لماذا نعشق كرة القدم؟

 صادفتنيي تغريدة أحدهم مستنكرًا سبب “هوس” الناس بمبارايات كرة القدم لدرجة إلغاء مواعيدهم و أشغالهم في نفس توقيت ديربي مهم.

أخذني تلك السؤال لسؤال اخر، لماذا نعشق كرة القدم؟

و الإجابة الشخصية لتلك السؤال هي كالأتي:

وكيف لا نعشق كرة القدم.

ولكن على غرار ماركس،فنحن متهمون بكوننا ترس في خطة أفيون الشعوب.

متهمون بإننا أداة في يد النظام الرأس مالي العالمي لتسكين وتشتيت فساد و قسوة العالم.

والحقيقة أن كرة القدم بالفعل هي أداة تسكين و تنفيس عن قسوة الواقع.

نعشق كرة القدم لأنها عالم موازي لما نقاسيه،هي لغة لمن كُتم صوته رغمًا عنه. 

هي الفرصة الوحيدة الحرة لاختيار من يُمثلنا،لا فرض لإي سلطة و إنما إنتماء حُر.

لا شك أن كرة القدم تحولت لصناعة وأصبحت يتخللها هويات سياسية و عقائدية ولكني أظن أنها محاولات فاشلة  لتسليع جيل لا يهمه أي شئ من كرة القدم غير النشوة اللحظية من فوز فريقه و الصرخة مع كل فرصة هدف.

نحن نستهلك كرة القدم كما نستهلك الأكل و الماء،لأنها تمتدنا بالحرية

!

و تعتمد الحرية على القوة: فالقوة في الحداثة السائلة أصبحت الآن حرية الحركة، حيث لا يوجد جدران مادية أو رمزية لإيقاف تلك القوة.

في الحداثة السائلة تشكل كرة القدم لنا المجتمع الخيالي الذي نحلم به،نضع له قوانينه و أبطاله و ندرك عوامل نجاحه و فشله و يمكننا انتقاداه ودعمه كما نشاء وأينما كنا.

يمكن أن تتمثل كرة القدم عند البعض في لاعب معين أو فريق بعينه،ولكن عاشق كرة القدم يدرك قيمتها كمؤسسة اجتماعية أصيلة مثل الأسرة والزواج.

فكل مؤسسة اجتماعية مصممة لتلبية احتياجات محددة و مسؤولة عن الحفاظ على النظام الاجتماعي والحفاظ عليه.

وهنا يأتي دور كرة القدم دورًا وظيفيًا غير ديني في المجتمع من خلال دعم وإعادة تأكيد القيم والمعايير الأساسية الموجودة في كل ثقافة عاشق لها.

وعلى سبيل المثال،عندما تنهار أحد أعمدة تلك المؤسسة بفعل الزمن و السن و الإصابات فإنك تجد نفسك رغمًا عنك مطالب بتقبل تغيير أعمدتها طول الوقت. هذا التغيير ليس هين ولا سهل تقبله.

أخبرني كيف تستقبل عبارة أن زمن ميسي و رونالدو قد أوشك على الانتهاء وأنه زمن الرعاع؟

تلك العبارة مؤلمة ألم حقيقي لشخص مطالب بنسيان ذكريات سعيدة تمثل له ليالي نام فيها سعيدًا و صباحًا منتجًا بسبب فوز فريقه، و ليالي نام فيها محتقنًا بسبب خسارته.

نعشقها لأنها تجعلنا نشعر بطبيعتنا،أكره تلك الفرقة وأحب الأخرى دون تصنع ولا نفاق.

نعشقها لأنها قادرة على رسم البسمة و الحزن في غضون دقائق بين الشعورين.

تعطينا نفس شعور الشوبينج بالنسبة لكِ،و تبهرنا لأنها تتحدث لغتنا.

لن تفهمي جيدًا حتى تشاهدي ليونة أقدام ميسي و أداءه السهل الممتنع،لن تفهمي الحب حتى تشاهدي قصة توتي و روما.

لن تدركِ مدى الألم المصاحب لرونالدو البرازيلي ولا لرونالدو مانشتسر يونايتد الان.

صحيح أن كرة القدم ليست للجميع،ولكنها بالنسبة لعشاقها "كل الجميع".

٢٠٢٠ العام السائل

٢٠٢٠ العام السائل

الحياة هو مصطلح عام و واسع و سائل.عندما يسمع شخص ما كلمة سائل ، قد يفكر في الكيمياء أو الماء أو المجتمع ولكن هذا ما يعتقده زيجمونت بومان في الحياة حيث تكون الحياة السائلة هي الشكل الجديد للحياة الذي يمكن أن نعيشه في مجتمع حديث سائل.

 

هناك مفهومان يقاربهما بومان في كتابه في هذه المسألة وهما "الحداثة السائلة" و "الحياة السائلة". فهو يصف شكلاً جديدًا للمجتمع ، وهو مجتمع يتصرف فيه الفرد ويتغير بشكل أسرع للاندماج والتكيف مع العادات والروتين. حيث تؤثر سيولة الحياة والمجتمع على بعضهما البعض. لذلك ، هناك انتقال من الحداثة "الصلبة" إلى "السائلة".

