Suchergebnisse

The study deals with the so far mostly unaccented problem of the conflict in Northeastern Sudan. In contrast to the Darfur crisis, the conflict in NE Sudan is in progress without attracting any greater amount of international attention. In the text, I examine the development of the general marginalization of the inhabitants of the region in the context of the Sudanese politics since independence until the present time. The main issues of the study are the ethnicization & economization of the conflict & its international consequences. These consequences are still only latent, but the lack of conflict management might contribute to the spread of tensions abroad, as was the case with Darfur. I then argue that the passivity of the international society, as in the case of Darfur, makes certain that there is no chance for the NE Sudan conflict to be quickly resolved. As a conclusion, I suggest a solution to the crisis in the form of a broader engagement of regional organizations & states, especially IGAD (Inter-Governmental Agency for Development). Adapted from the source document.

The statute of March 15, 2004, that banned religious symbols in the French schools & State high schools, was the last act of the Headscarf Affair which had been regularly returning to the limelight of the French political scene since 1989. The review of several recent sociological books devoted to the phenomena of islamization helps to buttress the main assumption of the article that the Affair is a symptom of a failing integration of the immigrants from the Muslim countries. These populations are disproportionately hit by social & economic marginalization while, at the same time, summoned to assimilate culturally. Dogmatic republicanism conceives of the assimilation as a necessary precondition for the political integration. In the situation of an increasing social exclusion, however, the push to assimilation adds a cultural offense to an economic injury & incites a contrary reaction: a proud self-assertion of the Muslim identity. The statute banning the headscarves only intensifies this vicious dynamic. The analyses in the reviewed books seem to lead to a different solution: a reasonable response would rather be to tolerate the expressions of religious distinctiveness while, at the same time, trying to integrate people of immigrant origins both economically & politically. This would require, however, a reconstruction of the French republicanism which -- at least in its dogmatic form -- does not distinguish between the cultural & political sides of integration. 9 References. Adapted from the source document.