harvey's journal

Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern. John Gray

John Gray’s short book is one of the most interesting I’ve read in while. Gray argues that in contrast to the popular notion that there’s an almighty clash between Modernist ideals and the medieval fundamentalism of al-Quaeda, we should view al-Quaeda as a utopian modernist movement that is entirely ‘global’ in its scope and operation. For Gray, 9/11 rings the death knell of modernity’s central myth: that we are becoming more rational, more peaceful and more scientific—in short that scientific progress must spell the end of superstition and the irrationality of fanatical beliefs. Gray has a direct, almost muscular style of writing—the very antithesis of turgid academic prose. He’s blunt and to the point.

My problem with Gray’s argument is that it doesn’t really explain much. What difference does it make whether al-Quaeda are ‘modern’ or not? Gray goes to great lengths to remind us that both Fascism and Communism were modernist revolutionary movements that can be seen as precursors to al-Quaeda’s project. But I doubt if Islamic fundamentalists see this tradition in operation and so I wonder about the value of making this claim. Still, I recommend Gray's book as he's a highly engaging writer with a fresh approach.

There’s a very good review of the book by Martin Bright over at The Guardian.

I don’t usually mention my professional reading as a teacher in this blog but this week I took part in an extremely useful professional development session in which I read Bonnie Benard’s short, valuable article How to Be a Turnaround Teacher.

posted by harvey molloy @ 9:53 AM