 

يمكن أن يكون عام ٢٠٢٠ عامًا مليئًا بالسيولة نظرًا لأنه أوجد بيئة أخرى مليئة بالتحديات في حياة الفرد، حيث واجه الناس سلسلة من الصعوبات والتحديات التي لم يسبق لها مثيل من قبل و كانت لا تمتلك الهياكل والمؤسسات الاجتماعية في هذه المرحلة من جائحة الفيروس كورونا أدوات كافية لتغطية الاحتياجات الفردية للاستقرار الاجتماعي واستقرار المادي ، لذا فأنت كفرد يعيش في العام السائل  بحاجة إلى اكتشاف طرق بديلة للبقاء على قيد الحياة 

 

 

في الحياة السائلة في المجتمع الحديث السائل ، لا يمكن للأفراد والمؤسسات الحفاظ على شكلها و مسارها  لفترة طويلة.

لقد شهدنا كيف في عام ٢٠٢٠ كيف لم يكن من الممكن ان تبقى انجازات الأفراد او الدول في  حالة من النجاح الدائم ، لأنه في هذا العام السائل ، لم تعد القيمة ذات قيمة ، وتحولت القدرات إلى إعاقات. لذلك ، فإن الشروط والنظم التي كان من المفترض أن تثني على إنجازاتك تغيرت سريعا، واصبحت الانجازات التى توها حديثة بالية قبل أن يلاحظ النظام وجودها.

عام ٢٠٢٠ عامل سائل لأن العالم جميعا اجمع على حاله من عدم الاستقرار و اصبح كل فرد مهما كان جنسه او لونه يعيش في ظل حالة من عدم اليقين المستمر. أجبر هذا العام الأفراد على التحلي بالمرونة والقدرة على التكيف ، وأن يتم تعديلهم باستمرار وعلى استعداد لتغيير خططهم في أي لحظة ، والتخلي عن الالتزامات والولاءات دون ندم ، والبحث عن التغييرات التي تناسب وضعهم الحالي. عدم اليقين هو جوهر هذه الأوقات السائلة ؛ في حداثة السيولة ، يجب على الفرد التصرف وتخطيط الإجراءات وحساب المكاسب والخسائر المحتملة في ظل ظروف عدم اليقين المزمن. تعلم الفرد في هذه السنة السائلة التفكير بشكل كامل في  والبدائل و الخطط المحتملة البديلة.

تغير مفهوم `` القيمة '' في هذا العام ، ما اعتقد الناس أنه مهم وثابت والأهم تغير إلى الأبد ، أصبح مفهوم القيمة غير مقيد،ولكي تصبح كفرد ذو قيمة يجب أن تتغير حالتك من المقاومة العالية وقابلية الاستخدام الضعيفة إلى المقاومة المنخفضة وقابلية الاستخدام القوية. اي كلما كنت كفرد تتيح مساحات و تتقبل أفكار مختلفة  كلما كنت اكثر حظا في التكييف مع هذا الوباء.

ربما نتسأل لماذا كانت خطط الدول للتعامل مع الوباء غير فعالة و الجواب هو لأنها لا تعالج السبب الجذري لقلقنا ، و الحقيقة أن مؤسساتنا الوطنية والمحلية لم تعد قادرة على توفير الأمن لنا في أعقاب عدم الاستقرار الذي أحدثته الرأسمالية العالمية المتقدمة. .  بدلاً من ذلك ، تؤدي استراتيجيات الدولة في عصر الرأس المالية إلى زيادة مقدار القلق والخوف والعزل.

سيتركنا عام 2020 مع ما يسميه بومان "الهزات الوجودية" ، حيث لا يمتلك الناس شعورًا ثابتًا بهويتهم ، أو ما ينتمون إليه ، وبإحساس متزايد بالضعف. مع حلول العام الجديد ، لا يرى معظمنا المستقبل على أنه مكان مشرق للأمل ، بل نعتبر المستقبل سلسلة من الصعوبات التي يجب التغلب عليها ، والأخطار التي يجب حتما ولا بد سنواجهها. في الحياة السائلة في الحداثة السائلة ، لا يصبح هدف مشروع حياتنا هو تطوير أنفسنا ، ولا الفهم العميق لكيفية أن نكون إنسانيين ، ولكن بدلاً من ذلك ، تصبح أهدافنا الحياتية مقتصرة على تجنب الأشياء السيئة التي تحدث لأنفسنا. في هذه السنة السائلة من فيروس كورونا ، تقبل الأفراد حقيقة أننا لسنا أحرارًا تمامًا ، فنحن في الواقع ملزمون بالمشاركة في عملية التجديد المستمر لأن حياتنا الاجتماعية في تغير مستمر. 

٢٠٢٠ عام اثبت لنا ان المرونة هي الثبات الوحيد والزوال هو الدوام الوحيد و لا يقين هو اليقين الوحيد، و ربما اكثر الدروس المستفادة هو أنه كأفراد لا يمكننا محاولة الهروب من عالم لا نتحكم فيه

Civilization, Ideology, and Culture. What's the Difference?

