Domesticating Islam: exploring academic knowledge production on Islam and Muslims in European societies

The attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in September 2001 and subsequent events not only ignited a ‘war on terror’, but also marked a crucial change in the policies on integration of migrants of Islamic background in Europe. Most countries departed from integration policies based on some sort of recognition of cultural diversity and emphasized national culture as the only legitimate format for citizenship. The result is a strengthening of a frame of governance with the aim to regulate Islamic practices and to mould outlooks, institutional settings and legal arrangements into the nation-state format. This has been referred to as the ‘domestication of Islam’. One of the consequences is the narrowing down of research agendas and academic knowledge production. In this article I explore this process and address important fields of study that tend to be neglected in the study of Islam in Europe.     

Molecular Characterization of Subtype H11N9 Avian Influenza Virus Isolated from Shorebirds in Brazil

Migratory aquatic birds play an important role in the maintenance and spread of avian influenza viruses (AIV). Many species of aquatic migratory birds tend to use similar migration routes, also known as flyways, which serve as important circuits for the dissemination of AIV. In recent years there has been extensive surveillance of the virus in aquatic birds in the Northern Hemisphere; however in contrast only a few studies have been attempted to detect AIV in wild birds in South America. There are major flyways connecting South America to Central and North America, whereas avian migration routes between South America and the remaining continents are uncommon. As a result, it has been hypothesized that South American AIV strains would be most closely related to the strains from North America than to those from other regions in the world. We characterized the full genome of three AIV subtype H11N9 isolates obtained from ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) on the Amazon coast of Brazil. For all gene segments, all three strains consistently clustered together within evolutionary lineages of AIV that had been previously described from aquatic birds in North America. In particular, the H11N9 isolates were remarkably closely related to AIV strains from shorebirds sampled at the Delaware Bay region, on the Northeastern coast of the USA, more than 5000 km away from where the isolates were retrieved. Additionally, there was also evidence of genetic similarity to AIV strains from ducks and teals from interior USA and Canada. These findings corroborate that migratory flyways of aquatic birds play an important role in determining the genetic structure of AIV in the Western hemisphere, with a strong epidemiological connectivity between North and South America.     

Unusual incidence of chronic pneumonia associated with cholesterol deposits in stranded and bycaught franciscanas Pontoporia blainvillei

Franciscanas Pontoporia blainvillei are small dolphins endemic to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. During routine pathologic examinations, chronic pneumonia associated with cholesterol deposits was found in 16.7% of stranded and incidentally bycaught franciscanas (n = 60), and was more frequent in dolphins from the Brazilian state of S?o Paulo (Franciscana Management Area II) and frequently accompanied by splenic lymphoid hyperplasia. It is unclear why these otherwise uncommon lesions were relatively frequent in the studied dolphins, and further research is advised.     

Cosmopolitan theology: Fethullah Gülen and the making of a ‘Golden Generation’

Global conditions, under which an increasing number of Muslims in the world currently live, do not just generate idioms of purity often adduced to global Islam, but also new and diverse forms of sociability and notions of global citizenship. This article addresses, as an example in case, Hizmet, one of the fastest growing contemporary Islamic movements. Hizmet and its founder Fethullah Gülen propagate a global Islamic doctrine with explicitly cosmopolitan underpinnings. However, there seems to be a contradiction between the cosmopolitan inclusiveness and universality of Gülen's global message, and strong internal hierarchical structures and the disciplining modes of teaching and training that are applied by the movement to teach the doctrine. I will argue that there is no contradiction between these two aspects when we focus on the central position of ‘hermeneutics of the self’ and civic responsibility in Gülen's theology.     

Impacts of animal traffic on the Brazilian Amazon parrots (Amazona species) collection of the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park,Brazil, 1986–2007

Eleven species of Amazon parrots (genus Amazona) are known to occur in Brazil, and nest poaching and illegal traffic pose serious conservation threats to these species. When the illegal owners realize these animals are incompatible with their expectations and lifestyle, or when the police arrests traders and owners, these trafficked animals are often considered unfit for release and sent to local zoos and captive breeders. A retrospective survey of animal and necropsy records from 1986 to 2007 was used to evaluate the impacts of animal traffic on the population composition and mortality patterns of Amazon parrots at the Quinzinho de Barros Municipal Zoological Park, Sorocaba, Brazil. Data were obtained for 374 Amazon parrots of ten Brazilian species, and there was evidence that the studied population could be split into two major groups: a majority belonging to the Amazona aestiva species and a minority belonging to the remaining species. In comparison, the animals of the first group were more frequently admitted from traffic‐related origins (98 vs. 75%), had a shorter lifespan (median 301 days vs. 848 days) and a higher mortality within the first year postadmission (54 vs. 37%), were less likely to receive expensive treatments, and were more frequently housed off‐exhibit. On an average, parrots were found to have a short postadmission lifespan (median 356 days), with 92.5% of the birds dying within their first five years in captivity. The paper discusses the difficult dilemmas these incoming traffic‐related animals pose to zoo management and official anti‐traffic policies. Zoo Biol 29:600–614, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Investigation of blood parasites of pygoscelid penguins at the King George and Elephant Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, Antarctica

Parasites may adversely affect the breeding success and survival of penguins, potentially hampering the viability of their populations. We examined 161 pygoscelid penguins (3 Pygoscelis adeliae, 98 Pygoscelis antarcticus, and 60 Pygoscelis papua) at the South Shetlands Archipelago during the 2010–2011 summer; blood smears were examined for 64 penguins (2 P. adeliae, 18 P. antarcticus, and 44 P. papua), and a PCR test targeting Haemoproteus sp. and Plasmodium sp. was applied for 37 penguins (2 P. adeliae, 17 P. antarcticus, 19 P. papua). No blood parasites were observed, and all PCR tests were negative, leukocyte profiles were similar to those reported in other studies for wild pygoscelid penguins, and all penguins were in good body condition and had no external signs of disease. One specimen of chewing lice (Austrogoniodes sp.) was recorded in one P. antarcticus at King George Island. Ticks (Ixodes uriae) were not observed on the penguins, but were found on the ground near P. antarcticus nests at King George Island. The absence of avian blood parasites in Antarctic penguins is thought to result from the absence of competent invertebrate hosts in the climatic conditions. Predicted climate changes may redefine the geographic distribution of vector-borne pathogens, and therefore, the occurrence of blood parasites and their invertebrate hosts should be monitored regularly in Antarctic birds, particularly in the northernmost Antarctic Peninsula.     

Surveillance of Avian Influenza Virus in Aquatic Birds on the Brazilian Amazon Coast

EcoHealth - The occurrence of avian influenza viruses (AIV) has been extensively studied in aquatic birds in the Northern hemisphere; however, much less information is available for the South...