L’humanitarisme islamique

Cet article explique comment la recherche de l’auteur sur l’humanitaire islamique dérive d’une analyse de la sémiotique du croissant rouge dans le Mouvement International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge. Cela le mène à explorer des tensions plus larges dans le domaine des associations caritatives islamiques par rapport au champ général de l’humanitaire, tout en identifiant leurs ressemblances les unes avec les autres. Elles peuvent être considérées aussi comme éléments dans le mouvement plus ample des ONG « confessionnelles ». L’article analyse ensuite le rapport entre d’une part, le droit humanitaire international et les droits de l’Homme, et d’autre part, la tradition islamique juridique. L’ensemble de l’argument de l’article est présenté comme exemple du dialogue anthropologique classique concernant l’universalisme, par contraste avec le relativisme, la doctrine islamique n’étant pas ici interprétée comme exception culturelle, mais comme universalisme alternatif. Cela devrait nous permettre d’envisager plus clairement à la fois la fragilité de l’universalisme occidental, et également le besoin d’explorer ce qu’ont en commun les deux traditions intellectuelles.This article explains how the author’s research on Islamic humanitarianism began from a study of the semiotics of the red crescent as part of the International Red Cross and Red Cross Movement, which led him to explore much broader tensions in the world of Islamic charities as they relate to the general field of humanitarianism, while also identifying the family resemblances between them. Moreover, Islamic charities can be seen as part of a wider movement of ‘confessional’ NGOs. This in turn leads to a brief consideration of the relationship between International Humanitarian Law and human rights law, on the one hand, and Islamic legal tradition on the other. The whole argument is presented as a case study in the classic anthropological dialogue over universalism as opposed to relativism, Islamic doctrine being seen here not as a cultural exception but as an alternative universalism that enables us to see more clearly both the fragility of Western universalism and also the need to explore common intellectual ground

North Korea and the Politics of Visual Representation

Within international discourses on security, North Korea is often associated with risk and danger, emanating paradoxically from what can be called its strengths - particularly military strength, as embodied by its missile and nuclear programs - and its weaknesses - such as its ever-present political, economic, and food crises - which are considered to be imminent threats to international peace and stability. We argue that images play an important role in these representations, and suggest that one should take into account the role of visual imagery in the way particular issues, actions, and events related to North Korea are approached and understood. Reflecting on the politics of visual representation means to examine the functions and effects of images, that is what they do and how they are put to work by allowing only particular kinds of seeing. After addressing theoretical and methodological questions, we discuss individual (and serial) photographs depicting what we think are typical examples of how North Korea is portrayed in the Western media and imagined in international politics

Interview of Jonathan Benthall

Interview of Jonathan Benthall by Alan Macfarlane, on 6th December 2005 at Cambridge, lasts 60 minutesInterview of Jonathan Benthall on his life and work, in particular as Director of the Royal Anthropological Institut

Humanitarianism, Islam and 11 September

Jonathan Benthal

Tsai : sculptures cybernétiques, environnement = Tsai : Cybernetic Sculpture, Environnement

The authors expose the creative vision of Tsai. Benthall examines the problems associated with the use of technology for artistic ends and highlights the organic and metaphoric character of the sculptor's kinetic apparatuses. Biographical notes. 16 bibl. ref