Civilization, Ideology, Culture are concepts which are parallel to each other, to understand their definitions and how these concepts overlap and diverge, we must identify each concept and trace its historical emergence.

I will start in this paper with the concept of Ideology, in which various scholars developed different types and definitions of it. Mainly Ideology “is a system of ideas, beliefs, ideals, and principles that guide the social, cultural political and economic functioning of society”.

 In 1796, the term ideology was used in a translation of a work by the French philosopher Destutt de Tracey, who used it to develop philosophical questions and to establish the term “science of ideas”. During the nineteenth century, it was sometimes used contemptuously to refer to radical and revolutionary ideas and in the twentieth century, the word ' ideology ' continued to be used to criticize any social policy that was perceived to be deliberately derived from social theory. The concept has been debated from different scholars, for example, Andrew Heywood mentioned the following meanings of ideology: a political belief system; an action-oriented set of political ideas; the ideas of the ruling class; the world view of a particular social class or group; ideas that propagate a false consciousness among the exploited or oppressed; an officially sanctioned set of beliefs used to legitimize a political system or regime; an all-embracing political doctrine that claims a monopoly of truth (2003:6).

However, Gramsci (1971) considered that ideology was embedded in each level and aspect of society – in popular culture, arts and literature, the education system and the mass media. According to Gramsci, society can be dominated by manipulating its culture- beliefs, explanations, perceptions, values.  He conceptualizes ideology by portraying it as a belief system as a "terrain” of practices, principle, and doctrines having a material and institutional nature comprising individual subjects once they are “embedded" into such terrain. Since ideology comprised individuals as subjects and social agent in the society, the same social agents operate economic roles at production. Ideology had an important function in the realm of production as well as in the overall structure of society.

The most important part of Gramsci's definition of ideology is his thought of “organic “ideology Clearly, ideology was defined regarding the system of class rule, for example, hegemony, in which there was an organic arrangement of every ideological component into an allied system. This complex arrangement constituted an “organic ideology,” the expression of the communal life of the given social bloc wherein a class held state power and hence social hegemony. In a given hegemonic system, therefore, a hegemonic class held state power through its economic supremacy and through its capacity to successfully articulated or expressed the most essential elements in the ideological discourses of the subordinate classes in civil society.

 Moreover, Karl Marx urged that ideology develops out of society’s mode of production, which is capitalism and private enterprise. Marx's way to deal with ideology was gone ahead in his hypothesis of base and superstructure. According to Marx, the superstructure of society, the domain of belief system, the domain of creation reflects the interests of the ruling class in the society and legitimize their status quo to remain in power.

In addition, it is because ideology legitimizes the norms and beliefs (culture) that it plays a specific role in cultural change. Ideology is not only belief. Ideology is the intellectual dimension of belief systems. Ideology is the justifying part of the belief system. Each belief system rests on a base which is ideology. Ideology as a particular kind of belief is then included in culture. It is not distinct but plays a specific role. culture is the consequence of choice. It is a belief system as an intellectual dimension of culture, that something is the consequence of a decision. An individual inherits his culture, but it is always capable to change his ideology and refine their beliefs, norms, and values. Culture is organized by ideology. Ideology is in this sense includes in the culture and has a particular role. It justifies the beliefs, norms, and values and founds action (respect the rules of the game). Ideology explains culture because valid justification to keep the standards of the game.  Ideology gives the place of cleverness. Any variation in justification costs is a potential carrier of the evolution of the practices. Ideology is then a genetic cause of culture.

However, the concept of Culture was extremely hard to define since it is a complex term and carries particular meanings in different disciplines. Because the development of its derivation and its arrangement changed in various understandings, contexts, and anthropological terms. Although, the meaning of the term 'culture' has changed over time, especially in the period of the transition from traditional social formations to modernity.

The word 'culture' was first utilized in the fifteenth century to depict the human relationship with nature. It portrayed the results of the extraction of assets from nature through a procedure of work, for instance, the tending of crops (cultivation) and livestock production. This meaning is retained in modern English in such words as 'agriculture' and 'horticulture. The Latin root for the word culture is Colere, which can mean anything from cultivating and inhabiting to worshiping and protecting. Colere also ends up via the Latin cults as the religious form “cult”, just as the idea of culture itself in the modern ages comes to substitute itself for a fading sense of divinity. The second definition was used in the mid-sixteenth century. It broadened the possibility of 'development' from cultivation to progressively more abstract things like the human mind.

The third definition of 'culture', which has been the most important in social sciences, emerges from the Enlightenment. In the eighteenth century, scholars utilized the word to refer to the general secular procedure of social development (as in 'European society and culture'). The Enlightenment perspective as in Europe in the eighteenth century was that there was a procedure of unilinear, authentic self-development of humankind, which all society faces, and in which Europe played the focal, all-inclusive role since it was the most elevated center of civilization or cultured human development. The most significant sociological utilization of the term, culture is comprehended as indicating the entire surface of society and the way language, images, implications, convictions, and values shape social practices. The sociological analysis of a culture in that matter prompted the development of different 'tool-kit' of ideas and forms of classifications.

