Në këtë episod të Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida prezanton librin "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste" të sociologut francez Pierre Bourdieu — një prej veprave më me ndikim të shkencave shoqërore. 

Duke u nisur nga pyetja pse njerëzit shpesh e shprehin shijen përmes përçmimit, Dida shtjellon tezën qendrore të Bourdieu-së: shija nuk është e lindur, por mësohet, dhe funksionon si mekanizëm që riprodhon hierarkinë shoqërore. Përmes koncepteve kyçe — llojeve të kapitalit (ekonomik, kulturor, shoqëror, simbolik), fushës dhe habitusit — dhe shembujve nga arti, muzika, sporti dhe jeta e përditshme, prezantimi tregon si struktura shoqërore, e jo thjesht merita, i formëson pëlqimet, mundësitë dhe pozitat tona.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Pse e urrejmë Dan Braunin — shija si shenjë statusi
📌 Eksperimenti me foto që tregon se shija mësohet, s'lind me ne
📌 Katër llojet e kapitalit dhe si konvertohen mes vete
📌 Habitusi: si na formon rrethi çdo pëlqim e mospëlqim
📌 Tri klasat dhe dallimet e tyre në art, sport e ushqim
📌 Si elitat mbijetojnë ndryshimin e sistemit — dhe rasti i Kosovës

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Distinksioni: Kritikë sociale e gjykimit të shijes

In this Prishtina Talks roundtable, Baki Goxhaj, Vehap Kola and Gerdi Demneri discuss the recent protests in Albania — how they began, how they developed and where they are heading — and the place of Muslims within them.

Baki Goxhaj starts from activism for Palestine, his own part in the flotilla to Gaza and the absence of support from the imams, raising the question of the “inflation of influence” and the rights of Muslims in the face of state repression.

Vehap Kola reads the protest through the prism of the transition elite, of the state as a mechanism of pressure, and of “value capture” as opposed to value creation. Gerdi Demneri, beginning from the danger of indifference, asks whether Muslims can offer society a vision of justice rooted in the Qur'an, in the life of the Prophet and in the Pact of al-Fudul.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The flotilla to Gaza and the silence over Palestine in Albania
📌 “The inflation of influence” — why the figure of the imam has lost its standing
📌 Hidden state repression and the case of the imam of Shkodra
📌 The protest as a political phenomenon: the transition elite and “value capture”
📌 Justice in the Qur'an, in the Prophet's life and the Pact of al-Fudul
📌 Three models of Muslim representation in the protest

📍 Prishtina Talks

The protests in Albania: the beginning, the course and the future

Në këtë tryezë të Prishtina Talks, Baki Goxhaj, Vehap Kola dhe Gerdi Demneri diskutojnë protestat e fundit në Shqipëri — nisjen, zhvillimin dhe të ardhmen e tyre — dhe vendin e muslimanëve në to. 
Baki Goxhaj niset nga aktivizmi për Palestinën, pjesëmarrja e tij në flotiljen për Gaza-në dhe mungesa e mbështetjes së hoxhallarëve, duke ngritur çështjen e "inflacionit të influencës" dhe të drejtat e muslimanëve përballë represionit shtetëror.

Vehap Kola e lexon protestën përmes prizmit të elitës së tranzicionit, të shtetit si mekanizëm presioni dhe të "kapjes së vlerës" kundër krijimit të saj. Gerdi Demneri, duke u nisur nga rreziku i indiferencës, shtron pyetjen nëse muslimanët mund t'i ofrojnë shoqërisë një vizion drejtësie të rrënjosur në Kuran, në jetën e profetit dhe në paktin e Fudulit.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Flotilja për Gaza dhe heshtja ndaj Palestinës në Shqipëri
📌 "Inflacioni i influencës" — pse ka rënë figura e hoxhës
📌 Represioni i fshehtë shtetëror dhe rasti i hoxhës së Shkodrës
📌 Protesta si fenomen politik: elita e tranzicionit dhe "kapja e vlerës"
📌 Drejtësia në Kuran, te profeti dhe pakti i Fudulit
📌 Tre modelet e përfaqësimit të muslimanëve në protestë

