FAST FOOD NATION: WHAT THE ALL-AMERICAN MEAL IS DOING TO THE WORLD by Eric Schlosser. London: Penguin Books, 2002. Pp. 386. Pbk. £7.99.
STUPID WHITE MEN (AND OTHER SORRY EXCUSES FOR THE STATE OF THE NATION) by Michael Moore. Pub: Penguin Books, London, 2002. Pp: 281. Pbk: £7.99.
Educationists in the West are presently in the middle of a intense debate about purpose and means of providing education. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ argues that this provides an opportunity for Muslims...
Terrorism is one of the most widely used words in the world today. It also has numerous meanings. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses the way the West uses the word and exploits the phenomenon...
இன்று ‘மூன்றாம் உலகு’ என்றழைக்கப்படும் நிலப்பகுதிகளை ஐரோப்பிய-அமெரிக்க சக்திகள் பலாத்காரமாகப் பௌதிக ரீதியில் பிடித்துவைத்து, நம்பவொண்ணா அளவில் அவற்றின் வளங்களைச் சுரண்டிவந்த ஒரு வரலாற்றுக் காலகட்டமே காலனித்துவம் என்று பெரும்பாலும் தற்போது புரிந்துகொள்ளப் பட்டிருக்கிறது. மேற்கத்திய சக்திகளின் இந்த அமைப்பு ரீதியான கொள்ளை ஸ்பெயினிலிருந்து துவங்கியது.
Few Muslims doubt that one of the major tasks facing us is the reversal of the impact of colonialism on our societies. However, the extent of this impact is seldom noticed. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses the need to decolonize our minds.
Materialist consumerism has become one of the defining characteristics of western/modern societies. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses how the problem can be addressed by Islam’s ethical and moral framework
1After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order by Emmanuel Todd. Translated by C. Jon Delogu. London: Constable, 2004. Pp. 243. £8.99. By Yusuf al-Khabbaz As American neo-conservative academics, policy experts, government officials and corporate media continue to proclaim the "new American century," those on the American left lament the emerging imperial power of the US. Although they are viciously opposed to one another on many points, both parties agree that America is "the sole superpower" in the world today, and that the emerging American empire is an inevitability to be either celebrated or decried.
August marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the nuclear era with the US;s use of atomic bombs against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ, who was in Hiroshima for the commemorations, discusses those momentus events and their implications.
1Although America prides itself as a open-minded and inclusive society, its policies towards the Muslim world are in fact deeply imbued with imperialist attitudes. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses the American legacy of hate.
Education is a central part of the West’s agenda for re-shaping the Muslim world along its own lines. As such, it plays a prominent role in the many institution as and programs by which the West aims to persuade Muslims to acquiese to their own Westernization, writes YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ.
The problem of the Eurocentric nature of most modern education is now widely accepted, and there are numerous efforts to try to address it by developing indigenous forms of knowledge. But this is only one of many problems in contemporary Western academic discourse. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses.
The academic disciplines through which most people study and understand modern life are almost entirely based on Western historical experiences and the needs opf western societies. They thus remain replete with cultural and political implications that few understand. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses efforts to criticaly redefine these disciplines.
Islamic Iran’s relations with international organizations such as the UN have been among the most criticised elements of its foreign policy...
Few Muslims doubt that one of the major tasks facing us is the reversal of the impact of colonialism on our societies. However, the extent of this impact is seldom noticed. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses the need to decolonize our minds...
As Muslims around the world prepare for Ramadan, there is also increasing awareness among non-Muslims of the effects of the sort of diet promoted by profit-seeking Western multinationals. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ examines the recent movie 'Super Size Me'
Clothing must be among the most important but least analyzed sites of colonization. The works that examine the connection between colonization and clothing concentrate almost entirely on the material dimension of dress...
The US’s claim to be bringing freedom and progress to Iraq is often justified by comparisons with its administration of Japan at the end of the second world war...
Recent US policies towards Muslims and the Muslim world, and particularly their treatment of Muslim prisoners in Iraq, Guantanamo and elsewhere, reveal a deep fear and contempt of Muslims...
Even as it acts more and more aggressively against Muslims around the world, the US has launched a massive propaganda campaign in the Muslim world...
Television has now become the primary mode of entertainment and information for millions of people worldwide...
An increasing proportion of popular entertainment in Muslim countries now comes from the West, particularly the US. YUSUF KHABBAZ discusses whether such entertainment is proper for Muslim families and societies.
Materialist consumerism has become one of the defining characteristics of western/modern societies. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses how the problem can be addressed by Islam’s ethical and moral framework.
Among the topics discussed at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Kuwait in December was that of textbook revision...
YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ argues that the impact of modern technological society on the lives of individual human beings has been such as to create a “crisis of humanity” in modern societies, and discusses ways it can be countered by Muslims.
YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses modern and traditional Islamic ways of understanding culture, with particular reference to the challenges facing Muslims in today’s global, multicultural and West-dominated society.
1Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich. Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd., London, 2002 (first published in 1971 by Calder and Boyars). Pp. 116. Pbk. £8.95.
Since its creation in the 1990s, al-Jazeera Satellite Television has become a darling of parts of the Western establishment, hailed as a voice of modernity and democracy in the Middle East. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ asks why...
THE VITAL ILLUSION by Jean Baudrillard. The Wellek Library Lectures. Pub: New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Pp. 102. Hbk. Price: US$18.
The operations of so-called suicide bombers against the Israeli occupiers of Palestine have come under severe attack in the West. Yusuf al-Khabbaz compares their nature with the epidemic of suicide sweeping through America and other Western countries.
The television has become one of the most essential and ubiquitous items of a modern lifestyle, but few people are aware of the role it plays in shaping society. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses its link with consumerism
Globalization has become one of the buzz words of our era. But it means many different things to different people, and is the focus of an intense and global protest movement. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses.
The Islamic rules and regulations governing the listening of music are among the most misunderstood in Islam. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ discusses the issue...
The Jews are pillaging Palestine, and the world is looking away. A few feeble-minded declarations and toothless resolutions notwithstanding, no one with the capability to say or do anything of substance seems to care.
American culture is behaving like a disease agent and poisoning human minds. Recent studies published in a variety of influential Western medical journals indicate an alarming increase in mental illness worldwide.
George W. Bush’s inauguration as president a year ago followed one the most controversial and tainted elections in US history. A year later, with all attention turned to the ‘war against terrorism’, he hopes to be remembered as a great president. YUSUF AL-KHABBAZ has a better memory...
On a recent lecture tour of the Arab Muslim world, a celebrity from the American Muslim lecture circuit claimed that "civilization" was like a "caravan" and that different peoples have led the caravan.
THE VITAL ILLUSION by Jean Baudrillard. The Wellek Library Lectures. Pub: New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Pp. 102. Hbk. Price: US$18.
NON-WESTERN EDUCATIONAL TRADITIONS: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT AND PRACTICE