The distinction between culture and civilization is not well embedded in the English language, yet has remained generally significant in other European and in non-European dialects which received these ideas from French and German researchers. The fogginess of the distinction has been reinforced when powerful streams of English-speaking anthropologists suggested that both concepts are indistinguishable. In the English-speaking world, the concept of civilization has grown without reference to the term culture. This is a direct result of the distinction of British anthropological methodologies (firmly affected by "Victorian evolutionists" and Edward B. Tylor). Tylor's notion of civilization covers both culture and civilization. It adds to the confusion that Tylor, although defining civilization as more than culture, nonetheless used both terms reciprocally.

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Civilization works towards an increasing extension, referring to and denoting more and more things. Furthermore, civilization is a convenient conceptual tool because its abstract originality remains distinct and recognizable even when it is made to include a large number of individual phenomena. Although Tylor’s civilization embraces all of the world’s mechanical, scientific, and artistic achievements, his terminology remains conceptually meaningful. This is not the case for culture, which fulfills the opposite function because it delimits and exists only through this delimitation.

The distinction between civilization and culture has been subjected to many attacks for more than 250 years. It remains relevant in a world where cultures (both local and universal), tradition, and modernity interfere. In the past, most of the time, neither the understanding of culture nor that of civilization could lead to a better understanding of the other. In Nazi Germany, anti-Jewish racism was based on a naturalized idea of culture; in European colonies and in the United States, anti-black racism was based on the idea that African Americans were incapable of acquiring civilization by nature. Neither culture nor civilization has been able to help reduce value-biased dismissals of that which is foreign or which is simply different.

In the contemporary world, culture and civilization are in conflict, in which the Western and non-Western identity politics or even radical religious movements (Islamic or Christian fundamentalism) claim to be predominantly cultural in character and see as their enemies those who attempt to impose a universal or alien civilization upon them. However, as the further historical development of culture and civilization has appeared, there is no culture without civilization. there are some beliefs that mutual cultural understanding represents the most efficient reconciliatory power will be able to establish cohesion and stability and to promote East-West, but they are criticized because culture as a locally lived experience is always mediated through civilization. In parallel, civilization in itself is purely abstract universal and becomes concrete only through cultural legalization.

References:

Braham, P., & Braham, P. (2014). In Key concepts in sociology (pp. 102–105). London: SAGE.

Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten (2012) "What is the Difference Between Culture and Civilization? Two Hundred Fifty Years of Confusion," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 66 : No. 66 , Article 4.

Facchini, Melki (2011). Ideology and Cultural Change. SEMINAR SEPIO JUNE 21, MSE (PARIS 1, FRANCE) and Association for the Study of Religion, Economics & Culture, ASREC Annual Meeting, April 7 – 10, 2011 Hyatt Regency, Crystal City (Washington DC)

Heywood, A. (2017). Political ideologies: an introduction. London: Macmillan Education, Palgrave.

Stuart, Hall., Cultural Formations of Modern Society in Formations of Modernity (pp. 230-274). Cambridge Polity Press, 199.

روح تحيا،بجسد ميت.

كانت عائدة من اخر أمل متبقي لها في الصمود أمام فصل الشتاء القارس هذا العام، و رغم برودة أطراف جسدها إلا إنها كانت تشعر بدفئ بداخلها ولكن لم يلبث هذا الدفء ساعات حتي تحول لنيران قضت علي الأخضر و اليابس.
"مبروك أنتي حامل". اكاد اجزم أنك عزيزي القارئ قرأتها بصوت الطبيب المصري الذي يقبع في عيادته بمدينة الإنتاج الإعلامي موجها كلمته تلك للزوجان السعيدان بإبتسامته البلهاء ثم يتبعها صوت المخرج Cut.

رغم سماجة هذا السيناريو إلا أنها كانت تتمناه،لأنها بالتأكيد لم تكن تحلم بالمشهد الذي تكمث فيه علي ركبتيها بأرض الحمام تتقيأ لكي تدرك أنها بالفعل حامل! ولكن يبدو أن هذا المشهد هو الأكثر واقعية والأكثر انتشارا..
خطر كل شيئ علي بالها في تلك اللحظة،أسئلة بلا أجوبة،من أنا؟ أين أنا؟ و ماذا يحدث! لماذا كبرتُ الفتاة هنا؟ في بلد غريب لا تجيد لغته حتي الآن ولا تألف شوارعه،هي بالكاد تتعافى من جروح الثورة و من آلالم الفقد، قاطعت ركلة غير متوقعة حبل تلك الأفكار،ركلة من عالم آخر،ركلة مليئة بالحياة و الرغبة في النزول مبكرا للقاع الذي امتلأ. الآن عليها أن تختار اسما لتلك الروح لأن جميع المؤشرات تنذر بولادة مبكرة،لقد قررت من البداية أن يكون أسم بلا دلاله علي اي شيئ. لا هو بالسياسي ولا الديني ولا العنصري ولا الذي يحمل في طياته اي صفة. ثم تذكرت لماذا هي هنا بالأساس! محجوزة بتلك الغرفة مجددا،في هذا المشفى، في هذا البلد! كيف ترغب في أن تحمي روح قبل أن تولد من السياسة و هي ستفتح عيناها هنا بسبب السياسة،كيف تبعدها عن جزء من هويتها الدينية و هي في حفظ خالقها،كيف ستجد اسم لها ليس بعنصري و هي تعاني في بطن أمها منذ اللحظة الأولي بشتى الوان العنصرية، وهل من المنطقي أن لا يحمل اسمها اي صفة وهي القوية الصامدة المكافحة منذ النطفة الأولى؟ لا وقت لتفكير كثيرا الآن، اخبرتها الطبيبة أنه وضعها ليس بالمستقر و ربما تلد في اي وقت رغم عدم اكتمال جسد الروح بعد،ولكن سرير المستشفى لا يلهمها،بالكاد كتبت تلك الكلمات بيد واحدة كي توثق حالة فريدة من نوعها،روح تحيا في جسد ميت.

