The GEPANC, in collaboration with Mohammed V University in Rabat-Agdal (Morocco), Laval University in Quebec City (Canada) and the Friedrich Nauman Foundation (Germany), organized an international seminar on June 14-16, 2001 at the head office of Maghreb Agence Press (MAP) in Rabat, on the topic : "Clash of Culturerss. Hypotheses, geopolitical transformations and alternatives".

The hypothesis of the "clash of civilisations", as sketched by Samuel Huntington, was the object of the interventions, discussions and comments of the participants, who also questionned the transformations of the public scene, its politico-cultural issues and the media. The last day was particularly devoted to examining alternative hypotheses to that of Huntington.

QUESTIONNING SAMUEL HUNTINGTON'S HYPOTHESIS

At the beginning of the meeting, a semiotic analysis of the writings of S. Huntington was presented by El-Mostafa Chadli, professor in the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences (Rabat-Agdal). Professor Chadli rose the veil on the values system that permeates the hypothesis of the "clash of civilisations". Using the simplistic vision of a world divided in two parts: civilisation and barbarity, Hungtington establishes a typology of civilisations that is far from corresponding to the complex reality of our world. As Mr. Chadli explains, on the one hand, S. Huntington's hypothesis rests on a "judiciously advanced argumentation" combining the refutation of a universal civilisation, the power and the decline of the West, the resurgence of regional cultures, the return of integrisms along with present economy and its demographic consequences. In addition, his study is cemented by "the dominant cognitive paradigms", that is, by ceaseless references not only to History, Sociology, Ethnology, Anthropology, Political Science and the diplomacy (...), but also, on the theoretical level, to the works of Weber, Durkheim, Mauss, Frobenius (...) as well as to contemporary authors such as Fukuyama, Debray, Mernissi, Soljenitsyne, El Manjra (whose precursory role had to be recalled" (sic).

Azzedine Bennis, professor at the Faculty of Law, Rabat-Agdal, does not hide his indignation with respect to this manichean vision likely to allure the instinct of readers obssessed by the prejudice of "violent Sarrazins". and toward an author who is opposed to the interaction of cultures and assigns each one in his own ethnic and cultural house. In this sense, says Prof. Bennis, "Huntington's discourse does not differ too much from that of Ben Laden" (sic).

In the mind of Ahmed Hidass, professor at the Higher Instiute of Information Sciences in Rabat, this war against the Evil, as galvanized by the media, is a kind of anachronism not unsimilar to the Crusades. The morales of laïcity, democratisation and human rights were often instrumentalised before. Now, after September 11th, the morales of the "war against terror" takes over. Professor Hidass prefers to talk about a "dialogue of cultures" that would lead to a "new treaty of Westphalia" on a worldwide scale on the basis, according to him, of the values of the Century of Enlightment and the spiritual values of the countries of the South altogether.

Fatiha Talahite, researcher at CNRS in Paris and Selim Khaznadar, professor at the University of Constantine in Algeria, ask the question : what is the West?

For Fatiha Talahite, there is no conflict of civilisations. The West assimilates the others and reconstitutes them artificially. One should rather talk about inequalities of richnesses that generate a material and identity conflict within the very core of this West. The political and economic issues which set up a worldwide normative order make it impossible for the other communities to survive. This is why, as she explains, there is increasing violence and and radicalism.

While noting that it is not Christianity but Galileo's discovery that symbolically founded the West, this "civilisationbased on a project of knowledge" (sic), Selim Khaznadar estimates that one should tend towards a dialogue between the West and the Non-West thanks to the rebirth of that Dar Al Hikma that made it possible to translate Greek philosophy and establish openmindeness toward the Other." (sic).

A. Moutadayenne, of the Laval University of Quebec, recalls that the thesis of Huntington knew a broad refutation on a worldwide scale and that the war of the Golf as well as the events of September 11 invalidate this thesis. He rather proposes the thesis of a "political clash", due to the partial political attitudes, which it argues in the light of a systemic analysis of the speech of Ben Laden.

Do we fit or not within Huntington's framework, wonders Simon Shen, from Oxford Universiy (United Kingdom). The bombardment of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 was framed as a clash between China and the USA. This bombardment triggered maa mobilization: nationalism then replaced communism as a new official belief. The "Us all against the external enemy" has remained a way of diverting public opinion from actual economic problems; this is how values are instrumentalised by governments.

Pour Hassan Bakr Hassan de l'Université d'Assiout en Égypte, ce sont plutôt l'analphabétisme, le sous-développement, l'hégémonie de la pax americana qui constituent les prémisses de notre "criticisme". La suite des événements du 11 septembre pose problème aux étudiants dans le domaine de la paix en particulier, ce qui réfute la thèse de Huntington.

