Night School

The question of race – racial difference, racial equality, ethnic relations – is front of center of many public discussions in Malaysia. But do we understand the concept: does it change over time and space; do Malaysians have their own understanding of the meaning of race; and what are the origins of the notion and its links to colonialism. Night School takes a broad look at the question with Institute Rakyat research director.

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Sociologist James Jesudason from the Colorado School of Mines in the US joins us this week in conversation about the controversial “clash of civilization” thesis by Samuel Huttington. He famously noted that “In the emerging world of ethnic conflict and civilizational clash, Western belief in the universality of Western culture suffers three problems: it is false; it is immoral and it is dangerous.”

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This week we explore the work of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and his newest book “Historical Fact and Fiction”. The study is a re-interpretation of historical narratives. We discuss both his methodology as well as the larger political and philosophical purpose of his work.

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“With the advent of modernity time has vanished from social space. It is recorded solely on measuring-instruments, on clocks, that are isolated and functionally specialized as this time itself. Lived time loses its form and its social interest -- with the exception, that is, of time spent working. Economic space subordinates time to itself; political space expels it as threatening and dangerous (to power). The primacy of the economic and above all of the political implies the supremacy of space over time.” Heady stuff on this week with French theorist, Henri Lefebvre, and his concept of space.

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“Though nihilism has been relentlessly criticized for overemphasizing the dark side of human experience, it might be equally true that this overemphasis represents a needed counterbalance to shallow optimism and arrogant confidence in human power. Nihilism reminds us that we are not gods, and that despite all of the accomplishments and wonders of civilization, humans cannot alter the fact that they possess only a finite amount of mastery and control over their own destinies.” So wrote John Marmysz, author of "Laughing at Nothing". Intrigued? Catch this week's episode.

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“Definitions are the guardians of rationality, the first line of defense against the chaos of mental disintegration,” wrote Ayn Rand. It perfectly describes our discussion in this episode. We explore the arguments for an adequate epistemology – the philosophy of knowledge – through one of the most anciety of Malay texts, the Akaid Nasafi. Syed Muhiyudin Alatas of the Center for Advanced Studies on Science, Islam and Civilisation joins us.

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"A philosopher who is on his way to a trial to which he will be condemned to death meets a man who is about to prosecute his father for the crime of murder. The philosopher asks why he is so sure of his ethical position and so an engagement begins on the question of the Gods, piety and the relation between them.

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A well-known expert on the Middle-East, James Piscatori, professor of International Relations and head of the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. He is also a member of the Centre for the History of Political Thought. He will be talking about the idea of the Caliphate.

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“Questioning the ostensibly unquestionable premises of our way of life is arguably the most urgent of services we owe our fellow humans and ourselves,” writes Zygmunt Bauman in “Globalization: The Human Consequences”. This week Shahril Hamdan walks us through Bauman’s idea of “liquid modernity” and the cloakroom communities.

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“The human crisis is always a crisis of understanding: what we genuinely understand we can do,” writes Raymond Williams. The work of British cultural critic and literary scholar comes to life in this discussion with University University of Nottingham, Malaysia academic Sean Matthews. We discuss William’s seminal book “Marxism and Literature” and the notions “structure of feeling” and “dominant, emergent, residual”.

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