لا بأس بي الآن.

اذا عدت بالزمن قليلا الي الوراء لن اصدق ان هذه الفتاه الحالمة،صاحبة القلب المفعم بالحياة و الروح الخفيفة التي تحمل في عنقها كاميرا و في حوزتها ورقة و قلم هي أنا الآن. لقد مرت ٥ أعوام منذ أن انتزعت. يقولون أن لكل قصة فصل يتغير من بعده الأمور،نقطة تحول،اللقطة التي يصبح بعدها البطل في القصة اما جاني او مجني عليه،اما محقق هدفه او مخذول من الجميع و من نفسه اولا،اما يُكتب له نهاية سعيدة او تكون نهاية مفتوحة لجزء ثان لا يعلم سواه سوى الله!
اتذكر تلك الليالي التي كنت امكث بها في غرفتي في منزل لا ادفع إيجاره بل ادفع من روحي لأزينه بأحلامي و خططي،أوراق متناثرة في كل مكان مليئه بالخطوط و بعض الآيات مفادها أن من جد وجد!
حتي الصباح احلم بأنني قريبا سألتحق بالجامعة،سأتخرج، و اخرج اول رواية لي لنور.. ربما بعدها كنت اخطط ان اقع في غرام هذا الشخص الغريب الذي سيري أيام لا بأس بها معي. سأغادر منزلي للأسف بحثا عن الإنسانية التي كنت اظن حينها انها مفقودة من بلادي. سيأخذني والدي معه إلي معارض الكتاب حول العالم،سأعمل في الصحافة أو النشر و سأظل اهتف في الميادين حتي تنتصر الثورة.
ثم ها أنا الآن،عام جديد علي الأبواب بعد ٥ سنوات. اجلس في الثانية صباحا اكتب بعد انقطاع دام شهور مجددا،رغم اني كنت قد ادركت منذ مدة أن لا فائدة من كتابتي! ولم تعد ورقتي تحتمل قلمي الثقيل المنهك.. ولكن ما لبثت إلا ان عدت مجددا ابوح و لو قليلا بما اشعر.. ربما لأني ولأول مرة و رغم كل الهزائم اشعر ان لا بأس بي!
شعرت ان لا بأس بي و لأول مرة في وقت اظن انني فيه الأضعف علي الإطلاق شكلا و موضوعا!
و لكن ربما هو شعور يأتيك من حيث لا تدري حين تصبح قاب قوسين او ادني،شعور يأتيك لينقذك من بطن الحوت!
لقد استطعت النجاة رغم اني نزُعت من روحي برصاصة من أحمق،استطعت حينها أن اقول انا لله وانا إليه راجعون و ان اغفو قليلا بعدها وان اظل مستيقظة حتي الآن.
ان اكمل طريق ليس بهين،غير واضح،معتم و إن انار قليلا،نوره مزيف..وان طريقي الآن ترسمه المدرسة الواقعية التي يحدد مسارها المسؤلية و العزم و النفس الطويل وليست أحلام اليقظة.
الآن و رغم الهزائم والأقنعة المتساقطة حولي و الظلم المتزايد و القلوب المتقلبة و المسرحيات التي بلا ابطال ولا جمهور و فوارغ الرصاص من حربي أمس و أول أمس و غدا مع المجتمع و صراخ الصف و استيعاذه من الفتنة وكأنه كان مجتمع تقي قبل ذلك رغم اننا كلنا ندرك انها كانت سنوات من ستر الله فقط. وبعد فراق الاحبة و السقوط و عقلي الذي اتعبني من شده إدراكه لما بعد النور ولقلبي الذي يخفق مرتين في النبضه الواحدة،اشعر انني و مع بداية هذا العام، لا بأس بي الآن.

Can we live together?

Undergrad societies are not anymore progressively developing into one vast global society; rather, the all the political, regional, and social elements that we once called social orders or nations are divorcing in front of our eyes in the wake of ethnic, political, and religious conflicts. The outcome is that we live respectively just to the degree that we make similar signals and utilize similar norms and values. But we cannot converge or speak with each other if we are not taught the same language, we cannot conform if we are not the same color. Therefore, social institutions may be retooled to demolish the improvement of the individual subject and correspondence amongst subjects, and by drawing out what these new social foundations may affect the social relations between different group and in education system, creating a room for prejudice and discrimination.

