Ibn Khaldûn: Historian of the Past and the Present, Here and Elsewhere

Translation of "Ibn Khaldûn: Historien du passé et du présent, de l’ici et de l’ailleurs", by Saber Mensouri.Text originally published under the reference: MENSOURI, Saber, IBN KHALDÛN: Historien du passé et du présent, de l\u27ici et de l\u27ailleurs. Revue des Deux Mondes, MARS 2002, pp. 122-127. Avalable on: http://www.jstor.com/stable/44189625   Original paper published without an abstract.

DECONSTRUCTING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS PROVISION: THE NORMATIVE AND THE TRANSFORMATIVE

Critical thinking skills are at the core of Higher Education and EAP practice; however, there is little consensus in defining the term and its elusive nature. We approached this landscape from a social-constructivist perspective aiming at deconstructing views and practices as well as generating ideas and alternative avenues for research and practice. We conducted a small-scale survey on how EAP practitioners view the relevant provision at their institutions, how they think teaching critical thinking skills can be more focused and effective, and how they view their role in this transition. We used this data as a springboard for our workshop at BALEAP 2023 Conference to initiate a cycle of de- and re-construction of EAP practice. This reflective report adopts Kolb’s cycle of reflective practice to analyse the outcomes of this process. Our results indicate that the emerging themes link under two larger concepts: instructional approaches and acknowledging cultural diversity. We identified a positive move towards more holistic, post-method instructional approaches to meet learners’ needs without losing sight of active student engagement. The results also highlight that diverse views and perceptions of CT skills due to cultural and educational differences were acknowledged and deficit models and/or stereotyping were rejected and identified as main challenges EAP tutors face in their practice

WORDS WORDS BIRDS

A poem

To What Extent Were There Attempts to Securitise the Malaysian Chicken Export Ban In Singapore? A Comparative Analysis of Frames Between Government and News Media

This article focuses on exploring the securitisation of the Malaysian chicken export ban that took effect on 1 June 2022. The effects of the chicken export ban seemingly went beyond the economics of food, and expanded into the realm of national identity, as the de facto national dish of Singapore got compromised. As food and national identity is intricately linked to societal security and a key part of securitisation theory, this research paper seeks to explore the extent to which the chicken export ban was securitised. Through the use of a frame analysis, three different categories of news media were analysed: governmental media, local news media and foreign news media. The analysis showed that the foreign news media had attempted securitisation, but the local news media and governmental media refrained from securitisation, and rather engaged in a prognostic framing to reframe the chicken export ban into a proactive management of the situation which desecuritised the ban

Creating an Inclusive Space for Research Conversations: A critical reflection

Within and across university departments, research seems to be much less discussed among colleagues – beyond small, existing coteries – during the conceptualisation and planning stages than showcased when already complete. Hierarchies, silos and lack of opportunities to engage may exclude individuals from potentially valuable research conversations, depending on status, contract type or access to existing research groups. Indeed, conversations about research across different, specialised interests seem to have decreased since the pandemic, hindering the development of new interdisciplinary relationships. The project referred to in this critical reflection sought to foster inclusive conversations about envisioned or ongoing research through activities engaging contract researchers, professional services staff, research students and academic staff across levels. Using peer-coaching guidelines and question prompts, the project team, comprising members in diverse roles and career stages, co-created empathic, non-judgmental and non-hierarchical conversation formats and trialled these with 24 participants across different roles and career stages at a departmental event. In this paper, we critically reflect on this attempt to create an innovative inclusive space for research conversations, explaining how the project team dealt with the challenges of silos and hierarchies and highlighting some of the tensions and difficulties involved in creating such a space. Reflective writing, discussions and survey questionnaires distributed during the project showed that intentional groupings and guided interactions did, to some extent at least, counter structural barriers in the service of an inclusive research culture, fostering mutual respect and support while encouraging research reflection. Funding Acknowledgement The project referenced in this paper and an ongoing Phase Two extension (October 2024–July 2025) with the same title – was funded by the University of Warwick Enhancing Research Culture fund

Identity Politics of the Left and Right: An Interview with Chetan Bhatt

Chetan Bhatt is the Anthony Giddens Professor of Social Theory in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics. Chetan’s research has looked at the global rise of religious fundamentalism, the international authoritarian far right, and the power of nationalism and racism historically and in contemporary political movements. Some of this work is discussed in his TED talk: Dare to refuse the origin myths that claim who you are. His most recent book is entitled The Revolutionary Road To Me (2025). This book looks at the way the rise of identity politics, and its underlying form of ‘identitarianism’, has paralysed the Western political Left. He argues that identity politics has divided progressive and Leftist political parties in a highly damaging way, leaving organisations and campaigning groups mired in intractable conflicts. Most importantly, the predominance of identity politics has diverted the Left from its founding political mission – addressing the human misery caused by the vast increases in poverty, inequality and violence across the world, driven as this is by capitalism’s relentless drive for accumulation. He also discusses the way contemporary corporate capitalism has adopted the language of identity politics, transforming what were once genuine demands for addressing discrimination into a corporate branding exercise. The form of identity politics on the Left, in so degrading the capacities of the Left to address people’s real concerns, has created a golden opportunity for Right to respond with their own forms of identity politics based on racist nationalism and misogyny, which is paraded before the populace as though it is they who now represent the interests of ‘ordinary people’ against ‘cultural elites’

Modernity between Immunity and Community

This paper presents a review of the book: Common Immunity: Biopolitics in the Age of Pandemic by Roberto Esposito. The work was initially published in Italian in 2020 and was translated into English in 2023

Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson

BOOK REVIEW: Marcus, James. Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Princeton UP, 2024

Axioms of capitalist accumulation: Deleuze and Guattari meet Samir Amin

The goal of this article is to develop a critical comparison between Deleuze and Guattari\u27s analysis of Capitalism on a “global scale” and the works of Samir Amin. This comparative approach is justified given the Deleuzoguattarian influence of Amin’s concept of "unequal exchange" in A Thousand Plateaus. However, one can identify two more theoretical affinities and a point of intersection in both analyses about the capitalist system in a broader sense: a) they offer an explanation of Capitalism’s historical accumulation processes that contradicts the evolutionist perspective of classical Marxism and Modern philosophies of History; b) both employ the concept of precapitalist social formations instead of the well know notion of modes of production – which involves the political debate about the State (discussed in Deleuze-Guattari\u27s “Urstaat” and Amin\u27s “Tributary Formations”); c) and, finally, an analytical consonance between dependency theory and Amin’s notion of peripherical social formations and Deleuze and Guattari\u27s discussion of global polarities (i.e., the geopolitical organization between center-periphery and North/South)