Two days ago I was surfing rather aimlessly on paltalk, the chat program through which I follow a number of Muslim chat rooms. It was 5 pm and not much was going on except for two chat rooms carrying something like “dialogues of religions” in their titles. I sometimes visit these chat rooms which usually have 30 to 50 participants from whom about 10 to 15 are actively typing and talking on the microphone. However, discussions in the two of them are quite predictable: It is usually dominated by Muslims who answer questions on their religion and bring evidence that the Qur’an is the word of God. Others, who claim that their religion or conviction is the truth (mostly Christians) are asked to bring (scientific) proof. The word dialogue is quite misleading in these rooms, it is all about convincing the other that she or he is wrong. That can be fun but that day it was rather dull and, yes that also happens during fieldwork, I got bored. So I wandered off….

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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 quite excited: I have started to do interviews for my research. I have known most people I am interviewing before. However, the main differences between interviews and normal conversations with my research partners are basically the following:

1. After they have agreed that the transcript (or the protocol) is okay, I am allowed to quote from it. That means I do not have to ask for permission everytime I want to quote from the transcript (however, interviewpartners can withdraw their permission any time.) I never quote from any other conversation or exchange (be it offline or online) without explicitly asking for consent.
2. I try to stay focused on the topic of my research (Islam, knowledge practices and new media). In informal conversations, we talk also about a host of other things (men, kids, studies, weather, latest news etc.) and joke. Although I love this, I try to stay to the point, at least as long as my interview partners do this
3. The content of the conversation in interviews is recorded, be it literally as a voice recording or as a sort of protocol.

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Labeling is a delicate issue. A label carries specific notions and meaning about that which is labeled. It usually decreases complexity, for good or for bad. We often need to reduce complexity in order to communicate. However, the mechanisms of in- and exclusion that are at work can easily distort the way a person feels about herself, the way somebody is represented and the aspirations of people or a person. In this sense labeling is innately political. Everybody encounters this problem in everyday life. Just consider the label “moderate Muslim” which we encounter more often these days. What preconceived notions are carried along and who is excluded is clear: A bearded Muslim praying five times a day and wearing a long qamis or a woman wearing a headscarf are surely not eligible for this label.

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