 However, to achieve and to form meaningful social and political institutions, to create an acceptance and to reduce the gap between different groups, we have to empower an active self or the “subject”. Thus, this is what Touraine emphasizes in his book “can we live together” he mentions the importance of the school of subject with reflection on education and textbooks. Touraine emphasis that education must enhance the freedom of the personal Subject and it develops great emphasis on diversity, communication, and liberation rather than nationalism context, wrecking individualism and national culture.

Textbooks is a major aspect in constructing the subject, it plays an important role in shaping the identity of the individual and his social roles in the society. It represents a resource for both teachers as a course designers and learners as individuals who are acquiring their knowledge and background. It shapes the individual’s conscious in order to recognize himself within the in group and within the out group. It works on the notion of us and them, and who is the “others”, which can later develop a form of discrimination and prejudice, leading to widen the gap within different societies.

However, theories of prejudice and discrimination are paramount element in order to understand the importance of textbooks in creating an atmosphere of where it reduces or increases the subject. One of the relevant theories to this topic is the Socialization and Social Learning Theory, it focuses on social norms that have been taught for the individual at his early years, it argues that People are socialized and trained to behave that way, that even discriminatory act is taught. Social learning theory, looks at the individual learning process, the formation of self, and the influence of society in socializing individuals. the formation of one’s identity is a response to social stimuli. This theory postulates that an individual’s identity is not the product of the unconscious (such as the belief of psychoanalytic theorists), but instead is the result of modeling oneself in response to the expectations of others.

Behaviors and attitudes develop in response to reinforcement and encouragement from the people around us. Social learning theorists acknowledge that childhood experience is important, they also believe that the identity people acquire is formed more by the behaviors and attitudes of others. Hence, Social identity theory is applicable, according to SIT, people tend to classify themselves and others into various social categories, such as organizational membership, religious affiliation, gender, and age cohort.

Social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation. Social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others. Social identification, therefore, is the perception of oneness with or belongingness to some human aggregate. Social identification provides a partial answer to the question, who am I?

 Therefore, this is applicable to the case of educational textbooks, since it provides a set of visuals, activities, readings, and ideologies that affect the individual’s identity and recognition. Therefore, I will focus on the issue of textbooks formation in Egypt. I will talk about Egyptian educational textbooks produced by the ministry of education in Egypt. I analyzed different textbooks from different grades, focusing on main social concepts such as: sexism, nationalism. What I found was an answer to the question: can we live together? and the answer is: NOT YET.

Sexism

Therefore, and by analyzing the 2nd primary Arabic textbook, I concentrated-on gender as a leading explanatory approach to the inequality between women and men in the public sphere and in the social norms and values. While the term ‘‘sex’’ is a reference to the biological and physical differences between males and females, Gender refers to the socially constructed differences between women and men. Egypt ranks low in gender equity compared to other countries worldwide. The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index, which measures disparities between men and women across countries, ranks Egypt at 136 out of 145 countries worldwide. Gender Index 2014, which measures legislation, practices, and attitudes that restrict women’s rights and opportunities, classifies Egypt to be among the countries ‘very high’ in gender discrimination together with others in Africa and the Middle East.

 Hence, the constructed social roles for females and males represented in Egyptian educational textbooks is an image of an unequal distribution of roles in daily social life based on their sex. While women can work only as a teacher or nurse, males are doctors and engineers. It focuses on how the individual whether a male or female should react and behave in a certain act. It destroyers the "subject" and force the individual to submit to the laws of community, where is individual only part of a particular identity that he cannot change or resist.

For instance, Gender in the Arabic textbook grade 2nd primary, semester 2, draws attention to the socially unequal distinction between femininity and masculinity, the ideas about the implications of biological differences between women and men have served to justify the exclusion or limited inclusion of women in sports. Such views reflect an ideology of biological determinism, where it is claimed that men are inherently strong, aggressive, and competitive and, therefore, better suited to sports, while women are more sensitive, weak, fragile and can play music or do arts.

Furthermore, what I found significant about Gender representation in the textbook, that it does represent only men working in the agriculture sphere, which is totally inconsistent to the Egyptian culture. According to the Egyptian national council for women: rural women in Egypt indicates an account for 49% of the rural population, and that 42.8% of women in Egypt work in agriculture.

While the division of labour between men and women varies by crop, overall men carry out most of the land preparation, planting, weeding, irrigation and pest control, and women contribute moderately to seed preparation, fertilization and harvesting, and significantly to storage and marketing. Food processing is the primary responsibility of women. In animal husbandry, men are primarily responsible for the care of water buffalo, donkeys, cows and sheep, while women carry out most of the milking, processing and marketing of milk and animal products. In fisheries, fish catching, feeding and marketing are primarily men's tasks, while women contribute about 52% of the labour in fish processing and net-making, and carry out 42% of net maintenance and repair. Women also carry out virtually all domestic tasks, including water and fuel collection, and food processing and preparation. Why do women and men tend to specialize in different subject areas? What is it like being a woman in a "man's" subject and a man in a "woman's" subject? Education plays a part in reinforcing gender equality, and therefore we have to examine the social constructions of gender in order to answer the question of living together.

