Among Iran's dissident intellectuals, I'd think that AbdolKarim Soroush, what with his idea of religious democracy, might be the most interesting interlocutor with Tariq Ramadan. (Soroush's Web site is at <http://www.drsoroush.com/>, where some of his essays and interviews, together with a few essays about his work, are available, both in English and Persian -- unfortunately, the English translations at the Web site are of poor quality.)
I'd imagine that Jahanbegloo's NED fellowship was a result of his political naivete, him not having known what the NED does and why association with it is a "kick-me" sign not only in Iran but also in Venezuela and other countries whose governments have very good reasons to keep a watchful eye over this institution and others like it. On the other hand, Jahanbegloo probably does really admire the way state socialism was brought to an end in the Eastern bloc and pays little attention to subsequent economic troubles in many former Eastern bloc nations. Just as some Western socialist intellectuals used to overrate state socialism, today's liberal Iranian intellectuals, like yesterday's Eastern bloc dissidents, overrate liberal capitalist democracy (which is fast becoming illiberal, as the banning of Tariq Ramadan from the USA, for instance demonstrates). So, I'd think that Jahanbegloo and others like him would benefit more from talking with Ramadan and others who have personally experienced the good, bad, and ugly sides of living as Muslims in the liberal capitalist West, than with, say, Jürgen Habermas and the like.
On 2/16/07, Jim Straub <rustbeltjacobin at gmail.com> wrote:
> I was hoping someone would bring up this article.
> I've been a fan from afar of Ramadan for awhile.
> Was really hoping he'd get some of the cornel
> west-type intellectual limelight in the US when at Notre Dame,
> but, fuck, oh well. I think he's the shit.
> Yoshie you probably have a pretty developed
> opinion of his politics, can you share a little about him besides
> what the casual observer would know?
I'm still learning about Ramadan's work -- he is a prolific writer and frequent public speaker, so it's hard to keep up! It seems to me that his approach to Islam and politics is among the most significant intellectual challenges to the politically pro-Washington and pro-capitalist but culturally conservative or reactionary governments and clerical notables in the Arab world. (His being a grandson of Hassan Al-Banna is a great asset for him and us especially in this respect.) What is his chance of getting heard in such countries, gaining wide audience he certainly deserves, and becoming an influence that shapes the direction of political oppositions there? That's what I would like to know but have no way of really knowing.
As for Ramadan's political work in the West, his pragmatism stands out, in a good way. On one hand, he (unlike the sort of dissident Iranian intellectuals whom Western liberals champion) is strongly social democratic, perhaps even socialist in the sense of 21st-century socialism (more participatory democracy than central planning), very much in sync with the left wing of altermondialisme. On the other hand, he would work with neoliberal Third-Way politicians like Tony Blair, if he thinks that's truly in the interest of Muslim immigrant communities and he can work with them without compromising his freedom to speak his mind (for instance, he advised the UK government after the 7/7 subway bombings and went on a UK speaking tour to speak to Muslim youth, the tour given government blessing). What not to like?
But not only the US and French governments but also some sectors of the Left, especially of the French Left, remain suspicious of or hostile to him. His appearance at the European Social Forum has been protested, and some, like the Mouvement français pour le planning familial and the Confédération des associations pour le droit à l'avortement et à la contraception, in effect argued for excluding him from the limelight at the forum: "En effet, le Forum Social Européen se veut être, notamment, un lieu d'échanges et de débats pour lutter contre les inégalités économiques et sociales. Nous supposons par conséquent que le combat pour les libertés et les droits des femmes fait partie des causes défendues par ce forum. Or, il nous semble que la présence de Tariq Ramadan, invité à intervenir en séance plénière entre en contradiction avec ces valeurs" [Indeed, the European Social Forum wants to be, in particular, a place of debates and exchanges for struggle against economic and social inequalities. We, consequently, suppose that the battle for freedoms and women's rights is part of the causes defended by this forum. However, it seems to us that the presence of Tariq Ramadan, invited to speak at the plenary session, is in contradiction with these values.] (cf. "Enjeux de la présence de Tariq Ramadan au FSE," <http://www.planning-familial.org/actualites/index.php?select=14&mots=>).
Tariq Ramadan, to be sure, has yet to go so far as to endorse the feminist and queer activist positions on such issues as abortion, homosexuality, and so on (and will probably never do so), but it is also true that, if conservative Muslim nations and communities (and any other religious communities where social and cultural conservatism predominates) went as far on some of those issues, most of us would consider it to be a great leap forward. And the very fact that he remains a committed, practicing Muslim, from a world-famous Islamist family, makes it more likely that he can reach and change the minds of Muslims whom secular intellectuals cannot -- and often do not bother to -- engage. The question is whether secular leftists are prepared to work with people, not just intellectuals like Ramadan, who are very progressive on some issues -- e.g., economy, immigrant rights, international equality, and so on -- but genuinely conservative on others -- e.g., sex, gender, and sexuality -- when it comes to Muslims, not just Catholics, toward common goals we do share, even while continuing to debate points of disagreement honestly -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>