BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:21711@offbeat.amsterdam SUMMARY:​​The Rushdie Affair in Britain and the Netherlands​ DTSTAMP:20260501T175930Z DTSTART:20260520T180000Z DESCRIPTION:The worldwide protests against The Satanic Verses and the threa ts to its author\nSalman Rushdie are widely known. But how can we understa nd these protests – and\nthe reactions to them? What does it mean to place the Rushdie Affair into the\ncontemporary history of multiculturalism? Ou r focus will be on Britain and the\nNetherlands. The discussion will also address the affair’s long-term\nrepercussions in both countries\, includin g for their Muslim minorities\, and the\nprospects of multiculturalism and diversity today.\n\nThe publication of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verse s in 1988 sparked a global\nprotest wave and raised pertinent questions ab out artistic freedom\, religious\nidentity and multicultural society. This event will shed light on the Rushdie\nAffair’s origins and repercussions in both Britain and the Netherlands.\n\nKieran Connell will highlight the relationship between the cosmopolitan author\nRushdie and the deprived Nor thern English city of Bradford\, where protesters\nfamously burned his nov el. He will show how local Muslims saw the campaign as a\ncontinuation of their prior antiracist activism – in stark contrast to how they\nwere perc eived by the British public. Leo Lucassen’s focus will be on the\nreceptio n of the affair in the Netherlands. There left-wing secularists felt\ncomp elled to turn against state-sponsored multiculturalism and the presence of \nIslam in Dutch society – thus paving the road for the populist right of the\n2000s. Such long-term consequences of the affair will be at the centr e of the\npanel discussion\, which will be joined by historian and journal ist Lotfi El\nHamidi. What can the history of the Rushdie Affair tell us a bout\nmulticulturalism and diversity today?\n\n\nSPEAKERS\n\nKieran Connel l is a writer and historian from Birmingham who teaches at Queen’s\nUniver sity Belfast. He has authored Multiculturalism in Britain: A People’s\nHis tory (2024\, shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize) and is currently working o n a\nhistorical study of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses to be publish ed in 2028.\n\nLeo Lucassen teaches at the University of Leiden and is the former director of\nthe International Institute of Social History in Amst erdam. He has widely\npublished on the history of migration in the Netherl ands and elsewhere\,\nincluding Migratie als DNA van Amsterdam (2021\, wit h Jan Lucassen).\n\nLotfi El Hamidi is a historian and journalist\, who ha s worked for NRC and is now\neditor at De Groene Amsterdammer. His publica tions include Generatie 9/11.\nMigratie\, diaspora en identiteit (2022\, n ominated for the PrinsjesBoekenprijs)\nand Stakkers en wolven. In de schad uw van Gaza (2026).\n\nMaaike Voorhoeve (moderator) teaches at the Univers ity of Amsterdam and is the\nformer co-editor-in-chief of ZemZem. Tijdschr ift over het Midden-Oosten\,\nNoord-Afrika en islam. She is a scholar of I slamic law and is currently\nresearching the influence of colonialism on g ender laws in the Muslim world. URL:https://offbeat.amsterdam/event/the-rushdie-affair-in-britain-and-the-n etherlands GEO:52.3685931;4.8896879 LOCATION:SPUI25 - Spui 25-27\, 1012 WX Amsterdam STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:activism,amsterdam-centrum,colonialism,discussion,gender,spui X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The worldwide protests against The Sata nic Verses and the threats to its author Salman Rushdie are widely kn own. But how can we understand these protests – and the reactions to them? What does it mean to place the Rushdie Affair into the contemporary histo ry of multiculturalism? Our focus will be on Britain and the Netherlands. The discussion will also address the affair’s long-term repercussions in b oth countries, including for their Muslim minorities, and the prospects of multiculturalism and diversity today.

The publication of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses in 1988 sparked a global protest wa ve and raised pertinent questions about artistic freedom, religious identi ty and multicultural society. This event will shed light on the Rushdie Af fair’s origins and repercussions in both Britain and the Netherlands.

Kieran Connell will highlight the relationship between the cosmopolit an author Rushdie and the deprived Northern English city of Bradford, wher e protesters famously burned his novel. He will show how local Muslims saw the campaign as a continuation of their prior antiracist activism – in st ark contrast to how they were perceived by the British public. Leo Lucasse n’s focus will be on the reception of the affair in the Netherlands. There left-wing secularists felt compelled to turn against state-sponsored mult iculturalism and the presence of Islam in Dutch society – thus paving the road for the populist right of the 2000s. Such long-term consequences of t he affair will be at the centre of the panel discussion, which will be joi ned by historian and journalist Lotfi El Hamidi. What can the history of t he Rushdie Affair tell us about multiculturalism and diversity today?

Speakers

Kieran Connell is a writer and historian from Birmingham who teaches at Queen’s Uni versity Belfast. He has authored Multiculturalism in Britain: A People ’s History (2024, shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize) and is currently working on a historical study of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses to be published in 2028.

Leo Lucassen teaches at the University of Leiden and is the former director of the I nternational Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. He has widely publi shed on the history of migration in the Netherlands and elsewhere, includi ng Migratie als DNA van Amsterdam (2021, with Jan Lucassen).

Lotfi El Hamidi is a historian and journalis t, who has worked for NRC and is now editor at De Groene Amst erdammer. His publications include Generatie 9/11. Migratie, dias pora en identiteit (2022, nominated for the PrinsjesBoekenprijs) and Stakkers en wolven. In de schaduw van Gaza (2026).

< strong>Maaike Voorhoeve (moderator) teaches at the Universit y of Amsterdam and is the former co-editor-in-chief of ZemZem. Tijdsch rift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam. She is a scholar of Islamic law and is currently researching the influence of colo nialism on gender laws in the Muslim world.

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