Nationalism

The nation in the textbooks is often presented as an immaculate entity that has rarely, if ever, done harm to anyone; Mistakes "we" have committed are often stifled, revised, or outright ignored. Wrongs of which "we" are on the receiving end, however, are frequently emphasized, embellished, and may even be fabricated.  Moreover, after the analyzations to the textbooks in Egypt, it was clearly shown the robust view of nationalism, although nationalism can be perceived as normal, positive phenomenon, however the nationalism reflected in the textbooks are a way different from this.

• Firstly, the context of the topics covered are almost always limited to national geography, national, history, national culture, and non-civic perspective. Which therefore limits the development of critical thinking and questioning or developing different interpretations to the current education system.

• Secondly, the nationalism reflected in the textbooks imposes criteria regarding how and to what extent patriotism should be demonstrated.

• Thirdly, these criteria are presented as not as normative but as positive statement of which different forms of patriotism are practised, and the concept which personal priorities exits other than patriotism are therefore excluded.

For instance, the claim that Egyptians are an army nation is frequently repeated in history textbooks. "In the reign of King Tuthmosis the Third, the army had a cultural role.It recorded the oddities of the country they invaded, like birds, animals, trees and plants that were unknown to Egypt. This was recorded on the walls of the Karnak Temple" (Prep1, sem1-history textbook: 56)."The army is the first line of defence for your beloved nation Egypt, the army is the only one who is capable of maintaining and protecting the unity of the country" (Prep1, sem1-history textbook: 66).

Moreover, the term "pride" of the civilization "Ancient Egyptians –Pharaohs- and their history is widely included, which I think later imposes the concept that there is no need to build a current civilization, and it serves the state in a political context, making the individual accept the current atrocious situation without objection because they already have an ancient civilization to be proud of.

 "you have to be proud of your civilization "Ancient Egyptians – Pharaohs-" and their history. The stability, prosperity, unity and security we are living now, is due to the fruit of a long struggle thousands of years ago. The Ancient Egyptians are the first people in the world to achieve unity and unity is the only way to build a great civilization" (4th primary-sem1-history textbook: 34)

Furthermore, Egypt is presented in the textbooks as nation whose language and country are under threat due its geopolitical importance. There is always a profound discussion in the textbooks about Egypt being under threat and Pledge for colonists due its important geographical location, where is located in the middle of the continents of the ancient world (Asia, Europe, Africa). It also overlooks the important Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, which helps it to connect with neighbouring countries and stimulate trade and economy. This approach is used to encourage the spirit of national security and the indispensable powerful army to control the nation.

Not only the geographical location which makes the country under threat but also there is a threat on its language "Classical Arabic- Quran language", therefore there is a huge emphasis on the language as an "Identity". 1- Language is he image of the existence of the nation with its ideas and Meanings. 2- Accuracy in the composition and depth of the language is evidence of the tendency of the nation to think and search for causes. 3- The richness of the language and the abundance of its longing is evidence of the nation's tendency towards freedom. 4- The first goal of the colonizer is to weaken the national language of the Occupier. 5- The peoples degenerate with their languages and by their languages. (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook: 36)

Also,

• "For no doubt, the language of the nation is the first target of the colonists. people will not change until its language changes. Language is the origin of the transformation of its ideas, beliefs, emotions and hopes. If the colonist can cut you off from your language, then he is cutting you off from your past, and your identity will become engraved in history, and not present in its presence. It is like the sons of a same father had different languages, so they are becoming the sons of three different fathers.

 Many countries felt this great danger and imposed strict laws in order to preserve the linguistic entity and identity from the decline and took positive steps in preserving them, including: 1- Make it the language of communication and talk in all affairs of life. • 2- Direct the media to maintain the language and not to use the slang levels of it. Therefore we, the "sons of the Arabic language," are aware of the attempts to weaken it. The colonizer holds our language in life imprisonment, judges our past with oblivion, and restricts our future" (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook: 37)

"Language has a deep connection with ideology and freedom, the language is the true image to its people, it shows how certain people are open and close minded. Language can shape its native's bodies, that's why invaders want to destroy it, and Conspirators wants to conspire it, so it is our job to protect it" (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook:36)

However, the argument that Arabic is the language of the holy Quran is used to demonstrate that it is normal and inevitable force to perceive language as an ideology and identity. "Language is one of the components of the life of the nations, and Arabic language in particular is one of the most important elements of the Arab identity, for many reasons, but most importantly because its relation to the Quran, the miracle book that came down with it" (2^nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook: 44). "Arabic is the only language that had never been distorted or changed and stood strong throughout the ages, and that is because it the language of the Wise "Zikar" (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook:52)

The textbooks also focus on the idea that we have to learn our national morals and sacrifice ourselves for sacred values and that the nation priorities come before our priorities. "Our beloved nation in a very need of our efforts in this harsh period of its history to develop, and this will not happen if we put our personal priorities over the nation, and every one of us should do his duty before calling for his rights" (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook: 64). There are two types of Egyptians who: Die for Egypt, live for Egypt (2nd secondary-sem2- Arabic textbook: 68). "one does deny the virtue of his homeland, deny the love of his country from his heart, and you cannot establish this love except in the heart of a believer in the values of his nation, we call the youth of Egypt who preferred to go abroad to come back to their country" (2nd secondary-sem2- Arabic textbook: 72). "Come back to Egypt, the small piece of bread with sincerity will satisfies us, and the drop of water with faith will fill our thirst" (2nd secondary-sem2- Arabic textbook: 73). "why you left Egypt? is it because the weakness of your love to Egypt? Or because the weakness of faith of your national identity? Or if the dream we were looking at died before it started?" (2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook:74)

