Society

Interview with Kerem Öktem

Farewell to the "Islamic Vatican"?

Diyanet, Turkey's state-run Directorate General for Religious Affairs, is often referred to as a kind of Islamic "mini-Vatican". The Ankara-based authority seeks to shape the religious lives of Turkish Muslims living in Western Europe. In Germany, the Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), a federation of almost 900 mosque communities, is closely allied with Diyanet. Claudia Mende asked German scholar Kerem Öktem of St Anthony's College Oxford to what extent Ankara influences debates about religious matters in Germany
By Claudia Mende
Integration in Germany

Finally growing up

Attitudes and approaches to integration in Germany have changed a lot over the past 20 years. During this period, Germany has gone from a denial that it is a country of immigration to a concerted effort to improve integration. Aladin El-Mafaalani takes a closer look at what has changed
By Aladin El-Mafaalani
Health and immigration in Germany

Language barriers to psychotherapy for immigrants

Language is a crucial part of therapy when treating psychological disorders. Yet how is therapy possible when the therapist and the patient don't even speak the same language? This is often a huge problem for immigrants. Marcus Lütticke has the details
By Marcus Lütticke
Changing the orientation of Germany's Islam Conference

New agenda, same old faces

Since the row that erupted at last year's Islam Conference, dialogue between the German state and its Muslim residents has faltered. Now, the new interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, wants to get things moving again by changing the forum's orientation. But what can the German Islam Conference realistically hope to achieve in the future? By Ulrike Hummel
By Ulrike Hummel
Book review: Klaus J. Bade on Thilo Sarrazin

Forget Sarrazin!

In 2010, the German politician and former member of the board of the Bundesbank Thilo Sarrazin, caused a nationwide uproar with his hugely controversial theories on intelligence, class, race, immigration and multiculturalism. The prominent migration specialist Klaus J. Bade has now written a book on the ensuing debate. According to Andreas Pflitsch, Bade's analysis is thorough, but he completely misses the essence of the matter
By Andreas Pflitsch
Interview with the sociologist of religion Detlef Pollack

"Germans are much less tolerant"

The Archbishop of Cologne recently drew distinctions between the value of Christian and Muslim families in Germany. For Detlef Pollack, this is not an expression of Islamophobia, but an example of German reservations. Stefan Dege spoke to the sociologist of religion
By Stefan Dege
Dispute about Prof Mouhanad Khorchide

A conflict of many layers

The dispute about Mouhanad Khorchide, director of the Centre for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, is heating up. Although the conflict is ostensibly about the "correct" interpretation of Islam, it is also an attempt by the Islamic associations in Germany to make a show of strength to politicians. The dispute has dire consequences for the discipline of Islamic theology, which is still in its infancy in Germany. By Canan Topçu
By Canan Topçu
Interview with the Lebanese activist Rima Najdi

Provocation for peace

Dressed as a suicide bomber with a fake explosive belt, "Madame Bomba" roamed the streets of Beirut ... Her aim in doing so was to provoke a reaction in those that saw her and to protest against the on-going violence in Lebanon. But who is "Madame Bomba"? Juliane Metzker spoke to Rima Najdi, the Lebanese activist behind the provocative performance
By Juliane Metzker
Global history

Playing with the relativity of perspectives

A new six-volume work entitled "A History of the World" is the high point of a historiographical boom in the discipline known as "global history". The project attempts to overcome the eurocentrism of traditional writings of history. By Andreas Pflitsch
By Andreas Pflitsch
UNRWA photo exhibition: "The Long Journey"

The long journey into uncertainty

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) recently opened a photo and video exhibition on the history of Palestinian refugees since 1948 in East Jerusalem. By Joseph Croitoru
By Joseph Croitoru
Civil society initiatives in Lebanon

"I am not a martyr"

Bomb attacks and other acts of violence have almost become part of everyday life in Lebanon. After recent bomb blasts, two media campaigns were launched to raise awareness among Lebanese people of the everyday violence in their crisis-torn country. A background report by Juliane Metzker
By Juliane Metzker
Book review: Jürgen Wasim Frembgen on Kohistan

With the wild men of Kohistan

Very few foreigners have ever ventured into Kohistan in the north of Pakistan, where the locals have a reputation of being barbarians. In his book "Das verschlossene Tal" (The Sealed Valley), the German ethnologist Jürgen Wasim Frembgen paints an exhilarating portrait of this mountain region. By Marian Brehmer
By Marian Brehmer