For Hassan Bakr Hassan of the University of Assiout in Egypt, it is rather illiteracy, underdevelopment, hegemony of the Pax Americana that cause problems. The aftermath of September 11th is problematic for peace studies.

As for Mohamed Berdouzi, Professor at the Faculty of Law of Rabat-Agdal, Huntington's works deserve to be revisited. This doctrinal work ideologically replaces geopolitics by 'religion'. Political ghettos are being globalised in a world dividet into eight regions. Basically, as Prof. Berdouzi concludes, Huntington behaves as an "integrist" preaching a return to the sources of " single and incomparable Western civilisation" and not believing in democratisation in non-Western countries.

Through a descriptive and exploratory approach of the Tunisian case after September 11th, Taïeb Moalla, graduate student at Laval University, illustrates how Humans Rights, if not quite simply excluded, are cunningly marginalized by this "war on terror" that also serves as a legitimation device for the neutralisation of all opposition. Coming in then on this question, Lise Garon, professor at Laval University, adds that this new security agenda enhances dictatorships' international image and legitimacy. Consequently, one hardly listens anymore to nonviolent opponents, not even when they say that Ben Laden is not qualified to speak in the name of the Umma. Authoritarian regimes treat all opponents, whether communist, islamists or ortherwise, as terrorists. This new discourse becomes admissible if not credible: authoritarian regimes are now regarded as invaluable ramparts against terrorism.

At the end of the first day of this conference, Houchang Hassan-Yari, Professor at the Royal Military College Royal in Kingston (Canada) argued that the present context of "war against terror" reinforces the American military power and deepens the gap between American military technology and other military technologies (Europe, Russia, China...). It is also reinforcingy the repression of democratic movements. It intensifies radical movements while excluding the regimerate ones, as is the case in the Middle East. Finally, it aggravates economic disparities.

THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE PUBLIC FORUM : SOCIOCULTURAL ISSUES AT STAKE

Wolfgang Sachsenröder, from the Friedrich Nauman Foundation, opens the second day of the conference by asking : " Should on talk about clash or co-operation of civilisations?" The speaker, after having pointed out the ' explosive' issues, namely: the problems of the emigration-assimilation, the rise of extreme right-wing movements, the escalation of terrorism ' racial profiling' which destros any form of dialogue, the return of the authoritative regimes, the prebailing gerontocracy in the Arab regimes, systems of education that are inadequate to the important human and intellectual resources of the Third World countries, evokes the famous Friedrich Nauman's "there is no democracy without democrats" to stress that the single way out of the dilemma remains the joint action of the intellectuals. Intellectuals, he argues have the political responsibility to found the dialogue, to understand and render understandable. For Mr. Sachsenröder, the West has internsively studied the East, but the reverse has been done done very timidly, hence a disbalance in mutual knowledge.

Noureddine Afaya, professor at the Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences in Rabat-Agdal wonders, following this first opening speech, up to which point dialogue can solve the economic problems of the South as well as the gap between the North and the South, the wall of incomprehension and the deep sociocultural changes. Can there be dialogue or intercultural exchange? Recognition is at the symbolic crossroads of will, power and language: "we are obliged to recognize interculturality and the presence of the 'Other' in us" (sic). Only dialogue between people of different cultures is conceivable, not dialogue of cultures, according to Prof.Afaya. who, onsequently proposes a culture of dialogue.

On this topic of dialogue, Abdelmoughit Tredano-Benmassaoud, professor at the the Faculty of Law in Rabat-Souissi goes by wondering whether civilisations, while essentially carrying hegemonic values, can start a dialogue. Except, maybe, within the ambioguity zone of cultures and fundamental values by different religions. However, this possibility can remain low, especially because, one the one hand, values are instrumentalised and used selectively, and, on the other hand, democratic reforms have never been demanded to the Middle East, this huge reserve of petroleum.

Concerning the question of good citizenship and knowledge of the Other evoked by the representative of the Friedrich Nauman Foundation, Sylvain Nadeau, doctoral student at Laval University in Quebec City, shows us, through an analysis of the position of the religious authorities in Quebec after the events of September 11th, that these actors have understood that their society also needs lessons of good citizenship. The authorities and the social actors then devoted themselves to attenuate the wrongs undergone by the Muslim community by retorting to inter-normativity (Guy Rocher's concept)..

Abderrahim El Omari, professor at the Faculty of Arts in Beni Mellal, focuses on confusion between Arabs, Muslims and Integrists. On the one hand, says he, the radical islamist movement is a reaction to Western self-centredness and, on the other hand, Islam has been instrumentalised.The international islamist Organisation has been used to thwart the communist and progressists movements. He recalls that Islamism is not simply a discourse, but also consits of organized groups whose main victims are within the Muslim countries.