Finally, we see how nationalism was used as an ideology based on the premise that the individual's loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass others is deeply embodied in the textbooks. Therefore, the construction of the terms "us" and them" can lead to discrimination and prejudice. We can refer here again to the social learning theory which emphasizes that there is a discrimination in that context, since it is emphasis on social norms that were taught. Additionally, Realistic group conflict theory can be related, because it explains prejudice as a result of real groups being locked into zero-sum competition over either real or symbolic resources, Individuals perceive the competition at an intergroup level, and competition-making firmer boundaries-dehumanizing the opposing group. Further, Social identity theory-SIT is relevant also, because it explains prejudice as self-concept (awareness), existential (separate from others), and Categorical (age, gender, size, etc.).

 However, we must dig for an answer to the question what can be done in order for the different background to come together without major conflict. Therefore, we can discuss multiculturalism as Bauman urged that we miss community because we miss security. Communities develop a sense of protection and secure, today multiculturalism only means living besides, but not with each other. Bauman asserts that it is advisable to replace the term “multiculturalism”, with the concept of "diasporisation": a process by which the stranger becomes a next-door neighbour. Thus, how to assist re-rooting of the uprooted? Different approaches can answer this question, firstly, there is a personal responsibility on each intellectual individual to help in building conscience, cognitive frames, and spread an awareness on how to sail in unfamiliar water. This can be achieved by developing new life purpose for the group, new loyalties, and new mindsets that can accept the constant social change without feeling inferior. "Design and built new well-structured and mapped settings that would make such navigation possible and effective, and so give shape to the temporarily shapeless ‘mass’; to bring about ‘social order’ or more exactly an orderly society" (Bauman 2001: 126). 

For instance, this may lead to what Nancy Fraser emphasized " a struggle of recognition" which she explains that struggles for recognition occur in a world of exacerbated material inequality—in income and property ownership; in access to paid work, education, health care and leisure time; but also, more starkly in caloric intake and exposure to environmental toxicity, hence in life expectancy and rates of morbidity and mortality. She stressed on the notions of ‘identity’, ‘difference’, ‘cultural domination’, and ‘recognition’. She argues that "we should see ourselves as presented with a new intellectual and practical task: that of developing a critical theory of recognition, one which identifies and defends only those versions of the cultural politics of difference that can be coherently combined with the social politics of equality." She assumes that justice today requires both redistribution and recognition.

In conclusion, I believe to obtain some sort of social cohesion and the degree in which a society holds together, the responsibility of the individual for the common good is the essential element. However, there is no a specific common good in absolute, and every common good we do, also reflects on our lives, the equation here would be that we need to accept the give and take process without perceiving it as hypocrisy or greed or inconsistency, or lack of one's identity. We must ensure the importance of having mutual spaces where young people from different backgrounds can meet. This is crucial for them to develop mutual trust and understanding, to stress on the importance of culture and intercultural dialogue that enables the individuals to build bridges, to encourage contacts and exchanges. And certainly, good education is always the good embark of creating subjects, not passive, and vulnerable individuals. Through developing educational textbooks as Touraine suggested that education must enhance the freedom of the personal Subject (recognize child’s culture, not free from particularism- home and school can converge), Hence, intercommunication rather than solely valuing national culture, emphasis on diversity, communication and the desire to compensate for unequal situations and inequality of opportunity start with the recognition of inequality. That may at the end lead to an answer: yes, we can live together, when we believe that we are the society, Significantly, the responsibility is on us to compare and contrast where is the problem and how to solve it, god will not interfere, neither superheroes, only us and by us.

References: The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education. 2017-2018, in (ed.). Egypt:  pp. 16-41.

FAO, Fact sheet, world bank.1994. Egypt-Women, agriculture and rural development. , Available at: (Accessed).

International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. March 2017. Employment in agriculture, female (% of female employment)., Available at: (Accessed).

The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education. 2017-2018. 2nd secondary- sem2- Arabic textbook., Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education. 2017-2018. Prep1, sem1-history textbook., Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education. 2017-2018. 4th primary-sem1-history textbook., Egypt.

Abrams, D. and M. A. Hogg. 2010. Social Identity and Self-Categorization. In J. F. Dovidio et.al. (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination, London, Sage, pp. 179-189.

Dovidio J. F. et.al. 2011. Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination: Theoretical and Empirical Overview”. In J. F. Dovidio et.al. (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination, London, Sage, pp. 3-29.

Bauman, Z. 2001. Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World, Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 124-150.

Touraine, A. 2000. A School for the Subject. In A. Touraine, Can We Live Together?  Standford: Standford University Press, pp. 265-287.

(S) Nancy Fraser, “From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a ‘Post-Socialist’ Age”, New Left Review, July-August 1995, Issue 212, pp. 68-93.