Suchergebnisse

Ambivalent in Amsterdam Paul Hollander Ian Buruma, Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance (New York: Penguin Press, 2006), 288 pp., $24.95. THERE HAVE been three major J. ideological-political movements in the 20th and early 21st centuries which most explicitly and purposefully exploited and harnessed the capacity for hatred to the pursuit of political objectives: Nazism, Communism and now radical Islam.

It was an emblematic crime: on a November day in Amsterdam, an angry young Muslim man shot and killed the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, iconic European provocateur, for making a movie with the anti-Islam politician Ayaan Hersi Ali. After shooting van Gogh, Mohammed Bouyeri calmly stood over the body and cut his throat with a curved machete. The murder horrified quiet, complacent Holland - a country that prides itself on being a bastion of tolerance - and sent shock waves around the world. In Murder in Amsterdam, Ian Buruma describes what he found when he returned to his native country to try

The results of a res project on small local-pressure groups in Amsterdam, treated within D. Easton's (A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL LIFE, New York, NY: 1967) theoretical framework for the analysis of pol'al systems. The municipality of Amsterdam was considered as the pol'al system & the rest of the Netherlands constituted the parameters of the system. The main analytical category used was 'demands,' because the concept 'support' caused considerable problems of operationalization. The activities of the groups are analyzed in 4 phases: feedback-stimuli, feedback-response, feedback-information, & output reaction. In the 1st phase a main distinction was introduced between groups which emerged as a result of an output of the authorities (the intra-genetic), & groups which emerged as a result of a situation in the parameters of the system (the extra-genetic). The 2nd phase includes the interpretation of the stimuli & the resulting formulation of demands. In the 3rd phase a distinction was made between indirect information feedback by means of activities such as demonstrations & appearance in the media of COMM; & direct information feedback by means of a direct contact with the authorities. The 4th phase was mainly dedicated to the behavior of the authorities. The main result of the res was the distinction between intra- & extra-genetic groups. This distinction was important for the following characteristics of the groups: intra-genetic groups more often appoint one man as the spokesman of the group; they consider more the people of certain parts of Amsterdam as concerned by their demands; they are more active in approaching the media of COMM; & are more often approached by authorities. Extra-genetic groups consider more the whole pop of Amsterdam or even the Netherlands as concerned by their demands; are more often related to pol'al parties; have less formal responsibility to the concerned people or members; & feel themselves less tied to the wishes of the people concerned. 5 Figures, 18 Tables. Modified HA.

The familiar shape of western cities is changing dramatically. For long times the urban core was taken for granted as the focal point for international contacts and day-to-day activities in the region. Currently, the urban scope is transforming into multi centred forms at metropolitan scale. The transition is not just a matter of spatial form, it is reflecting social, economic and cultural processes. The question is what new identities may develop in such changing historical conditions of space and place. The book is a first attempt to analyse the process of urban transformation in an integral way. The focus is on the region of Amsterdam. All contributions are written by senior researchers of the Amsterdam studycentre for the Metropolitan Environment (AME). AME is the interdisciplinary urban research institute of the Universiteit van Amsterdam. As the urban research institute at the Universiteit van Amsterdam, the Amsterdam studycentre for the Metropolitan Environment (AME) analyses the economic, social and cultural aspects of this spatial transformation, usually in international comparative research. All contributions to this book are written by senior researchers of AME in an attempt to analyse in an integral way the present and future dilemmas out of the historical growth paths of this dynamic city. - De gebruikelijke vorm van westerse steden is drastisch aan het veranderen. Lange tijd was de stadskern het traditionele brandpunt van internationale contacten en dagelijkse activiteiten in de omgeving. Tegenwoordig is het stedelijke centrum aan het veranderen in een diffuus patroon van stedelijke kernen op een metropolitische schaal. De overgang is niet alleen een ruimtelijke aangelegenheid, maar is ook een reflectie van sociale, economische en culturele processen. De vraag is welke nieuwe identiteiten zich zullen ontwikkelen in een dergelijke veranderende historische voorwaarden van ruimte en plaats. Dit boek is een eerste aanzet om de processen van stedelijke veranderingen op een integrale wijze in kaart te brengen. De nadruk ligt op de regio Amsterdam. Alle bijdragen zijn geschreven door senior onderzoekers van het Amsterdam studycentre for the Metropolitan Environment (AME). Het AME is een interdisciplinair onderzoeksinstituut van de Universiteit van Amsterdam.