NI 483 - June, 2015

Fundamentalism - Power, politics and persuasion

A note from the editor

The value of doubt

India, the country I grew up in, experiences fundamentalism in tides. Upsurges are not spontaneous. They tend to be orchestrated by a particular party’s bid to gain and hold on to political power.

But then the tide goes out a bit, when the populace tires of the usual political mismanagement and the appeal to hard-core religion begins to be seen as the dangerous distraction it is. Meanwhile, the usual havoc has taken place – communities insulted, angry and driven asunder, rioting and murder, and the growth of a jackbooted assertiveness. Ready for the next eruption.

Why do people fall for it again and again? We could go right back to the colonial British administration’s policy of divide and rule. But maybe even they were only spreading a disease that already existed. When I asked one journalist what attracted ordinary people to such extreme thinking, I received the equivalent of an email snort: ‘So that they can lord it over the rest of us.’

One thing is certain, the bigotry and dogma of the fundamentalist mind takes no prisoners. Every religion is susceptible, not just those featuring in this edition, because fundamentalism is organized religion’s will to power. It is deeply political, of human rather than divine agency, and not in the least spiritual.

Preparing this edition has given me a new appreciation of the values of scepticism and doubt.

We also have two despatches this month from the fossil fuels frontier. One is a report on growing tensions in the Arctic as nations jostle to stake claim to undersea reserves. The other is on BP’s see-no-evil cosy relationship with Azerbaijan’s autocrats – what a gas!

Dinyar Godrej for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Contested territory: a Hindu nationalist raises a saffron flag atop a church in Muniguda in India’s Orissa state. Minority communities in India are regularly targeted by politically instigated Hindu groups, and churches have been burned and defaced.

Photo: AP/Press Association Images

The lure of the dead-end

How do oppressive ideologies take hold despite the devastation they cause? Dinyar Godrej looks behind the news headlines.

Read this article

NI 483 - June, 2015

Fundamentalism - Power, politics and persuasion

A note from the editor

The value of doubt

The big story

How do oppressive ideologies take hold despite the devastation they cause? Dinyar Godrej looks behind the news headlines.

Features

Ziauddin Sardar on the various fundamentalisms on offer in Pakistan.

The upsurge of Hindu nationalism in India, by Urvashi Butalia.

His escape from fundamentalist schooling.

How foreign funds amplify hate in Uganda, by Patience Akumu.

Robert W Parenteau’s satirical look at true believers in the ‘free market’.

Could the next ‘cold’ war be a battle for control of the rapidly melting polar circle? Kyla Mandel reports.

Azerbaijan will be showing its friendly face this month as it hosts the European Games. But it’s what is going on behind the scenes that is important, argue Emma Hughes and James Marriott.

Opinion

Simon Fairlie and James McWilliams go head to head.

Racially offensive names and images should be kicked into touch.

By Kate Smurthwaite.

Agenda

Reconstruction is being hampered by Israel, which is stopping building supplies getting through, says Abedalqader Hammad.

Ragnhild Freng Dale on a recent win and the ongoing fight for recognition.

It's more of the same in the West African country, writes Gabriella Jozwiak.

Richard Swift on Nigeria's new president.

Some light relief in Malaysia.

Chris Brazier reflects on the June 2005 issue on the politics of migration.

Janet Nicol reports on Canada's Highway of Tears.

Solar energy could be the answer to Shatila's power problems, writes Lydia James.

Claire Fauset looks forward to a summer of resistance.

Overfishing is causing marine ecosystems to collapse in Thailand, writes Jess Worth.

Some good news this month.

Regulars

Praise, blame and all points in between? Your feedback published in the June 2015 magazine.

Education means learning your rights, not just how to write, says Ruby Diamonde.

Cartoon by Simon Kneebone.

Facts, figures, photos and a short history of Burma.

Emrah Arikan from Turkey with 'Sustainable Finance'.

Bahraini activist Maryam Abdulhadi al-Khawaja smiles in the face of adversity.

Cartoon by P J Polyp.

Silent communication on a Moroccan street, by Thana Faroq.

Cartoon by Marc Roberts.

Subi Shah talks to writer and activist Farrukh Dhondy about his time in the Black Panther Movement, multicultural TV and washing his own clothes.

Film, Book & Music Reviews

From Kinshasa by Mbongwana Star; Delone by Sacri Cuori.

The Tribe, directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; The Supreme Price, directed by Joanna Lipper.

Don’t Try This At Home by Angela Readman; How Politics Makes Us Sick by Ted Schrecker and Clare Bambra; The Whale House by Sharon Millar; Headscarves and Hymens by Mona Eltahawy.

More Film, Music & Book reviews from the June 2015 magazine.

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