In The News

U.S. Payrolls Change Lives in Bangalore

SARITHA RAI February 22, 2004
As more and more Indian youths pour into the country's big cities like Bangalore to find jobs outsourced from the developed world, they are earning more and are becoming increasingly influenced by western culture. With 54% of country's population under the age of 25, says this article, the gradual cultural change of this generation is likely to lead changes to the larger Indian society...

We Need a Common Strategy

Romano Prodi February 18, 2004
In recent years, the European Union has grappled with waves of violent anti-Semitic attacks. This, combined with the anger some Europeans feel over Israel's policies, has turned relations with Jewish citizens into a tense conflict. In this Financial Times editorial, Romano Prodi – president of the European Commission – calls for concrete action against intolerance. This week leading public...

Voices of Mumbai

Ian Douglas February 6, 2004
Since the World Social Forum (WSF) began four years ago it has sought to address the myriad issues which the World Economic Forum fails to take into account. Concerns encompass the negative effects of globalization, human rights, environmental degradation, international peace, disenfranchisement, and international law. With such a range of issues, a consensus as to what is most pressing is...

Immigrants Shouldn't Act like Dracula's 'Undead'

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray February 3, 2004
In a provocative essay, Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, a researcher at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies, argues that the sympathetic worldwide response to the proposed French ban on religious symbols in schools highlights the development of the "globalization of protest" and social movements. Improved communications and the rapid flow of ideas, ideologies and people across national...

Job Description for the Next Pope

R. Scott Appleby February 3, 2004
Historian R. Scott Appleby believes the Catholic Church must ensure the next Pope fulfills a broad range of qualifications, not least of which is the ability to redefine the Church's understanding of current issues. Specifically, three challenges will confront the next Pope, and indeed the Catholic Church. Increased secularization, "indifferent or hostile to religious faith,"...

Headscarf Ban Misses the Point

Shada Islam January 30, 2004
The debate that has raged in France for 15 years over the right of Muslim girls to wear religious headscarves to school has come to a head with a plan to ban the practice. The French ideal of strict separation of church and state has pushed the government to ban this "conspicuous" display of religious identity in state schools. Moreover, some feminists and government officials consider...

Turkish-German Integration Smooths Cultural Divisions

Peter Badenhop January 30, 2004
In an interview with Germany's F.A.Z. Weekly, the Turkish ambassador to Germany, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, discusses the importance of integrating German Muslims of Turkish descent, Germany's largest immigrant group, into mainstream German society. The erroneous perception of all Muslims as religious fundamentalists inhibits integration, he says, and it undermines their contribution to...