Buruma provides detailed insight into each character allowing the reader to contemplate the motivation behind actions of each one. Buruma describes Theo Van Gogh, the assassinated, as a “ubiquitous figure” in Holland, but is quick to point put out he is better known for his provocative public statements than his films. Van Gogh’s family was made up of Calvinists, Socialists, and Humanists all of which had an influence Theo Van Gogh in one way or another. Buruma emphasizes Van Gogh’s “desire to shock, to stir things up”, a desire developed at a young age and carried into his adulthood and films known for the shock value. There were to sides to Theo Van Gogh the first characterized by his ability to be generous and gracious and the second influenced by his curiosity and independence of mind. The later lead to his provocative comments with disregard for causing offense of uneasiness, it is also speculated this behavior was caused by his constant need to have public attention. Van Gogh strongly believed in speaking ones mind at all times with disregard for the consequences.
The characters of Ian Buruma’s Murder in Amsterdam, Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerance include three distinct and well-developed protagonists; Theo Van Gogh, Mohammed Bouyeri, and Ayaan Hirsi. Theo Van Gogh is the murder victim, Mohammed Bouyeri is the murder, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the author of the controversial film entitled Submission, Theo Van Gogh directed the film.
Mohammed Bouyeri, the assassin, is referred to as the “radical loser”, a term coined by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Buruma refers to the radical loser as “the lone killers who cannot bear to live with themselves any longer and want to drag the world down with them.” Bur...
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...oexisting without conflict. The number of ethnic groups and each group’s relationship to power is what truly impacts political stability.
The position of existing groups at the time of a country’s independence impact the degree of challenges cultural diversity will present to national integration. Bowen explains that countries in which one group has been exploiting all others start off with scores to settle and countries with no clearly dominant group have an initial advantage in building political consensus.
States make political process choices that either ease or exacerbate intergroup tensions. Increasing the relevance of ethnicity in politics increases the likelihood of intergroup conflict. Following Theo van Gogh’s murder, Dutch society finds itself at a critical moment in making choices that could significantly influence ethnic conflict within the country.
Coming from a family greatly involved in art dealing, Vincent van Gogh was destined to have a place in the world of art. Van Gogh’s unique techniques and use of color, which clashed and differed greatly from the masters of the art world of his time, would eventually gain him the recognition as one of the founders of modern art. Van Gogh’s early life was heavily influenced by the role of his father who was a pastor and chose to follow in his footsteps. Although he abandoned the desire to become a pastor, van Gogh remained a spiritual being and was strong in faith. Plagued with a troubled mind and poor health, van Gogh’s life became filled with torment and isolation that would influence his career in later life as an artist. In his late twenties, van Gogh had decided that it was God’s divine plan for him to become a painter. His works would express through thoughtful composition and vibrant color, the emotions that he was unable to manifest in the real world. Van Gogh’s perception of reality and his technique would face harsh criticism and never receive full acceptance from his peers as a serious artist during his brief career. In a collection of correspondence entitled The Letters of a Post-Impressionist, Vincent confirmed these thoughts while writing to his brother Theo, “It irritates me to hear people say that I have no "technique." It is just possible that there is no trace of it, because I hold myself aloof from all painters” (27). His technique would later be marveled and revered by the art world. Vincent van Gogh’s legacy would thrive as it challenged the way the world envisioned modern art through his unique brush strokes and profound use of color as seen in his works The Sower and The Night Café. A brief look into...
In Robert Pape’s Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism he investigates the three hundred and fifteen suicide terrorist attacks that have occurred from its beginning in 1980 up until 2003. By examining these attacks he explains the three logics behind suicide terrorism, the strategic, the social, and the individual logic. Pape uses Dying to Win as a tool to educate the public on suicide terrorism. He hopes people will begin to understand that it is not irrational, but requires reason and strategy. He brings to light that suicide terrorism is not directly correlated with Islamic fundamentalism, but rather political objectives, trying to put to rest many preconceived notions. By understanding the logic behind suicide terrorism people can work together to prevent it from happening in the future. After reading this book it is clear that suicide terrorism is not random, but does demand some thought in order for it to work.