📍 Prishtina Talks

Protestat në Shqipëri: nisja, zhvillimi dhe e ardhmja

In this Prishtina Talks roundtable, Gazmend Gjota, Asdren Bytyqi and Fitim Gërguri reflect on the book “Vetëdija e Reformatorit” (“The Reformer's Consciousness”) by Ali Husein Asiri, translated by Fitim Gërguri. Gazmend Gjota builds the core of the discussion by working through the five mental pillars on which the author raises the figure of the reformer — from forming consciousness before acting, to deepening the idea, turning it into a project, collective consciousness and managing influence — tying each one to our own real challenges: building crowds before minds, the illusion of quick change and the absence of alternatives. Asdren Bytyqi brings in Alija Izetbegović as the model of the twentieth-century reformer-intellectual, while hoxhë Fitim Gërguri develops the theme in the light of the Qur'an, the Sunnah and examples from the salaf.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The reformer's five mental pillars and why reform begins with consciousness
📌 “Building crowds before minds” — our repeated mistake
📌 The illusion of quick change and shallow commentary on events
📌 Alija Izetbegović: from “The Islamic Declaration” to the presidency of Bosnia
📌 Sincerity, strategic patience and work done without noise

📍 Prishtina Talks

The Reformer's Consciousness

Në këtë tryezë të Prishtina Talks, Gazmend Gjota, Asdren Bytyqi dhe Fitim Gërguri reflektojnë mbi librin "Vetëdija e Reformatorit" të autorit Ali Husejn Asiri, në përkthim të Fitim Gërgurit. Gazmend Gjota ndërton bërthamën e diskutimit duke shtjelluar pesë shtyllat mendore mbi të cilat autori ngre figurën e reformatorit — nga formimi i vetëdijes para veprimit, te thellimi i idesë, kthimi i saj në projekt, vetëdija kolektive dhe menaxhimi i ndikimit — duke i lidhur pandërprerë me sfidat tona reale: ndërtimin e turmave para mendjeve, iluzionin e ndryshimit të shpejtë dhe mungesën e alternativave. Asdren Bytyqi sjell Alija Izetbegoviçin si model të reformatorit-intelektual të shekullit XX, ndërsa hoxhë Fitim Gërguri e shtjellon temën në dritën e Kuranit, sunetit dhe shembujve nga selefi.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Pesë shtyllat mendore të reformatorit dhe pse reforma fillon nga vetëdija
📌 "Ndërtimi i turmave para mendjeve" — gabimi ynë i përsëritur
📌 Iluzioni i ndryshimit të shpejtë dhe kritika e sipërfaqshme e ngjarjeve
📌 Alija Izetbegoviçi: nga "Deklarata Islame" te presidenca e Bosnjës
📌 Sinqeriteti, durimi strategjik dhe vepra pa zhurmë

📍 Prishtina Talks

Vetëdija e Reformatorit

In this lecture, Justinian Topulli addresses the crisis of integrity and moral courage among today's intellectuals. Starting from the meaning of the word “intellectual” itself — the person of the mind who bears witness to the truth and makes no compromise with it — he sets out the structural causes that weaken this role today: institutionalisation, which strips away independence; ideological polarisation, which turns the intellectual into a partisan of a cause; the pressure of the media; and self-censorship.

In the second part, the discussion turns to the Qur'anic treatment of this figure through the concept of ulul-elbab, responsibility as a trust before God, and prophetic and historical examples of standing up to power — down to the closing message that an intellectual is measured not by words alone, but by putting the truth into practice.

The lack of integrity and courage among intellectuals

Në këtë ligjëratë, Justinian Topulli trajton krizën e integritetit dhe të guximit moral tek intelektualët e sotëm. Duke u nisur nga kuptimi i vetë fjalës «intelektual» — njeriu i mendjes që dëshmon të vërtetën dhe nuk bën kompromis me të — ai shtjellon shkaqet strukturore që e dobësojnë sot këtë rol: institucionalizimin që ua heq pavarësinë, polarizimin ideologjik që e kthen intelektualin në partizan kauze, presionin e medias dhe autocensurën.

