scholarly journals Alternative Facts, Alternative Sciences: The Development of the Concept in Medieval Islam and Its Historical Consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 423
Author(s):  
Dimitri Gutas
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Medieval Islam ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Unites States ◽  
Trump Administration

The perception of reality, and of what is real and what false, as unproblematic and self-evident in stable societies hides the fact that reality as perceived by members of a society is socially and politically generated. The generation through political fiat of an alternative reality presented as alternative facts in the Unites States during the Trump administration, and the astounding espousal of that alternative reality by nearly half of the population, is a striking demonstration of this fact. In this paper, the development inmedieval Islam of the concept of alternative facts as alternative scientific reality is traced to the historical developments in the Middle East in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with an account of their consequences which persist to the present day.

scholarly journals THE CONSTRUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE FACTS: DARK PARTICIPATION AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN THE QANON CONSPIRACY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Clyde Partin ◽  
Alice Emily Marwick
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Social Web ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Symmetry Principle ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Current Events ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
Trump Administration

QAnon is a right-wing conspiracy theory based on a series of posts (“Drops”) made to the imageboard 8chan by “Q”, an anonymous poster who claims to be a Trump administration insider and encourages their followers (“Bakers”) to conduct research to interpret and find hidden truths (“Bread”) behind current events. In this paper, we argue that QAnon Bakers adopt a “scientistic self” by producing and maintaining specific facts and theories that enable the conspiracy’s social and political cohesion over time. Rather than dismissing Q researchers’ conclusions out of hand, we adopt science studies’ symmetry principle to consider the tools and techniques of Baking. We argue that the institutional character of Baking distinguishes QAnon from other online conspiracy communities, which primarily rely on anecdotal evidence or sow doubt in scientific consensuses. Q, by contrast, research is intended to produce certainty through the systematic construction of alternative facts. In making this argument, we share and build upon other scholars’ critiques of participatory media. Indeed, we conclude that it is precisely the participatory affordances of the social web that have made QAnon so potent.

The Islamic East a millennium ago: Biruni’s world

Biruni ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
George Malagaris
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Complex World ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Medieval Islam

Biruni constantly investigated his complex world in its natural and historical aspects. He perceived his homeland of Khwarazm in the manner of a modern physical geographer while simultaneously maintaining awareness of its underlying cultural currents and far-flung connections with distant lands. He appreciated that the notion of a region depended on cultural and political factors; indeed, the modern usage of the terms Central Asia, Middle East, and South Asia implies a multiplicity of histories, as he doubtlessly would have understood. Biruni himself frequently commented on its significance and persistently sought to interpret its underlying tendencies throughout his writing. Whether he touched on the topics of ancient Iran, late antique Hellenism, or early medieval Islam, Biruni added to the knowledge of his contemporaries, and the survival of his works has augmented our own.

scholarly journals ‘Alternative facts are not facts’: Gaffe-announcements, the Trump administration and the media

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris McVittie ◽  
Andy McKinlay
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
The Media ◽  
Trump Administration

Gaffes are actions or events that are treated as problematic in subsequent news coverage through the production of what we term here ‘gaffe-announcements’. In an analysis of news media interviews conducted with members of the Trump administration during its first 100 days, we examine how interviewees respond to interviewer gaffe-announcements. Interviewees are seen to challenge the making of an announcement, to attempt to rework the ontological status of infelicitous talk, or to introduce the views of others who view the prior talk as felicitous. These responses lead in subsequent turns to reformulation of the gaffe-announcement, rejection of the response, or the views introduced being treated as irrelevant. These forms of response allow interviewees to avoid accepting that gaffes have occurred and allow the interviews to continue in line with normative expectations but discussion continues on matters that are treated as negative and detrimental to the interests of the administration.

Facts, Faction, Anachronism

PMLA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 1143-1149
Author(s):  
Russ Castronovo
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Defining Moment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Latin Word ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
The Media ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Trump Administration

Temporal concerns are baked into the matter of facts. From an etymological point of view, facts are moments of making and doing that are no longer alive and kicking. Coming into English and other modern Western languages by means of both the past participle of the Latin word facere (“to make or to do”) and the Latin noun factum, whose senses include the “result of doing” and “something done,” fact denotes an action that has happened and is now preserved like a fossil in the accumulated sediments of history (“Fact”). Etymologically speaking, facts are safely removed from the vicissitudes of the present and the whims of our leaders. So it makes sense that there should be some hand-wringing over facts that have become so thoroughly destabilized that they no longer seem to be based on anything. The defining moment in this distressing development occurred when the Trump administration, not content merely to put a spin on facts, dismissed quantifiable facts by summoning “alternative facts” to deny that the low attendance at the 2017 presidential inauguration was real. A dictionary, not the renowned one from Oxford but Urban Dictionary, offers the following definition of alternative facts: “an attempt to gaslight the population in an effort to control the media and create propaganda” (Mozzy-o). If only we could take refuge in etymology and remind ourselves and anyone else who will listen that facts are veritable faits accomplis, over and done with, past participles that stand as linguistic monuments to a bygone event beyond alteration.