Now we are going to focus more on the term of ethnic succession. Ethnic succession has a wide range of interpretations: all the way from ‘right’ wing, ‘left’ wing, ...
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands on March 30, 1853. He was born into a middle class family that sometimes struggled financially. His grandfather was a famous preacher and his father was a minister so religion was pretty important within his family. The other passion within the family was art. His mother was an artist and three of his uncles and later his brother were art dealers. He got his first job at age 15, at his uncle’s art dealership. The fact that Vincent’s family was struggling at this time gave him the responsibility to leave school and go to work. Despite his family 's misfortune, van Gogh was fluent in 4 languages and his concern with art and religion kept growing. At the age of 20, he was transferred to the Goupil Gallery in London. It was there that he fell in love with art and English culture. He visited galleries in his spare time and in many aspects increased his understanding as a whole. In this period of time he started to fall in love with a woman named Eugenie Loyer. Vincent was prepared to ask her to marry him, but Eugenie didn’t feel the same as he did so she rejected the proposal and this caused van Gogh to suffer a mental breakdown. In this time he turned to God and threw away all unnecessary possessions except for the bible. He was fired from the Gallery for telling the customers “not to buy the worthless art.” Vincent then started teaching at a Methodist school and preached on the side a little. This was the first time in his life where he started to contemplate becoming a minister. He studied for a year planing to take the entrance exam to become a minister at the School of Theology in Amsterdam. He was denied entrance after refusing to take the Latin exam calling it a “de...
As is evidenced in the UK’s devolved unitary system, the Canadian federation and the European Union, each model aims to protect regional diversity and autonomy within it’s limitations, though the degree to which autonomy is granted creates a natural tension between unity and the desire for subsidiarity and self-determination. In devolution, asymmetrical federalism and the constitutional framework of a confederation there is the ability to manage diversity, discourage secession, and ensure stability, but with each of these comes the danger of divisive encouragement of difference. It is up to the individual governments in question then, how to best manage diversity and unity. As phrased by George Anderson, perhaps “stability can be enhanced if the culture goes beyond mere tolerance of diversity to the active embrace of diversity as part of what defines the country and gives it it's value. Institutional arrangements can hep societies better manage their conflicts, but institutions alone are not enough…” Perhaps the answer to encouraging national unity is not then found in the model, but in the contingencies of identity and
Throughout history, difficulties are seen between the mismatching of ethnicities with country borders, including countries such such Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 6,7 This causes competition and conflict between the two ethnic groups, which leads to instability of the government if both groups cannot be equally represented. Just as the North and South could not be represented equally as one United States of America with conflicting views on slavery, it is difficult to equally represent each part of a strong ethnically diverse country. Another example of this conflict is the island of Cyprus. While it would be convenient to refer to it as the country of Cyprus, only half of the island is considered such by the rest of the world. Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided, Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the South. On March 18, 2011 the leaders of Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus met to talk about unification. 4 Despite the efforts, it can be argued that while reunification might seem plausible, it is not probable.
Anders Behring Breivik was a Norwegian extremist and a terrorist who had bombed a government building and then shot and killed a number of youths at a camp. His actions were not impulsive, but instead meticulously planned. For years he fostered feelings of hatred and aggression, particularly after his failed businesses and his involvement with the right wing terror organization whose ideology was on anti-Islam and anti-mulitculturism. Breivik perceived that Muslims were invading Europe and conspiring with politicians to take over Norway. Hence, his decision to destroy the present and future politicians of government. Allport (1920), in his theory of Social Facilitation, fleshes out the impression that the presence of others (the social group) can facilitate certain behaviour (McLeod, 2007).