Në pjesën e dytë, diskutimi kalon te trajtimi kuranor i kësaj figure përmes konceptit të ulul-elbab, përgjegjësisë si amanet para Zotit, dhe shembujve profetikë e historikë të qëndresës ndaj pushtetit — deri te porosia përmbyllëse se intelektuali nuk matet vetëm me fjalë, por me zbatimin e së vërtetës në vepër.

Mungesa e integritetit dhe e guximit tek intelektualët

In this lecture, Abdyl Nëntor Musliu examines the development of Islamic scholarship from the classical period to the challenges of modernity. Dwelling on the concept of ijtihad, the believer's relationship with the text of revelation and the need for interpretation in changing historical circumstances, the discussion looks at how the Islamic sciences were shaped by three historical “shocks” — and how they still face the question of what it means to be a Muslim in a modern world.

Between Revelation and Modernity: The Journey of Knowledge

Në këtë ligjëratë, Abdyl Nëntor Musliu shqyrton zhvillimin e dijes islame nga periudha klasike deri te sfidat e modernitetit. Duke u ndalur te koncepti i ijtihadit, raporti i besimtarit me tekstin e shpalljes dhe nevoja për interpretim në rrethana të ndryshme historike, diskutimi trajton se si u formësuan shkencat islame përmes tri «goditjeve» historike — dhe si vazhdojnë të përballen me pyetjen se çfarë do të thotë të jesh musliman në një botë moderne.

Midis Shpalljes dhe Modernitetit: Rrugëtimi i Dijes

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life” by the historian Richard Hofstadter — a Pulitzer Prize-winning work on the suspicion and dislike of the life of the mind through American history.

Dida follows the four main sources Hofstadter identifies — religion, politics, practicality and education — and shows that anti-intellectualism is a cyclical phenomenon, at times stronger and at times weaker. In the second half the presentation widens out into the quality of schooling, the PISA figures and the labour market, Bourdieu's idea of capital, and the question of what it means to be an intellectual today — including the reality of education in Kosovo.

Some of the points covered:
📌 How a television sitcom became the occasion for talking about anti-intellectualism
📌 The four sources: religion, politics, practicality and education
📌 The difference between intellect and intelligence
📌 The expert against the ideologue, and American populism
📌 “Skin in the game” and why intellectuals give advice at no cost to themselves
📌 The quality of schooling, PISA and the reality of education in Kosovo

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

Në këtë episod të Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida sjell librin «Anti-Intellectualism in American Life» të Richard Hofstadter, por shkon përtej tekstit: nga ndikimi kulturor i Francës, Britanisë e Gjermanisë dhe elitat e Rilindjes shqiptare, te dallimi mes intelektit dhe inteligjencës, lëvizshmëria sociale dhe cilësia e arsimit në Kosovë.

Një bisedë për pse antiintelektualizmi nuk ka një shkak të vetëm — dhe çfarë do të thotë realisht të jesh «intelektual».

Anti-intelektualizmi në jetën amerikane

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Gazmend Gjota presents “The Intellectual Toolkit of Geniuses” by I. C. Robledo — 40 practical principles that, in the author's view, set great minds apart from the rest.

Gjota works through all 40 from beginning to end — from the way we see reality and rely on ourselves, to reading and developing intelligence, systems thinking, depth of knowledge and passing knowledge on — illustrating each with examples and tying them to our own context. He closes with a few bonus principles on reasoning (falsifiability, second-order thinking, logical fallacies), a word on intellectual humility, and a list of recommended sources for intellectual growth. Part of a series of gatherings on the work of the mind.

Some of the points covered:
📌 What sets an intellectual apart — and why these principles are missing among us
📌 Why systems have an agenda of their own, and how to rely on yourself
📌 Vocabulary as the limit of thought: without words, the mind stalls
📌 Depth against surface knowledge in the age of “factoids”
📌 Is society ready for an idea? Vision against implementation
📌 Bonus principles: Kahneman, logical fallacies and “the map is not the territory”

📑 The slide deck is linked in the video's own description.