The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
World Politics ◽  
African History ◽  
North African ◽  
The North ◽  
East Region ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Middle East Region

It is in moments of great upheaval that societies may best be studied. Today, The North Africa and the Middle East region (MENA) finds itself in the most alarming state since World War I. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle East and North African History is a timely intervention to interrogate the region’s internal dynamics and take stock of its place in world politics. It illuminates afresh dominant historical currents as well as counter-currents that previous accounts have not given their due attention or have failed to notice. Broadly chronological, this volume combines thematic and country-based, multi-disciplinary analysis in order to reconsider half a century of scholarship and to critically examine the defining processes and structures of historical developments from Morocco to Iran and from Turkey to Yemen over the past two centuries.

A PRINTER’S ODD PLEA TO REFORM LEGAL PLURALISM IN KHEDIVAL EGYPT*

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Youssef Cheta ◽  
Kathryn A Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Personal Story ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Writing ◽  
Catch 22 ◽  
Historical Developments

Abstract: In 1871, an Italian-Jewish printer published a peculiar Arabic treatise from Cairo. It promoted strengthening legal pluralism in Khedival Egypt by realigning laws there to accord with those of the Ottoman Empire and European states. Composed by the printer’s legal team, the treatise questioned how justice could be obtained if the extraterritorial privileges of European subjects and protégés were not guaranteed. The printer had been motivated by his own plight: a test of the Egyptian merchant courts left him mired in a catch-22, whereby he could either accept an imperfect verdict, or demand extralegal measures. Choosing the latter option, the treatise embodied his desperate bid to promote his cause. Its importance stems from its very existence. It gave form to the printer’s tricky predicament by grasping at different genres of legal writing; it made his personal story relevant to all by entering it into the public domain; and it audaciously called for strengthening Roman law in Egypt. While the document’s actual influence cannot be ascertained, it anticipated wider historical developments regarding the practice and conception of print and law in the modern Middle East.

scholarly journals American Strategy of "Sufficient Presence" in the Middle East

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 236-251
Author(s):  
I. V. Ryzhov ◽  
M. Yu. Borodina ◽  
T. V. Baranova
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Threat Assessment ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Nuclear Program ◽  
Syrian Crisis ◽  
The Us ◽  
Middle East Policy ◽  
Trump Administration

Abstract: After D. Trump came to power it started developing a new US Middle East policy, based on the regional threat assessment, such as the unstable political situation in a number of regional countries, radical regimes, terrorism, especially ISIS. In addition, the most important task for the Trump administration was to try to regain lost US influence in the region, which resulted in the so-called "strategy of sufficient presence" and in the support of regional allies, "centers of power" such as Israel.A distinctive feature of D. Trump's policy in the region can be considered a change in rhetoric regarding the Iranian nuclear program up to the introduction of new economic sanctions. Moreover, the American approach to the settlement of the Syrian crisis is connected with the prevention of the growing influence of Iran and Russia in the region.American-Turkish relations also underwent significant changes, which were very tense until 2017. The states managed to find common ground on a number of issues of international politics. However, the situation is still significantly complicated by American support for the Kurds in their quest for autonomy.Trump's ratings at home are falling, and therefore there is a possibility that Trump will lose the upcoming presidential elections to his opponent D. Biden. However, trying to predict the prospects of the US Middle East policy in the event of D. Biden's victory, the authors came to the conclusion that it will not undergo significant changes, except for the nuclear deal with Iran. The key tasks of American foreign policy will remain the fight against terrorism, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the search for likeminded states in the region.

Europe-US divergence on Middle East could be long-term

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Defence Cooperation ◽  
Swift System ◽  
Uk Foreign Policy ◽  
Trump Administration

Subject European and Middle East priorities in the Middle East. Significance The US killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3 focused international attention on continuing tensions between Tehran and Washington and revealed deep and ongoing fractures in the transatlantic alliance. These strains were not caused by Soleimani's death; they stem from fundamental strategic differences on Middle Eastern policy priorities between the transactional Trump administration and a multilaterally oriented Europe. Impacts Trump’s re-election could further divide European from US interests in the Middle East. Europe’s main focus in the Middle East will continue to be security and controlling migration, with less concern for human rights. Future EU-UK foreign policy unity will hinge on safeguarding security and defence cooperation post-Brexit. European efforts to reduce dependence on the dollar as a reserve currency, such as creating an independent SWIFT system, will gain support.

scholarly journals From the Editor

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-156
Author(s):  
Richard C. Martin
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Diverse Population ◽  
President Elect ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Growing Population ◽  
Trump Administration

This issue of RoMES has been edited in a national atmosphere of anti-Muslim rhetoric, openly expressed by several candidates during the presidential primaries. Now the election campaign has moved to the appointment, by President-Elect, Donald J. Trump, of cabinet members and close advisors, many of whom share his views of the Middle East and its diverse population. And it does not look good for Muslims in America, including Muslims who are U.S. citizens. Along with Hispanics, African Americans, and Jews, Muslims—and indeed the Middle East as such—are regarded as problems that President-Elect Trump seems intent on doing something about. It is a view of Islam and the Middle East shared increasingly in word and deed by a sizeable and vocal portion of the electorate. What are we to make of the possibility of foreign and domestic policy being crafted by the likes of John R. Bolton, who associates Islam with jihadism and is an admirer of the Islamophobic writings of Robert Spencer? Will there be any tolerance in the new Trump administration of debate and the free exchange of ideas on the need for education about and understanding of the Middle East? The importance of this question relates to the growing population of naturalized and second generation citizens of Middle Eastern origins now living in the U.S. The Middle East is here, and contributing to American culture, religious life, economy, and citizenship.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document