations (not narrowly defined as of NGOs but in a Gramscian sense of popular mass formations outside of the state) such a as trade unions, feminist organizations, local popular associations , etc… can constitute a political and social alternative for a democratic future… Joy and fear are not contradictory feelings for the future of Syria. While it is important to remind ...

Fear, bigotry and misinformation

" Though it was originally published before the iconic events of 9/11, now more than a decade ago, S. Sayyid’s  A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism  (1997) has assumed even more timely significance since its first appearance. In this pioneering book, Sayyid provocatively suggests, and one can still see the logic of his proposition, that we must see political Islamism as a particular phase of decolonization of Muslim political cultures. Sayyid took the rise of Islamism as a challenge to ‘Western’ political hegemony, and particularly its self-congratulatory declaration of the End of History. That proposition still demands attention." Islamism — A Eurocentric Position?

"A fractious Europe, a failing currency, a challenged economy, populist parties on the rise, a divided left, migration from the east, an atmosphere of fear combined with social and sexual liberalism. The parallels between Britain today and Germany in the 1920s may well make this a compelling moment to revisit those postwar German thinkers who gathered in what was known as the Frankfurt school for social research – something akin to a Marxist think tank, [...] Little wonder, given the history of the 20th century, that the Frankfurt school gave us intellectual pessimism and negative dialectics.  Jeffries’s biography  is proof that such a legacy can be invigorating."   –  Lisa Appignanesi,  Guardian