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

A toolkit for the young intellectual

Në këtë ligjëratë, Gazmend Gjota trajton rolin dhe përgjegjësinë e intelektualit të ri në shoqërinë bashkëkohore. Diskutimi ndalet te formimi intelektual, kultura e leximit, mendimi kritik dhe sfidat që shoqërojnë angazhimin publik të të rinjve sot.

Takëmi i intelektualit të ri

In this episode of Prishtina Talks, Zgjim Dida goes through the results of the international PISA test and what they say about the education system in Kosovo. Explaining what PISA measures and the six levels of proficiency in reading, mathematics and science, Dida stops at the most troubling finding: around 83% of 15-year-olds in Kosovo sit below level two, that is, they are “functionally illiterate”.

The presentation ties those results to their consequences at work and in society (the “bottleneck” effect), to the problems reported inside schools (violence, threats, weapons), to the gap between Kosovo and countries such as Germany, and closes with PISA's recommendations and the changes that, in the speaker's view, have to happen — from higher expectations to a focus on understanding rather than memorising.

Some of the points covered:
📌 What PISA measures, and the six levels of proficiency
📌 83% of 15-year-olds as “functionally illiterate”
📌 The “bottleneck” effect: how weak schooling blocks work and society
📌 Violence, threats and weapons reported in Kosovo's schools
📌 Kosovo against Germany — and why the best pupil leaves
📌 PISA's recommendations and the changes needed

📍 Prishtina Talks

PISA and the education system: what do the results reflect?

Në këtë episod të Prishtina Talks, Zgjim Dida analizon rezultatet e testit ndërkombëtar PISA dhe çfarë pasqyrojnë ato për sistemin arsimor në Kosovë. Duke shpjeguar se çka mat PISA dhe gjashtë nivelet e aftësive në lexim, matematikë e shkencë, Dida ndalet te gjetja më shqetësuese: rreth 83% e nxënësve 15-vjeçarë në Kosovë janë nën nivelin e dytë, pra "analfabetë funksionalë". 

Prezantimi i lidh këto rezultate me pasojat në punë e shoqëri (efekti "bottleneck"), me problemet e raportuara në shkolla (dhuna, kërcënimet, armët), me dallimet mes Kosovës dhe vendeve si Gjermania, dhe përfundon me rekomandimet e PISA-s dhe ndryshimet që, sipas folësit, duhet të ndodhin — nga pritshmëritë më të larta te fokusi në të kuptuar mbi memorizim.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Çka mat PISA dhe gjashtë nivelet e aftësive
📌 83% e nxënësve 15-vjeçarë si "analfabetë funksionalë"
📌 Efekti "bottleneck": si mungesa e formimit bllokon punën e shoqërinë
📌 Dhuna, kërcënimet dhe armët e raportuara në shkollat e Kosovës
📌 Kosova kundër Gjermanisë — dhe pse nxënësi më i mirë ikën
📌 Rekomandimet e PISA-s dhe ndryshimet e nevojshme

📍 Prishtina Talks

PISA dhe Sistemi Arsimor: Çfarë pasqyrojnë rezultatet?

In this episode of Prishtina Talks, Emir Ukallo — the book's translator and the founder of the Fleta publishing house — presents “Kauza ime” (Davam) by the Turkish politician and thinker Necmettin Erbakan. The evening comes in three parts: an opening poem (“The civilisation of the rose”), a reading of several chapters, and the discussion.

Ukallo dwells on Erbakan's character — his fight against wrongdoing, and the priority he gave to serving his people over scientific fame — on purity of intention, on reading science through Islamic concepts (barakah against “development”), on the cause of Islam and the unity of Muslims, on the global powers, and on the question of Cyprus and Erbakan's part in it.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Who Necmettin Erbakan was, and why he refused to pursue a Nobel Prize
📌 Purity of intention (niyyah) as the axis of his commitment
📌 Barakah against “economic development”: science through Islamic concepts
📌 “Three that are halal are greater than five that are haram”
📌 The cause of Islam and the unity of Muslims beyond divisions
📌 The question of Cyprus and Erbakan's political foresight

📍 Prishtina Talks

“My Cause” — Necmettin Erbakan

Në këtë episod të Prishtina Talks, Emir Ukallo — përkthyesi i librit dhe themelues i shtëpisë botuese Fleta — prezanton veprën "Kauza ime" (Davam) të politikanit dhe mendimtarit turk Nexhmedin Erbakan. Aktiviteti është i ndarë në tri pjesë: një poezi hyrëse ("Qytetërimi i trëndafilit"), elaborimi i disa kapitujve të librit, dhe diskutimi. 

