You're right; I don't think the author wants to be part of frank discussion. I just don't want to jump on the bandwagon of saying, "Ooh, he criticized Education City, obviously he doesn't know what he's talking about."
I think he's pretty explicit about what fake modernity is: it's thinking that the way to create a modernized, Westernized society is to build pretty university buildings and shop at Prada. I think it can be reasonably argued that Qatar is acquiring the trappings of modernization without having actually demonstrated (at least that I've seen) much of an understanding of what is involved in trying to create a hybrid Muslim/Western society.
Of course, this article completely fails to reasonably argue this. :-)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-02-12 08:12 am (UTC)I think he's pretty explicit about what fake modernity is: it's thinking that the way to create a modernized, Westernized society is to build pretty university buildings and shop at Prada. I think it can be reasonably argued that Qatar is acquiring the trappings of modernization without having actually demonstrated (at least that I've seen) much of an understanding of what is involved in trying to create a hybrid Muslim/Western society.
Of course, this article completely fails to reasonably argue this. :-)