Sorry, this entry is only available in Nederlands and Deutsch.

I went to a conference of the European protest research networkClick in order to get to the site of the network
on social movements/protest in Europe two weeks ago [it was great and inspiring!] where I presented a paper on young Muslims following the salafiyyah. I was somehow the odd one since I presented on an “odd movement”: groups or movements based on religion or/and lacking the focus on civil rights, environment or other “progressive, secular” issues are usually not the core business of social movement researchers. Also, movements whose actions are not geared towards the state, capitalism or political participation of any sort stand out. The core concern of Muslims following the salafiyyah in the Netherlands or Germany is NOT a political representation in contemporary Dutch or German society, a change of government or reforming the capitalist economic system and so on. Most are rather busy with da’wacalling to Islam and trying to prefigure the ideal society as they envision it.

Of course, this should not restrain researchers from using the methods, tools and approaches of Social Movement Theory (SMT) for “odd” movements. It has been done before, also with reference to difference movements or currents within Islam, and it is not a contested issue per se. Some examples can be found in the works of Assef Bayat, Quintan Wiktorowicz, Kevin McDonald, Charles Kurzman and others.

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I am regularly confronted with questions regarding the ethically right way to interact with research participants within CMC environments. I guess that many colleagues and also research participants are faced with similar questions. I figured out for myself that an “ethics of care” is a good choice when doing research in CMC environments. This leaves enough flexibility since it is not fixed how “care” is achieved. However, it requires constant (re-) consideration of procedures since the researcher cannot resort to fixed rules. Care means above all to prevent harm from research participants, to respect and to engage. How this is best done differs from field to field.

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