The Islamization and Saffronization of Education: A Threat to the Dialogue of Civilizations?

Abstract

The article analyzes the contemporary processes of creeping Islamization of the education sphere in Islamic countries and its saffronization (Hinduization) in India. The prerequisites have been the rise of localcultures in Asia and Africa since the late XX century as a reaction to globalization and particularly the rise of the religious factor as an answer to the inefficiency of secular nationalism. Using the material of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the author shows how Islamists redesign humanities curricula for their own purposes. Using the Indian material, the same is shown regarding the adherents of Hindu nationalism, i.e., Hindutva. Main attention is paid to the process of the dismantling the secular state in Turkey, Pakistan and India in the XXI century as exemplified by the education system. The fading of the laicism principle, the search for an identity through the image of an enemy, and the indoctrination of the youth in the spirit of intolerance hamper the capacity of societies for dialogue. It increases the risks of conflicts between ethnoreligious communities both within and between states.