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Lars GuleNorwegian philosopher
Date of Birth: 24.04.1955
Country:  Norway |
Content:
Education and Professional Life
Lars Gule studied history, philosophy, and social studies at the University of Bergen, earning a doctor artium (PhD) in philosophy from the same university in 2003 for his thesis titled "Social Development and Political Progress in Two Traditions: A Conceptual and Comparative Analysis of Western and Arab-Islamic Ideas of Social and Political Change and Improvements." He was a lecturer in Middle Eastern languages and cultures and part of the Center for Natural and Humane Sciences at the University of Bergen in 1987. In 1989, he was affiliated with the Chr. Michelsen Institute's (CMI) Human Rights Program as a research fellow and administrator. Later, he returned to the University of Bergen (Centre for Development Studies) as the coordinator of the research program "Nature, Society, and Water" (1998–2000).
From July 2000 to December 2005, he was the secretary general for the Norwegian Humanist Association (see below). Since February 2006, he was the program director of the Center for Multicultural and International Work (Sephia) (discontinued) at Oslo University College, and in August 2007, he became an associate professor (after Sephia was closed) affiliated with the areas of research in understanding and developing multiculturalism at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo and Akershus University College. Since January 2009, Gule has also been affiliated with the Staff Scientist Center for Professions (SPS) at HiO (HiOA from August 1, 2011) in a 50% position as a post-doc fellow. From January 2010, he became a full-time researcher at SPS, particularly working with professional practice in a multicultural society. The post-doctoral fellowship ended in August 2013. From November the same year, he was granted a permanent position as an associate professor at the same university college, which is now the full-fledged OsloMet University, continuing his work on multiculturalism. However, after the terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya on July 22, 2011, Gule's research interests turned towards extremism, and from the autumn semester of 2015, he has been involved in teaching a 15 ECT credit course titled "Knowledge about Extremism and Radicalization" (in Norwegian).
Social Commentator
As early as high school in his hometown Larvik in the beginning of the 1970s, Gule engaged in public debate. For some time, he was an active member of Sosialistisk Valgforbunds Ungdom (which later became Socialist Youth) and Sosialistisk Valgforbunds, later Socialist Left Party (SV), but he was never a member of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist SUF(m–l) (later Rød Ungdom) or the Workers' Communist Party (Arbeidernes kommunistparti (AKP(m–l)). It was due to what Gule himself calls a radical anti-imperialist commitment that he got involved in the Palestinian struggle for liberation in 1977 and agreed to participate in an armed attack on Israel. This choice was made after a long process that included breaking with the previous non-violent revolutionary position Gule had advocated as, among other things, a member of Folkereisning mot krig, the Norwegian chapter of International Resistance to War, earlier in the 1970s. It came about due to a growing conviction that the imperialist and reactionary forces in the world could not be overthrown without resorting to violence. The US-backed coup against the Salvador Allende government in Chile in 1973 played a very significant role in this development.
When Gule started working at the University of Bergen, he came into contact with a small but radical group that worked on developing Karl Marx's theory of communism as a mode of production. Through this work, Gule distanced himself from Marxism as an ideology and from the "Left's romance with violence" (including by writing a self-criticism in Dagbladet in 1979).[3] In the article "Some Critical Considerations about Marxist Theory of Class Struggle," he launched a theoretical critique of the Marxist theory of class struggle as a necessity for communist revolution. He became a member of the social democratic Labour Youth League, the student group of the Labour Party, and he was for a period a leader of the organization at the University of Bergen (1984), but he has not been actively involved in the Labour Youth League (or the Labour Party) since. He is currently politically independent, although his social views and positions in the public debate place him on the "left."
The interest for the Middle East that was sparked during his time in Lebanon in 1977 followed Gule through the rest of his studies. His master's degree in philosophy (1986) was titled "Adlyd Gud og de med autoritet blant dere" ("Obey God and those Among You Who Have Authority") and was a study of classical Islamic and modern Arab political thought. This led to an interest for Islam and human rights that has followed Gule ever since. This is reflected in several articles and is also a central theme in his doctoral thesis. Gule often participates in public debate through newspaper articles and online debates, where he has been especially critical of totalitarian ideologies and religions. Thus, he has supported Professor Bernt Hagtvet's criticism of the Workers' Communist Party (Arbeidernes kommunistparti (AKP(m–l)). He is also frequently used as a commentator and debater on radio and television on issues related to the Middle East, Islam, religion, and cultural conflicts. In public debates as well as in his academic work, Gule tries to present a consistent defense of human rights.
Throughout his tenure as the secretary general of the NHAA, Gule has also emphasized the critique of religion. Although he has also criticized Christianity, his criticism of Islam has been particularly pointed. However, Gule rejects and sharply criticizes what he perceives as the simplified, erroneous, and/or exaggerated view of the threat from Islam – Islamophobia.
Gule remains a strong critic of Israel, which he characterizes as a racist state. He also rejects the view that harsh and fundamental criticism of Israel can be a form of antisemitism. He is currently involved in the Norwegian branch of the international BDS movement and advocates a boycott of Israel.
Since 2007, Gule has been studying a court case which he claims was a miscarriage of justice. The case concerns a Bangladeshi (and former colleague of Gule) who allegedly seriously abused his Bangladeshi wife, including hanging her upside down by her feet four times. In his book Den fjerde opphengingen. Beretningen om et varslet justismord og en profesjonsstudie av aktøransvar (The Fourth Hanging. The Story of a Predicted Miscarriage of Justice and a Professional Study of Actor Responsibility) from 2010, the investigation, expert opinions, verdicts, and the role of the press in the case are examined in detail.
Following the terror attacks in Norway on July 22, 2011, Gule has been interviewed and quoted as a commentator on extremism, terrorism, and multicultural issues by both Norwegian and international media, especially after he had a "discussion" with Anders Behring Breivik on the website Document.no.
