[BRIEF NOTE] Parallax and France
Nov. 8th, 2005 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldI've always been fond of parallax, defined by Wikipedia as "the change of angular position of two stationary points relative to each other as seen by an observer, due to the motion of said observer [ . . .] the apparent shift of an object against a background due to a change in observer position." Since the astronomer Friedrich Bessel used the concept in 1838 to determine the distance between Earth and the star system of 61 Cygni, coming up with a figure by noticing the apparent shift in the star's location at different points in the Earth's orbit. The idea of parallax is something that's intensely interesting to me as an intellectual principle, as proof that there really is benefit in getting different perspectives on an issue from different writers and from unexpected sources. Parallax is good.
Unfortunately, this principle isn't entirely true for every writer and every news source. Take Tech Central Station, which is--as one would expect--enthusiastically covering the ongoing riots in France. That propaganda/news site features two interesting articles. The first, written by Nidra Poller, Tech Central Station's token French writer, argues that the Islamophilia of the French government and softness of the police forces is substantially responsible for the riots. Elsewhere, Stephen Schwartz, proponent of the thesis that if all Muslims were Sufi mystics radical Islam wouldn't be a problem, states that France should look to Islam as practised in the Balkans in Turkey for a solution, for a role model.
Poller and Schwartz aren't entirely wrong, mind, not even in those articles. Poller is correct in arguing that the French economy needs to be more dynamic, better able to assimilate populations of immigrant stock. Schwartz is imaginative, at least, in arguing that European Muslims should look to European sources for the faith. Whether or not this labour-market integration can take place in the context of the banlieues (modernist architecture is so sterilizing) is open to question. Whether religion should be used as the solution to socio-economic problems (European Muslims seem to be on the whole rather secular) is likewise debatable. Social exclusion is, as I wrote last April, the problem for Frnech Muslims, but religious differences aren't to blame for the riots so much as the simple mechanics of immigration mishandled are. Here's hoping American, French right-wing, Islamist, and other critics will stop talking of an ongoing clash of civilizations. Perhaps they can broaden their perspectives a bit?
Unfortunately, this principle isn't entirely true for every writer and every news source. Take Tech Central Station, which is--as one would expect--enthusiastically covering the ongoing riots in France. That propaganda/news site features two interesting articles. The first, written by Nidra Poller, Tech Central Station's token French writer, argues that the Islamophilia of the French government and softness of the police forces is substantially responsible for the riots. Elsewhere, Stephen Schwartz, proponent of the thesis that if all Muslims were Sufi mystics radical Islam wouldn't be a problem, states that France should look to Islam as practised in the Balkans in Turkey for a solution, for a role model.
Poller and Schwartz aren't entirely wrong, mind, not even in those articles. Poller is correct in arguing that the French economy needs to be more dynamic, better able to assimilate populations of immigrant stock. Schwartz is imaginative, at least, in arguing that European Muslims should look to European sources for the faith. Whether or not this labour-market integration can take place in the context of the banlieues (modernist architecture is so sterilizing) is open to question. Whether religion should be used as the solution to socio-economic problems (European Muslims seem to be on the whole rather secular) is likewise debatable. Social exclusion is, as I wrote last April, the problem for Frnech Muslims, but religious differences aren't to blame for the riots so much as the simple mechanics of immigration mishandled are. Here's hoping American, French right-wing, Islamist, and other critics will stop talking of an ongoing clash of civilizations. Perhaps they can broaden their perspectives a bit?
