Collaborative Research...So many questions, so little time.

"Typical challenges at this phase of research could be analyzing qualitative data, participant observation, and/or synthesizing findings in collaborative research."

To a certain extent, we struggle with all three of these issues, but I would weight the last most heavily. Ruben and I have collected an immense amount of rich qualititative data, and although David Biale's "dialectical relationship" between minority communities and the outside environment has provided a framework through which to interpret and analyze this information, synthesizing this data will certainly be difficult. While we have a working thesis, we are struggling to merge three elements of our project-- information on the Jewish community in Amsterdam, data collected on and from the Amsterdam Muslim community, and our own experiences (in relation to gender, the concept of insider/outsider, etc.)--into a cohesive narrative. My question concerns the "personal appendix" recommended by Mirjam and Jessica-- because Ruben and I have had such different and at times almost opposite experiences in terms of access and reception in these communities, how should we organize our impressions and responses? I feel like our reactions to the project experience enrich the paper and can be used as primary evidence to support our thesis, but how can we organize a section in our opinions sometimes contradict one another? I guess this is the quintessential question in collaborative research.

Lectures, Research, Adventures: Week 1-2

On Wednesday we first heard from Atef Hamdy about the six steps to extremism. The organization of his project was inspiring-- his original taxonomy makes me wonder what kind of creative, novel thesis Ruben and I can write. We then went to Aya Sofia and meet a new research contact, Harun Yildirim. He is the president of the Muslim Student Association of the Netherlands, and he talked about the struggles of second-generation Moroccan and Turkish immigrants to assimilate into Dutch culture and how these people are marginalized. I was surprised by the welcome we recieved, and the fact that event the bare-headed women were allowed to watch the male 2:00 prayer. After having visited other mosques, I am even more convinced that Aya Sofia is exceptionally open-armed.

Thursday we went to the Jewish Historical museum--this was a moving experience. While I was aware of the extent to which the Holocaust devastated the Dutch Jewish community, seeing pictures of Jewish life pre and post 1941 superimposed suffering individuals on my cloudy conception of WWII. Ruben and I went to the Resistance Museum, and that made me wonder about myself-- what action would I have taken under Nazi occupation? While I would like to believe I would be a resistance fighter, I wonder if the harsh reality of the situation would crush my idealism. I don't know whether I'm selfless and brave enough.

On Thursday night my purple bike was stolen, I walked out to find the lock had been somehow sodered off and the plastic part had been beaten with a crowbar, they left the tools lying around. I think thieves seized their opporunity during this big storm we had, nobody heard anything over the thunder. I console myself by thinking that it's part of the Amsterdam experience, but the reality is that I should have bought a heavy lock.

Saturday was the gay pride parade...I think in this case a picture is worth 1,000 words--inagine two hours of this:



On Monday we went to the Bilmermeer, which was a planned development in the 1970s made to be a revolution in urban/suburban planning but because of poor design, intimidating architecture, and a complex social context (Surinamese independence and the influx of migrants) became a sort of housing project. It was an eerie place, these ENORMOUS tenement buildings all in rows out in the middle of nowhere. We heard
an incredibly sad story about an El Al flight that crashed into one of the apartment complexes in the early 1990s, apparently there were so many unregistered illegal immigrants the death toll could have been anywhere from the 35 reported to hundreds people. Others in the area developed symptoms of sickness (perhaps radiation poisoning?) and the Israeli government still won't tell anyone what was in the plane. Scientists don't believe the substance was any kind of nuclear material, but I find it a little firghtening.

This week has been independent research. While I won't detail the logistics of who we've met, where we've been, and what data we've collected in these posts (see Ruben's "tracing our journey" posts, or if you're interested I have a long word document of contacts and information), I will have several posts about my own reactions to these communities. It has been a foreign experience for me.

Lectures, Excursions, Memorable Facts: Week 1

Lecture on sex work in Amsterdam... Miriam says new Christian conservative government is unsuccessfully trying to replace the Red Light District with high-end clothing botiques. Talk to guy on street about this, he confirms the story and is appalled by the plan. He thinks that legalization is the only way to ensure prostitutes have rights and advocates, and the if the Netherlands criminalizes prostitution sex workers will continue operations but will not be gauranteed the same health and safety. I agree. However, he says that he doesn't think the Red Light District will ever be shut down because most of Amsterdam is too secular and liberal, and he and most of his friends intend to "cause a fuss" if prostitution is criminalized.

Which brings up another interesting point about the Netherlands governments--apparently all political parties are too small to form a single government, so any administration is necessarily a coalition. Currently those parties in power are the Christian Democrats, some social something party, and the Christian Conservatives. Apparently the Christian Democrats tried to sign the Socialist party on board but they refused becuase of ideological divisions, so they were stuck with the Christian Conservatives who have apparently become very unpopular here (according to Street Guy).

The Dutch people have been very kind and friendly. When Ruben and I were lost in Amstelveen, a man bought us train tickets (the electronic machines were only in Dutch) and a young girl took two transfers back into the city with us even though she lived in Amstelveen. An incredibly altruistic man biked us back to Dam Square even though he lived over twenty minutes back in the way we came. It was really touching how kind and compassionate everyone was, and an experience I will never forget.

I have noticed that people have been especially kind to me, and I think part of that doesn't have to do with the fact I support the tourism industry but rather centers around my blonde hair and blue eyes. I was originally surprised because there are supposed to be so many blondes here, but I think they are a dying breed as Amsterdam becomes more diverse and little blonde kids bring up nostalgic memories.