Browsing by Author "Emanuelsson, Jimmy"

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Att framställa islam - En diskursanalys av tre universitetsläroböcker om islam
(2013-02-08) Emanuelsson, Jimmy; University of Gothenburg/Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, issues related to religion and violence has been actualized in the media. Do Islamic texts and sources legitimate violent actions? In response to these questions, some professional scholars of Islam argued that the 11 September terrorists were not really Muslims, but hijackers of Islam. According to other scholars, such arguments reflect a common sui-generis discourse in religious studies which stresses the autonomy of religious phenomena, the priority of faith over cultural production, interior experiences and beliefs over social practice. The scholars in favor for a naturalistic approach in religious studies argues that, in order to approach religion in a naturalistic way, we have to be critical of representations of religion – and in this case representations of Islam – drawing on a suigeneris discourse. The aim of this paper is two-fold: on the one hand, it investigates, through discourse analysis, how Islam is represented in textbooks used in religious studies introductory courses in Sweden. The paper shows how the textbooks draw on both sui-generis discourses and naturalistic discourses, although the sui-generis discourse is arguably the dominant one. On the other hand, the paper proposes alternative approaches to the study of Islam which seeks to avoid problems associated with the sui generis discourse.
Islam på universitetet. En innehållsanalys av islamisk predikan på Chalmers
(2010-06-23) Emanuelsson, Jimmy; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion; University of Gothenburg/Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion
This paper analyzes the content of eight Islamic Friday-sermons, held at Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg in spring 2010, organized by Chalmers Islamiska Förening (CIF) (Chalmers Islamic community). The forces of globalization, the accessibility of information and the Internet have given rise to discourses and movements that know no national boundaries. The accessibility of these global movements and discourses through media, Internet, etc., affect the way Muslims in Sweden interpret and practice their religion. Thus, this paper includes discussions and descriptions of global Islamic revivalist-movements, and relates the contents of the sermons at Chalmers to these movements. In the sermons, the imams often discuss the concept of a global Muslim community, the umma, and their perceptions of the prescribed ethics linked to this community. They often relate this discussion of ethics to frequently discussed issues in the West such as equality, justice and ethical standards in war. The imams legitimize such discussions and concepts by referring to quotes from the Qu‘rān and the Hadīth, as well as to expositions by Muslim theologians and historical figures. They often use these quotes to denote that the actions and attitudes to be taken toward these subjects lies within the Islamic sources. Another key aspect of Islamic revivalist-movements that is explored in this paper is the concept of da‘wa, in which the message of Islam is disseminated, and with it an invitation to join Islamic faith. This paper will attempt to investigate in what way the content of the sermons can be linked to broader trends and patterns within global Islamic revivalist-discourses. The paper also investigates to what extent the descriptions and norms related to the Islamic preaching tradition affects the content of the sermons.
Meningens motstånd. 29 studenters perspektiv på humaniora
(Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion, Göteborgs universitet, 2014-10-05) Alarcón, Meri; Amundsen Bergström, Matilda; Kaveh, Tania; Pettersen, Vilde Andrea; Jagemark, Lisa; Karlsson, Moa; Juliusson, Carl Magnus; Leffler, Olof; Vikström, Ylva; Andersson, Alexander; Allzén, Simon; Wollter, Sebastian; Lindbo, Johanna; Ramberg, Jens; Lindh, Mattias; Westberg, Anders; Wedin, Robert; Martinsson, Lars; Emanuelsson, Jimmy; Kostenniemi, Peter; Egerzon, Tobias; Svensson, Therese; Jirenfelt, Helena; Lindström, Miranda; Falk, Linus; Möller, Mirjam; Kåregård, Ingrid; Lingaas Türk, Johanna; Andersson, Martin; Andersson, Viktor; Alarcón, Meri; Amundsen Bergström, Matilda; Kaveh, Tania; Pettersen, Vilde Andrea; Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion, Göteborgs universitet
Många röster har på senare tid uppmärksammat att dagens humaniora är i kris. Marginaliserad av en ointresserad offentlighet, ifrågasatt av andra vetenskapliga discipliner, stundtals betvivlad även av humanister själva. Men hur står det egentligen till med denna påstådda krissituation? Och hur upplever studenterna, en omistlig men i debatten ofta åsidosatt grupp, humaniora och humanistiska studier? I antologin Meningens motstånd presenterar 29 studenter verksamma vid Göteborgs Universitet sina perspektiv på humaniora, i ett försök att komplicera och nyansera bilden av detta ständigt omdebatterade vetenskapliga fält. Antologin är en mångfacetterad samling texter, där kärleksfulla försvarstal blandas med brännande kritik och konstruktiva förändringsförslag. Inga enkla svar ges, men i sex tematiska kapitel introduceras nya infallsvinklar både vad gäller humanioras dåtid, nutid och framtid. Sammantaget lyckas skribenterna därmed om inte utrota idén om humanioras kris så definitivt skapa nytt hopp för framtiden.
”Religion” som diskursiv strategi. Diskurser kring kategorin religion i fyra offentliga debatter i Sverige
(2015-02-13) Emanuelsson, Jimmy; University of Gothenburg/Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion
The thesis explores how the category religion is used discursively in Swedish public debates and in what way the discourses can be related to debate-positions. The thesis also explores questions of power and how social identities are negotiated: which identities are made possible – and encouraged – by the discourse, and which are being excluded? The specific cases chosen are: (i) the election of Omar Mustafa as a substitute member of the governing board of the Social Democratic party in April 2013, (ii) the appointment of Elisabeth Svantesson as Minister of employment in September 2013, (iii) the debate concerning male circumcision (2011-2013), and, (iv) the debate about Jewish home education (2012-2013). The theoretical and methodological perspectives used in the thesis are discourse analysis and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, usually interwoven together. Discourse analysis is mainly used to explore how the category of religion is attached to central binaries in the debates such as faith/politics, private/public, secularism/fundamentalism, etc., and also how chains of equivalences are established. Bourdieu’s theory of social fields is used to contextualize the discourses in the specific debates and relate them to orthodox and heterodox debate-positions. Bourdieu’s concept symbolic capital is also used to investigate the rhetoric of generosity in the debates. The thesis concludes that discourses on religion functions mainly in two different ways. On the one hand, binaries like private/public, religion/politics helps to legitimize the exclusion of certain discourses, practices and subjects from participating in the so-called political or public sphere. On the other hand, when it operates in a different context, the same discourse contributes to obscure the fact that the traditions we call religions have significant indirect political effects – they socialize political subjects for example. In this latter aspect, the discourse may also protect so-called religious discourses, ideologies and practices from criticism.