Netherlands Institute for Higher Education (NIHA) kindly invites you to a seminar by Zihni Özdil on: The American example: rethinking European concepts of ‘integration’ and diversity” on 8 July 2011 at 18.00 hrs.

During the past decade European attitudes towards diversity and integration have altered. Especially in the countries that have large communities of Turkish descent, the Netherlands and Germany, monoculturalism seems to have replaced multiculturalism as the main public discourse. The rise of rightwing politician Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and the popularity of the controversial book by the German social democrat Thilo Sarazzin illustrate that a new era of normative monoculturalism has dawned in Western Europe and multiculturalism has been declared ‘bankrupt’.

Zihni Özdil argues that neither multiculturalism nor the current wave of monoculturalism are valid discourses for the formulation of a useful vision on integration, diversity and citizenship. Both discourses are excluding and hierarchical in nature and perpetuate the ‘superior’ position of the receiving society. In Europe a radically different view of integration, which rises above the current stalemate between multi- and monoculturalism,  is needed.

According to Özdil, the great migration period of the Unites States teaches valuable lessons to (young people in) Europe on how to alter the receiving society’s notions of integration and diversity. This, however,  first requires an altered notion of self among the minorities in question. Especially among Turkish-Dutch and Turkish-German this notion of self is still too much geared towards Turkey.

The course of events will be as follows:

The working language will be in English, simultaneous translation will not be provided.

Zihni Özdil is a lecturer of non-western history and PhD candidate at Erasmus University’s faculty of History and Arts. Currently he is teaching a course on religion and societies in the Middle East and North Africa, covering the period between ‘Moorish’ Andalusia and the present. He acquired his BA and MA at Erasmus University. In the course of his research on American migration history I have spent a semester at Central Michigan University, United States. Between 2008 and 2010 he has  worked as a Programme Manager for the Turkije Instituut in The Hague.In 2009 he has worked on a research format for NWO (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) on the assimilation/integration process of Arab-Americans and the Turkish-Dutch from a comparative perspective.

He published several essays and is currently working on a book. More information about Zihni Özdil on www.zihniozdil.info

Please find the invitation at the attachment