Ukallo ndalet te karakteri i Erbakanit — lufta e tij kundër së keqes dhe përparësia që ia dha shërbimit të popullit para famës shkencore — te pastërtia e qëllimit, te leximi i shkencës me koncepte islame (bereqeti kundër "zhvillimit"), te kauza për Islamin dhe bashkimin e myslimanëve, te fuqitë globale, dhe te çështja e Qipros e roli i Erbakanit në të.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Kush ishte Nexhmedin Erbakan dhe pse refuzoi të ndiqte një çmim Nobel
📌 Pastërtia e qëllimit (nijeti) si bosht i angazhimit të tij
📌 Bereqeti kundër "zhvillimit ekonomik": shkenca me koncepte islame
📌 "Treshi hallal është më i madh se pesëshi haram"
📌 Kauza për Islamin dhe bashkimin e myslimanëve përtej ndarjeve
📌 Çështja e Qipros dhe largpamësia politike e Erbakanit

📍 Prishtina Talks

“Kauza ime” – Nexhmedin Erbakan

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Osman Çekaj presents “The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism” by the British speaker and researcher Hamza Andreas Tzortzis — a work that grew out of nearly two decades of study and debate on Islam, atheism and secular ideologies.

Çekaj takes up the book's central ideas: why the author calls atheism an “intellectual mirage”, the burden of proof, the mistaken assumptions atheism is built on, and the arguments for the existence of God — from the fitrah and the design of the universe to the Qur'anic arguments, objective morality and the divine authorship of the Qur'an. The presentation also places the subject in the Albanian context, where atheism was spread as doctrine through the communist system.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Why the author calls atheism an “intellectual mirage”
📌 The burden of proof: who has to prove what?
📌 The Big Bang and DNA in the debate about God
📌 The fitrah, and the argument from design
📌 Can atheism ground objective morality?
📌 The legacy of communist atheism in the Albanian context

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

The Divine Reality: God and the Mirage of Atheism

Në këtë episod të Prishtina Book Talks, Osman Çekaj prezanton librin "The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism (Realiteti Hyjnor: Zoti dhe Mirazhi i Ateizmit)" të folësit dhe studiuesit britanik Hamza Andreas Tzortzis — një vepër që del si fryt i gati dy dekadash studimi e debatesh mbi Islamin, ateizmin dhe ideologjitë sekulare. 

Çekaj i prek idetë qendrore të librit: pse autori e quan ateizmin një "mirazh intelektual", barrën e argumentit, supozimet e gabuara mbi të cilat ngritet ateizmi, dhe argumentet për ekzistencën e Zotit — nga fitra dhe dizajni i universit, te argumentet kuranore, morali objektiv dhe autorësia hyjnore e Kuranit. Prezantimi e vendos temën edhe në kontekstin shqiptar, ku ateizmi u përhap si doktrinë përmes sistemit komunist.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Pse autori e quan ateizmin një "mirazh intelektual"
📌 Barra e argumentit: kush duhet të provojë çka?
📌 Big Bang-u dhe ADN-ja në debatin mbi Zotin
📌 Fitra dhe argumenti i dizajnit për ekzistencën e Zotit
📌 A mund ta mbështesë ateizmi moralin objektiv?
📌 Trashëgimia e ateizmit komunist në kontekstin shqiptar

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Realiteti Hyjnor: Zoti dhe Mirazhi i Ateizimit

📚 Part 6 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam according to Marshall Hodgson.

In this closing episode of the cycle “A reading in the history of the Islamic world”, Gerdi Demneri carries on through the historian Marshall Hodgson's work (“The Venture of Islam”), focusing on two themes tied directly to modernity: the rise of the West, and the Muslim response to Western hegemony.

