What are the consequences of Sept 11th for The Good Cosmopolitan?
...) on international flights in 2001. Passenger numbers fell by 4% in 2001 and fell a further more in 2002. Around 200,000 have been cut been cut by airlines, 10,000 of them in the UK. Worldwide income which came from tourism fell by about 2.2% to $462bn in 2001. Between September and December 2001, tourist arrivals fell by 9.2% all over the world. The areas which were affected the most were the Middle East and south Asia which was down by almost 24%. Tourists visiting New York spent $1bn less in 2001 The tourist industry was hit very hard by the sept 11th attacks because people were too scared to fly. Americans were especially too scared to fly their country was hit in a bad way, it is not as bad as it was but air travel is still suffering it may take many more years for the American people to feel safe to fly within American and all over the world. Americans are known to be the travellers of the world, as many parts of America are very multi-cultural. America has many people from all over the world as does the UK. Both countries have people from different countries such as Japan, Spain, France, India, Italy etc. Although most of the people from their homeland countries are born and raised in other countries they are taught their beliefs and cultures by their elders, this is so they don’t forget their roots. London is very cosmopolitan London is the world’s most cosmopolitan city, with resident communities of significant numbers from all parts of the world. This cultural diversity, support and the infrastructure which serves each community, contribute enormously to London’s position as the natural meeting point for international business. London has 38 resident communities of over 10,000 people who were born outside the United Kingdom, and a further 12 communities of over 5,000. One in four of London’s populations are from minority ethnic groups and over 300 languages are spoken in the city. There are foreign schools catering specifically for eight different nationalities, as well as 13 international schools. London has a vast base of arts, cultural, leisure and entertainment opportunities covering all areas of lifestyle and choice. London is a friendly, expressive, cosmopolitan, civilised and enriching city with a high quality of life and a mix and diversity unsurpassed anywhere in the world. These cultures become transnational both as individuals involved make quick forays from a home base to many other places- for a few hours or days in a week, for a few weeks here and there in a year and as they shift their bases for longer periods within their lives. Wherever they go, they find others who will interact with them in the terms of specialized but collectively held understandings. Because of the transnational cultures, a large number of people are nowadays systematically and directly involved with more than one culture. In human history, the direct movement between territorial cultures has often been accidental, a freak occurrence in biographies; if not an expression of sheer personal idiosyncracy, than a result of war, political upheaval or repression, ecological disaster. (Hannerz Ulf 1990, p.244) The events of September 11th illustrate such a transnational nationalism: The terrorist attack targeted symbols of power (of global economy) on American territory. They elucidate the role of transnational actors in the realization of such a transnationalism. These actors are highly educated and “integrated” into a society of residence. They often are “socially and institutionally assimilated”, sometimes juridically invisible through naturalization – all while they keep strong ties to their home country and to a network with which they identify themselves and on whose behalf they act. Their action is inevitably bound up with their ability to participate in at least two social, cultural and political arenas, challenging the balance between culture politics and territory of nation-states. Transnational actors interact therefore in a new global space where cultural and political specificities of multiple national societies are combined with emerging multilevel and multinational activities. After September 11 2001, the diversity of transnational television news channels consumed across the world became newsworthy in itself. News media are central arenas of political conflict and public debate. They were also active agents in struggles for political control and the management of public knowledge. The rise in migratory flows and the proliferation of satellite news channels are creating global and transnational cultures of news production and consumption. New kinds of production practices and audience configurations afford both opportunities and challenges to states and supra-national organisations (such as the EU), as well as to different language communities and diaspora groups. These developments are likely to have unpredictable consequences for news cultures, participation in political processes, forms of governance, citizenship and collective identities. Uniquely, this symposium will bring together academic researchers, media and racism monitoring groups, media professionals and policy-makers, to create an international forum of debate on news cultures, multiculturalism and citizenship. We will exchange the results of several research projects on news media coverage of Sept 11 and after, and its reception, and discuss future directions for research into news media in transnationally networked societies. We will exchange models of good practice, forge alliances and develop initiatives aimed at enhancing intercultural understanding and dialogue. The ultimate aim is to support and develop innovative multicultural praxis in news and current affairs, in ways that contribute to the promotion of cosmopolitan citizenship. Of course with the Sept 11th things have changed people have become more wary of others. The good cosmopolitan is still here but has a few setbacks from other people, especially the Muslims who were given a hard time for the Sept 11th, it has calmed down but there still is tension. For Western political leaders and commentators to keep politically repeating that the 'war on terrorism' is not a war on Muslims is of great importance. For the rhetoric associated with Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilization' is thick in the air; just as it was politically being brought under control - at least as an official posture - the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, reasserted the view that the underlying problem for the West is not terrorism or even Islamic fundamentalism but Islam, i.e. a rival and inferior civilization. This pointing the finger at Muslims clearly will not go away and its denials are not believed by many Muslims throughout the world. Not just because all the countries, organisations and individuals that are being targeted are all Muslims (e.g., no one mentions the Tamil Tiger separatists in Sri Lanka, even though they pioneered the use of 'suicide bombers', not to mention the various groups that the CIA supports, as it used to support the Taliban). But also because Islam is so clearly evoked by many terrorist and jihadi organisations - bin Laden is perhaps the greatest advocate of the clash of civilisation thesis. Yet, we need to question whether the adjectives 'Islamic' or 'Arab' are appropriate in the common expressions 'Islamic/Arab terrorists'. When a fifth of contemporary humanity accepts the terms 'Islamic' and 'Muslim' as self-descriptions, to use the terms to characterise a limited number of lethal organisations is highly dangerous. Anything that frames the current crisis as war between rival portions of humanity is an act of gross escalation. We have to be careful to not cast our friends or enemies in ethnic, religious or racial terms. (Tariq Madood professor in sociology at the University of Bristol) Culturally, socially, and economically most of the Islamic world is invaded by the secular consumerism of the global marketplace, with its escalation of desire for sensual pleasure and profitable corruption. Many Muslims realize that the cosmopolitan market of global commerce offers no collective responsibility, for consumption depends on the fabrication of needs as well as of goods. Even thoughtful Westerners see that social justice, ecological imperatives, and interests of the public good are incompatible with market ideology. They discern the hollowness of the ...