THE MEDIA SCENES

As for the role of the media in setting the public stage, Larbi Chouikha, professor at the Higher Institute of Journalism in Tunis, discusses the events of September 11 as broadcasted through the media and the impact of new Arab televisions. The Arab televiewers have become less interested by their national televisions and aloof Western televisions, none of them fulfilling their expectations. They now attend more and more networks such as Al Jazeerah or Al Manar, even if these networks deliberately avoid criticising the Saoudi and Qatari regimes. Such lack of objectivity however does not shock them. Quite to the contrary, it allows them to express contention and to escape the monolithic message of the national networks. As for their disinterest with respect to the Western networks, it is by no means the sign of a clash, but rather a way of asserting one's identity and quest for ethics which they do not find in the Western media. While there is little interest for information programms on the Middle East or Afghanistan, there is nonetheless a "desire to know the Other" that motivates their watching the presidential elections in France or of the "Puppets of information" or Canal Plus's "Guignols de l'info".

Concerning the structure of media discourse, Richard Godin, professor at the University of Moncton (Canada) retorts to anthropological and semiotic content analysis of news bulletins to show that, during the journalistic coverage of the September 11th events, the French Canadian network of continuous information (RDI) built the myth of the scapegoat to describe Ben Laden, through a manichean attitude contrasting "Islamic Threat" and "Western civilisation", as well as through a mediatic ritual and a narrative screen that the televiewers receive faithfully. "This liturgical aspect, concludes he, by focusing on the events without referring to neither what precedes them nor to what will follow, renders plausible the thesis of the clash of two civilisations".

From a similar point of view, Francesco Cavatorta, lecturer at Trinity College in Dublin (Ireland) highlighted the selffulfilling prophecy effect in the British and Irish tabloids where the simplistic message of Samuel Huntington. "Us and the rest of the World" is quickly sent to the masses and even the elites. Similarly, "the Violent Muslim" becomes a commonplace. The thesis of the "clash of civilisations" was evoked in various manners, either as validated or invalidated, in The Guardian for example. For Cavatorta, the conveying of the thesis, even between the lines, by the official media and circles proves that Huntington has won.

The last communication of the seminar primarily concerned "the construction of the media figures as very sophisticated manipulation tools in order to start the pathemic course of the fear in the public". Christiane Kègle and Christianne Clough, respectively professor and graduate student at Laval University, propose two approaches to emotional fear in the Quebec newspaper industry through an analysis of the characters of the media account. Professor Kègle shows, in the light of a semiotic reading of the various illustrations of the Montreal newspaper, Le Devoir, that fear is personnified. "It is a matter of inspiring fear while protecting from anxiety through destabilizing narrativity", says she. In addition, the various illustrations of this daily newspaper (caricatures, posters, articles...), while supposedly damming up this emotional load, rather intensified the emotions. Images, Colors and shades are transformed into a meaning system, a figurative discourse rich in connotations. They affect the neurosensory apparatus of the public in whom duty is substituted to the defence system. For instance, the white Anthrax character, just like Al-Qaeda's terrorists, was used like metaphor to put forward the thesis of the clash of civilisations. This could not better stimulate the collective delirious potentialities in times of extreme tensions. The choice of images is never innocent and always rich in meaning, adds Christianne Clough in her psychoanalytical approach to the same figures of the press narratives. It reveals, according to her, the obsessions of the public. In order to better explain these remarks, she recalls the example of this worn metaphor of the iceberg which one finds in a caricature on the illicit traffic of the nuclear material: this metaphor makes it possible, according to her, to focus on the worrying reality of this traffic while deliberately omitting to name it.

AN ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS

In conclusion to the seminar, Marguerite Rollinde, professor at the Maghreb-Europe Higher Institute in Paris, argues that Human Rights are an alternative hypothesis to Huntington's. Quoting some examples, for instance the massacre in Jenin (Palestine) and the attacks of September 11th in New York, she notes that the same old reflex is always present. The roots of violence are to be found in the religious tradition, like to seek in the Torah the justification of the massacre of Jenin, or Ben Laden's impression that he is invested a sacred power whereas for the West, he is Satan committing sacrilege. In all these examples, violence is legitimated; all sides take radical stands. As a matter of fact, the attacks of September 11th induced a panic in the West (the FN obtaining a high score at the French presidential elections, and the rise of fascism in Europe where some groups recommended to torture the Islamists...). Overseas, the American reaction irritated the young people of Casablanca who shouted: "All of us are Ben Laden!" (see, for instance, Amin Maalouf in Identités meurtrières. Grasset & Fasquelle. Paris. 1998. 211 p.)

Rollinde concludes that one must, first of all, fight all impunity and State terror and pay attention to the victims of violence's families everywhere in the world, in Jenin as in Manhattan and elsewhere: " Universality lies in the recognition of the Other's humanity".

COMMENTS AND DISCUSSIONS

For more details on Rabat discussions and exchanges, see the french version of this page by cliking here.