On Blasphemy, Bigotry and the Politics of Culture Talk

In a book that I wrote in 2004 titled Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, I began with two propositions: that every culture, without exception, is historical; and that cultures do not grow in separate containers called civilizations. The claim that they should be seen as a part of an attempt to politicize culture, that is, to harness culture to a political project. My focus then was on the period that led to 9/11. My object will be to advance two further arguments. One, the continuing “clash of civilizations”- including its distinctive European version- is better understood not as a defense civilization but as the ideological arm of a larger political project, the War on Terror. And two, for those interested in developing an effective counter to hate movements organized as political projects, I suggest developing an intellectual and political, rather than a legal, strategy.

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About the Author

Mahmood Mamdani is from Kampala, Uganda. He is currently Herbert Lehman Professor of Government in the Department of Anthropology and Political Science and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, where he was also director of the Institute of African studies from 1999 to 2004. His book Citizen and Subject was recognized as “one of Africa’s 100 best books of the 20th century” in Cape Town in 2003 and was also awarded the Herskovitz Prize of African studies Association of USA for “the best book on Africa published in the English language" in 1996.