9. Anexos
9.1. Anexo I
The concept of oppression can be used to link perceptions of justice / injustice of the structural level to the societal level and thus tie the macro level of the state and state institutions with the micro level of society and even identity. Deutsch (2006) highlights the levels of injustice involved in oppression. These levels transcend from oppression at the level of the state, for example, procedural injustice includes the legal rights attributed to citizens - to the societal level where as Harvey (1999 cited in
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Deutsch, 2006, p.10) notes ‘civilized oppression’ is used to characterize the everyday processes of oppression in normal life‘. Deutsch (2006) refers to civilized oppression emerging when the state enforces rules and procedures which regulate the social institutions of the society and produce inequality and to interactive power, which involves those who are powerful repeating the subordinate status of a group. This research considers how the ‘war on terror’ and more specifically the actions of the state in the ‘war on terror’ have influenced society because as Foucault, (1978, 1980 cited in Mythen and Walklate, 2008, p.229) states it is through the discourses created by dominant institutions that people understand risk and discourses shape human behaviour through ‘generating ‘truths’ about society that are ‘interiorized’ by individuals’. Civilized oppression is the injustice groups suffer as a result of the cultural stereotypes which are used to support injustice and moral exclusion is the product (Young, 1990, cited in Deutsch, 2006). It will be of interest to see how Muslim citizens believe the ‘war on terror’ discourse created by the state has impacted societal perceptions and interactions and the impact of this on Muslims’ Islamic identities.
However, it could be argued that although justice and oppression have become increasingly significant at the national and local level, since the ‘war on terror’ perceptions are also informed by the international level. As Aas (2007, p.284) states, ‘transnational flows and connections are shaping contemporary life more than ever, influencing our perceptions of community, identity and culture’. Within cosmopolitanism the term cosmopolitanization is used to refer to the interconnectedness between the local and the global. Beck (2002, p.23) states, ‘globalization is about localization as well’ because ‘cosmopolitanism means: rooted cosmopolitanism, having ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ at the same time’. Similarly, Ruggiero
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(2007) refers to how cosmopolitanism refers to individuals’ capacity to live locally while also being connected to global issues and interpreting global issues via the local and vice versa. Ruggiero (2007) places importance on the subjective dimension through emphasizing interpretation and thus the extent to which the two levels interact is down to perception and subjectivity. Cosmopolitanization is therefore a way of connecting the global level with the local level and exploring counter discourses because as Beck (2006, p.73) states cosmopolitanization is ‘a second-order level of self-destructive civilization that transcends the nation-state and infiltrates our innermost thoughts and feelings, experiences and expectations’. Within cosmopolitanism perceptions are also prioritized through the notion of ‘biographical cosmopolitanization’ ‘which means that the contradictions of the world are unequally distributed not just out there but also at the centre of one’s own life’ (Beck, 2006, p.43). Biographical cosmopolitanization is based on perceptions and the extent to which the concept is applicable is dependent on perceptions of contradictions and inequality at both the international level and the national level. Further, in conjunction to the notion of biographical cosmopolitanization there is cosmopolitan empathy, ‘where the suffering of persons in other global regions and cultures no longer conforms to the ‘friend–foe’ divide, but can provoke sympathy for the hardships of fellow humans’ (Hudson, 2008, p.284). Beck (2006, p.5) created the phrase the ‘globalization of emotions’ and related it to foreign policy in the ‘war on terror’. What the war in Iraq made transparent was how even mass protests could not stop the war, and according to Beck (2006, p.2) ‘for the first time a war was treated as an event in global domestic politics, with the whole of humanity participating simultaneously through the mass media’, and ‘the protests were driven by what one might call the ‘globalization of emotions’, (Beck 2006, p.5). Taking ideas of loyalty,
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attachment and belonging - biographical cosmopolitanization allows us to understand how loyalty, attachment and belonging are not simply confined to citizenship and the nation state because globalization interacts with feelings of loyalty, attachment and belonging. Therefore, the construction of the ‘war on terror’ and enactment of counter terrorism legislation in Britain have facilitated the existence of injustice as a transitional concept and ideas such as oppression, and the globalization of emotions are of relevance to this research because of the international dynamics of the ‘war on terror’.
CONCLUSION
This chapter has explored the theoretical perspectives of cosmopolitanism and citizenship which frame the research, showing how their usage in the thesis is informed by wider literature, what particular aspects of each theory will be used and how they are relevant and useful to the research. In terms of making a contribution this research will make a contribution through conducting empirical research on the ‘war on terror’ and more specifically through providing a counter discourse which is framed by these theories. The relationship between these theories has been demonstrated showing how both incorporate notions of justice, identity and human rights. However, the differences between both – namely the focus of cosmopolitanism at the global level and the focus of citizenship at the national level have also been discussed, thus justifying how each contribute to the research.
In terms of a contribution, it has been discussed how both are relevant to understanding how the ‘war on terror’ has been constructed, (as the ‘war on terror’ has made concepts of justice, identity, rights, human rights important) and secondly, how the concepts of justice, identity, and human rights also facilitate an
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understanding of Muslim citizens’ perceptions. Therefore, this thesis takes the ‘war on terror’ and places it within these theories in order to demonstrate how these perspectives are relevant to ‘the war on terror’ and more specifically to understanding British Muslims’ counter discourse to the ‘war on terror’.
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