Benjamin Barber to present film program at IDFA reflecting on Jihad vs. McWorld

The 1995 book Jihad vs. McWorld by American political theorist Benjamin Barber forms the starting

point for the special program Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015.

This year a new 20th anniversary edition of the book will be published with the subtitle ‘ISIS on the Internet.’

Barber is an internationally renowned political theorist and the author of eighteen books including most recently If Mayors Ruled the World.

He’s also a political adviser to leaders, including President Bill Clinton, and mayors throughout the world with whom he’s working on The Global Parliament of Mayors Project.

At IDFA, he’ll present his own selection of documentaries from the IDFA program that engage with many contemporary themes, including global capitalism, terrorism, the politics of fear, refugees, populism and economic inequality.

The films from his program reflect in different ways on the book and his later work which centre around the theme of the functioning of democracy.

Discussions will take place in the Kleine Komedie theatre following screenings of films from his selection with Barber and filmmakers and chaired by regular moderator Chris Kijne.

IDFA DocLab will also present a selection of interactive projects relating to the Benjamin Barber program.

Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015 was made possible thanks to support from the Democracy and Media Foundation.

Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015

In Jihad vs. McWorld (1995), Barber described the world just after the Cold War, postulating that two different forces – which he refers to as Jihad and McWorld – will become increasingly dominant, eventually entering into a dialectical relationship with one another.

By McWorld, Barber means a totalitarian form of capitalism in which the world is governed completely in accordance with free market principles – a boundless world, both literally and figuratively.

Jihad is the term he uses to refer to a process of tribalisation, whereby every sub-group – whether defined in religious, ethnic or nationalist terms – sees its values as absolute, is prepared to defend these with violence and is opposed to ‘the other’ as a matter of principle.

In the book, Barber argues that these forces are complete opposites, but share the fact that they’re a threat to democratic states based on the rule of law.

Jihad vs. McWorld was a great success upon publication in 1995, and experienced a revival after 11 September 2001 as a book that had described the background to the 9/11 attacks with great precision – and perhaps even to a certain extent predicted it.

Twenty years later, the core of his argument retains its validity; this year a new 20th anniversary edition of the book will be published with the subtitle ‘ISIS on the Internet.’

The new introduction will be presented at the festival.

In his later work Barber has expanded upon the themes from Jihad vs. McWorld. For example, in his new book published last year, If Mayors Ruled the World, in which he states that democracy in the world of Jihad vs McWorld would be better served if the power of nation states were devolved down to city level.

Currently, he’s working with mayors throughout the world on The Global Parliament of Mayors Project. At IDFA, he’ll present his own selection of new documentaries illustrating the merging of McWorld and Jihad in the world today, and in a number of cases showing how people and governments are responding to this.

They are 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA) by Marc Silver, A Syrian Love Story (UK) by Sean McAllister, Among the Believers (Pakistan/USA/India) by Mohammed Ali Naqvi & Hemal Trivedi, At Home in the World (Denmark) by Andreas Koefoed, Cartel Land (USA/Mexico) by Matthew Heineman, Checks and Balances (France/Algeria) by Malek Bensmaïl, The Chinese Mayor (China) by Hao Zhou, The Dybbuk: A Tale of Wandering Souls (Poland/Ukraine/Sweden) by Krzysztof Kopczynski, For Kibera! (Finland) by Kati Juurus, Land Grabbing (Austria) by Kurt Langbein, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (USA) by Alex Gibney, This Is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees (England) by Mani Y. Benchelah, Ukrainian Sheriffs (Ukraine/Latvia/Germany) by Roman Bondarchuk, We Are Not Alone (Spain) by Pere Joan Ventura, and Welcome to Leith (USA) by Christopher K. Walker & Michael Nichols.

From Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November, the Kleine Komedie theatre will be the central location for this program.

Each of the films will screen once with as short introduction by Barber and followed by short and longer discussions with Barber, filmmakers and other guests under the moderation of Chris Kijne.

IDFA’s media partner Vrij Nederland will release a special publication on the program.

The themed program DocLab: Seamless Reality by IDFA and Flemish Arts Centre de Brakke Grond also examines in greater depth the themes Barber addresses in his book and film program.

Interactive documentaries, live events and virtual reality installations investigate from the inside the influence of the digital revolution on the individual and democracy.

Finally, IDFA.tv will also devote attention to Benjamin Barber with a special themed program including interviews, articles and films.

Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015 was made possible thanks to support from the Democracy and Media Foundation.