Muslim Integration and the Hijabi Monologues Ireland

In 2012 and 2013, two productions of the Hijabi Monologues, an American theatre project featuring the stories of Muslim women, were staged in Ireland. This essay considers their relationship to state-sponsored and community-led interculturalism during the Celtic Tiger and post-Tiger years. Both productions centred on the act of storytelling and tended to downplay xenophobia, instead enacting the type of feel-good intercultural exchange that has dominated Irish and European integration efforts since the late 1990s. At the same time, the 2013 production, on which the essay focuses, employed coalition-building strategies borrowed from the field of migrant activism, thereby ensuring Muslim involvement throughout the production process. The Hijabi Monologues Ireland furnishes a snapshot of a transitional moment in Irish intercultural programming when the state-funded projects of the Celtic Tiger era were giving way to migrant-led initiatives. By examining the production's artistic process, community participation, and funding streams, the essay assesses its successes and shortcomings in addressing the complex challenges of Muslim integration.

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The Voices of Maghrebi Women in Documentary Films

Muslim Women in French Cinema ◽

10.5949/liverpool/9781781381984.003.0002 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 34-73

Author(s):

Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp

Keyword(s):

Production Process ◽

Muslim Women ◽

Significant Degree ◽

Documentary Films ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Women's Voices ◽

The Third ◽

Minimalist Approach ◽

Yamina Benguigui ◽

Critical Writings

The chapter examines a wide variety of documentaries featuring Muslim women from the Maghreb in France. It critically analyzes the different mediations and techniques, such as the use of extra-diegetic music, voiceover, and archive material, that are employed in the documentaries and serve to ‘frame’ the women’s voices in various ways and with different consequences. It identifies three distinct levels of intervention: the first involves a heavy-handed approach, where the voices of the women are significantly ‘framed’ or even drowned out (most notably in the post-production process). The second reflects a more minimalist approach with regard to framing, while the third appears to be minimalist or transparent but in fact involves a significant degree of intervention. In examining the different forms of mediation and degrees of intervention at work in these documentaries, as well as the consequences of this with regard to the voices of the Maghrebi migrant women in them, this analysis draws on Bill Nichols’ critical writings on the different modes of documentary, notably expository, observational, and interactive. The films examined in this chapter include documentaries directed by Yamina Benguigui, Malek Bensmaïl, and Yasmina Kherfi.

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Close vote will bring instability to Montenegro

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db214527 ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

European Integration ◽

Coalition Building ◽

Content Type ◽

Pull Out ◽

The Government ◽

Marked Drop ◽

Public Opposition ◽

Coup Attempt ◽

Opposition Parties

Significance Djukanovic has dominated Montenegrin politics since the first multiparty elections in 1990. Standing aside may be calculated to ease post-election coalition-building negotiations, since Djukanovic is a divisive figure. However, he is likely to influence the government behind the scenes as DPS president. The elections, the most closely contested since independence in 2006, revealed a deeply divided electorate. Opposition parties have alleged a manufactured crisis after the chief of police announced the arrest of 20 Serbian nationals accused of plotting to destabilise the country. Impacts Belgrade's support for Podgorica's allegations of a coup attempt will continue the close relations between the DPS and Serbia's government. Relations with Moscow will remain cool after the government blamed pro-Russian elements opposed to Montenegro joining NATO for the 'coup'. However, a marked drop in Russian tourism or sudden pull-out of Russian investors, whose presence is highly visible, is unlikely. NATO membership is likely to go ahead, with a discernible weakening of public opposition even in quarters previously strongly opposed. Increased instability would slow European integration, which might lose pace further should the opposition unexpectedly form a government.

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