The language of a captive community acquires certain durable habits; whole zones of reality cease to exist simply because they have no name
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science, development & faithNew knowledge networks are attempting to make sense of a world dominated by tradition and belief, yet hungry for equity and justice. From Cairo to Islamabad via London, Ehsan Masood maps its emerging ideas, debates and institutions.
The Islamic thinker's "Radical Reform" reveals the skill and care that informs his search for influence
The partnership between policy-makers and development specialists can endanger the latter's intellectual independence and increase the risk of bad outcomes, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Pakistan’s economy and institutions are deeply penetrated by the country’s army, a new book and documentary film reveal. Ehsan Masood reports Read the rest of this post...
A plan to link climate-change policy with biodiversity loss renews the twenty-year-old idea of sustainable development, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Canada is tuning into Europe's debate on Muslims. But it doesn't want to abandon its own model for living with diversity – at least for now, reports Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
The leading educational and scientific magazine "National Geographic" is launching an Arabic edition aimed at young readers. A perfect match, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
The world’s leading climate scientists have spoken. But science on its own is not enough to convince Africa’s heads of state that they need to act on global warming, finds Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A solution to the world's water crisis may lie in the sewers of 19th-century England and America, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A new education policy in Pakistan signals a shift from the idea of Urdu as the country's everyday working language, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Are private schools the answer to the crisis in Pakistani education? Ehsan Masood reports on a controversial reform proposal. Read the rest of this post...
If the world is at last alert to global warming, it is thanks in part to a remarkable group of researchers. Ehsan Masood salutes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Read the rest of this post...
How should developing countries relate to their diaspora communities? Ehsan Masood tracks a growing discussion with vital policy implications. Read the rest of this post...
Muslim citizens bruised by the British government's punitive new tone towards them need to register the lessons of the last generation and not merely the last month, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Cosmology is hot, string theory is not. But wherever you hang your hat, the teaching of science must keep pace with the subject’s moving intellectual frontiers, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Creative commons, open source and open access are becoming influential buzzwords of the digital age. But are they a just reward for creative endeavour, asks Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A deeper reading of Pope Benedict's Regensburg speech suggests a message that Catholics and Muslims can share, says Ehsan Masood: that modern science must make room for theology. Read the rest of this post...
England gave the world cricket. But the power to shape the game's rules is moving to the nations of the developing world, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
The corporate media is worried about falling audiences among people of non-western backgrounds. It only has itself to blame, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A global target for all of the world's children to have a primary school education is within sight. But world leaders do not deserve the credit, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A new Action Aid report on the negative aspects of technical assistance to developing countries tells only half the story, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
A survey of the British Muslim landscape one year on from the London bombs of 7 July 2005 suggests to Ehsan Masood that even the recent past is becoming another country. Read the rest of this post...
The declassified story of Washington’s 1969 deal with Tel Aviv over Israel's development of nuclear weapons casts fresh light on its current dispute with Iran, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
An innovative department within Britain's foreign office is attempting to win friends and influence by building bridges with the Islamic world, reports Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
Ziauddin Sardar is one of the most prolific and influential Muslim writers in Britain. He tells Ehsan Masood, who has edited a new collection of his writings, about his vision of pluralist Islam, the Qur'an as guide not manual, and the future of European Muslims. Read the rest of this post...
As the international Biovision 2006 conference meets in Alexandria, Egypt to discuss the application of life sciences to human development, Ehsan Masood visits a school for blind children in the city where the commitment of voluntary staff to overcome perennial funding difficulties is unwavering. Read the rest of this post...
Sceptical scientists and committed believers have one thing in common: they both desperately want science to unlock the mysteries of religion, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
An empowered community of participating citizens is the ideal of much international development and public policy. But, asks Ehsan Masood, what happens if the people at its heart lack the resources needed to make it work? Read the rest of this post...
The intimate link between linguistic and biological diversity makes the struggle to defend both essential to a sustainable human and planetary future, says Ehsan Masood. Read the rest of this post...
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference is seeking to re-equip itself to play an active, engaged role in the global political arena. Ehsan Masood assesses the challenge facing the OIC's secretary-general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. Read the rest of this post...
The director of Egypt's great new library, Ismail Serageldin, is shaping an educational project that is rooted in the neglected tradition of Islamic rationalism. Ehsan Masood meets him. Read the rest of this post...
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