DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
BERGEN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY SEMINARS
Prof. Anh Nga Longva,
University of Bergen
THE CHRISTIAN MINORITIESIN THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE POLITICS OF PROTECTION
ABSTRACT: Ever since the Islamic conquest in the 7th century until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 the Christians of the Middle East have been looked upon and treated by the Muslims as protected people (ahl al dhimma). The literature on Christian minorities rightly emphasizes the impact of this 1300 year old practice on Muslim-Christian relations. The Islamic protection regime known as dhimma builds on a series of unambiguous rules and regulations which have remained unchanged over the centuries. Yet research in Lebanon reveals intriguing differences in the collective memory of the dhimma among two of the country’s largest Christian communities, the Maronites and the Greek Orthodox. Neither the history of these communities nor the history of their Churches can quite account for these differences. It is suggested in this paper that the study of the politics of protection among Middle Eastern Christian minorities will remain incomplete as long as another type of protection, extended by the European Powers in the 18th and 19th centuries through the Capitulations, is not granted the analytical attention it deserves.
Thursday, 7 February, 2008
13.15-15.00
Seminar room, 8th floor
Fosswinckelsgt. 6