...retation of the painting some aspects were surprising to how dark and heavy hearted she could speak, she took an interesting perspective. However in her interpretative poem she found a perspective of the painting that connected with her. As she used every stroke of darkness painted into the canvas an opportunity to have it symbolize this darkness and evil that resides in the world. It told her story and her experience of a starry night. Similarly Van Gogh had used every stroke of light painted into the canvas to be a symbol of beauty, and a symbol of his fascination of the night sky and its illuminating lights. He uses swift movements of his brush to depict a sky that seem to be able to sweep the mind away from the frustrations of this world in to the dreamy night light. A single painting worth a million words tells many stories through every perspective.
The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly debates with art historians and researcher, and objecting to how they claim there is a general state of how art is read. She structures her paragraphs in ways that allows her to present different kinds of evidences from a variety sources while using a formal yet persuasive tone of voice to get her point across to the reader.
More focus into the ethnic groups is just another racial grouping on a different perspective. The increased competition for ethnic identity among ethnic groups is posing as a rediscovery of racial groups, in which ethnic groups are termed as majority or minority groups. However, the shift to ethnic group has shaped some characteristics of individuals that were previously coined in social differentiation according to race. One of the noticeable individual features that have been shaped is the aspect of mutual and collective interests, in which every member strives to protect common interests of the group e.g. human rights. I believe that racial and ethnic groups are things that will continue to exist from our past historical experiences. We can together wipe out the problem of discrimination and injustices based on ethnicity and racial differences, if we all strive towards cherishing social consciousness for one another as a one human race and freeing ourselves from the trappings of our racial and ethnic
Thesis: Buruma argues that Bouyeri never felt a sense of identity, which in turn, lead to his breaking point of devoting his life to a radical version of Islam faith, lots of angry and resentment towards others, and an act of murder.
Theo van Gogh, for instance, was highly influenced by the political and cultural context he lived in. He was born and raised in the Netherlands, a country that jumped from a peaceful, racially homogenous society to an excessively open, multicultural home for immigrants, including Muslims. To understand this historical transformation, though, it is necessary to look sixty years back, when 71 percent of a...
In 2005, the Palestinian director and writer, Hany Abu-Assad, released his award winning motion picture, “Paradise Now.” The film follows two Palestinian friends, over a period of two days, who are chosen by an extremist terrorist group to carry out a suicide mission in Tel-Aviv during the 2004 Intifada. The mission: to detonate a bomb strapped to their stomachs in the city. Because the film industry seldom portrays terrorists as people capable of having any sort of humanity, you would think the director of “Paradise Now” would also depict the two main characters as heartless fiends. Instead he makes an attempt to humanize the protagonists, Khaled and Said, by providing us with a glimpse into their psyches from the time they discover they’ve been recruited for a suicide bombing operation to the very last moments before Said executes the mission. The film explores how resistance, to the Israeli occupation, has taken on an identity characterized by violence, bloodshed, and revenge in Palestinian territories. Khaled and Said buy into the widely taught belief that acts of brutality against the Israeli people is the only tactic left that Palestinians have to combat the occupation. In an effort to expose the falsity of this belief, Hany Abu-Assad introduces a westernized character named Suha who plays the voice of reason and opposition. As a pacifist, she suggests a more peaceful alternative to using violence as a means to an end. Through the film “Paradise Now,” Abu-Assad not only puts a face on suicide bombers but also shows how the struggle for justice and equality must be nonviolent in order to make any significant headway in ending the cycle of oppression between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Since the beginning of time violence has always been shun upon since it is viewed as immoral. Its stigma has allowed the majority of people to omit its reverence, for not only tragedies have emanated from it. It is safe to profess that some violent crimes are found as mitigating circumstances especially those committed by an eminent figure. If for example a prestigious person is trying to instill a movement that serves as a greater good to society then the cruelties performed are justified. This can be proven on several different occasions by the...
Ross, Mark Howard. “The Relevance of Culture for the Study of Political Psychology and Ethnic Conflict”. Political Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 2, Special Issue: Culture and Cross-Cultural