The first part traces the great Western transformation — from the Renaissance, the city-states and the Protestant Reformation, to the birth of the nation-state, colonialism and the industrial revolution — which gave the West its global advantage.
The second part deals with the collision with the Islamic world and the revival and reform movements that came in response: from Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh to Salafism, nationalism and Western-style reform, and the Islamist movements in India and the Arab world.

Some of the points covered:
📌 How the West rose: the Renaissance, the nation-state and the industrial revolution
📌 The Protestant Reformation and the empowering of the individual
📌 Colonialism and the exploitation of the Islamic world
📌 Movements for the revival of Islam as a response to hegemony
📌 Al-Afghani, Abduh and the birth of Salafism
📌 The three paths of response: reform, nationalism and Islamism

📍 Prishtina Talks

The historical course of Islam 6

📚 Pjesa 6 nga 6, e serisë mbi historinë dhe qytetërimin islam sipas Marshall Hodgson.

Në këtë episod përmbyllës të ciklit "Një lexim në historinë e botës islame", Gerdi Demneri vazhdon leximin e veprës së historianit Marshall Hodgson ("The Venture of Islam"), duke u fokusuar te dy tema qendrore që lidhen drejtpërdrejt me modernitetin: ngritja e Perëndimit dhe reagimi i myslimanëve ndaj hegjemonisë perëndimore. 

Pjesa e parë gjurmon transformimin e madh perëndimor — nga Rilindja, qytet-shtetet dhe reformimi protestant, te lindja e shtetit-komb, kolonializmi dhe revolucioni industrial — që i dhanë Perëndimit epërsinë globale. 
Pjesa e dytë trajton përplasjen me botën islame dhe lëvizjet e ringjalljes e të reformës që u shfaqën si përgjigje: nga Xhemaludin Afgani dhe Muhamed Abduh te selefizmi, nacionalizmi e reformat perëndimore, dhe lëvizjet islamiste në Indi e në botën arabe.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Si u ngrit Perëndimi: Rilindja, shteti-komb dhe revolucioni industrial
📌 Reformimi protestant dhe fuqizimi i individit
📌 Kolonializmi dhe shfrytëzimi i botës islame
📌 Lëvizjet për ringjalljen e Islamit si përgjigje ndaj hegjemonisë
📌 Afgani, Abduh dhe lindja e selefizmit
📌 Tri rrugët e reagimit: reforma, nacionalizmi dhe islamizmi

📍 Prishtina Talks

Ecuria Historike e Islamit 6

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention” by the journalist Johann Hari — an investigation into why focus and concentration are being lost in the modern age.

The author, and Dida after him, argues that the problem is not an individual failing, a lack of discipline or willpower, but a systemic crisis with measurable causes: from the speed at which content switches and constant multitasking, to sleeplessness, the collapse of reading, social media designed for “engagement”, stress, diet and pollution, all the way to rising ADHD and children kept indoors.

Dida works through Hari's twelve causes, ties them to the local context, and closes with the book's central argument: systemic problems have only systemic solutions, while the “cruel optimism” of individual fixes serves precisely those who profit from distraction.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Why focus is being lost year after year — and why it is not your fault
📌 Multitasking lowers IQ as much as cannabis does
📌 The state of “flow”, and why it is so hard to reach today
📌 “The medium is the message” — Twitter against the book
📌 Cruel optimism: how the blame is handed back from companies to us
📌 Systemic changes: the four-day week and laws on contact after hours
📌 Children kept indoors, and the rise of ADHD

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Stolen Focus

Në këtë episod të Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida prezanton librin "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention" të gazetarit Johann Hari — një hulumtim mbi arsyet pse fokusi dhe koncentrimi po humbin në epokën moderne. 

Autori — dhe pas tij Dida — argumenton se problemi nuk është dështim individual (mungesë disipline apo vullneti), por një krizë sistemike me shkaqe të matshme: nga shpejtësia e ndërrimit të kontentit dhe multitasking-u, te pagjumësia, kolapsi i leximit, dizajni i social media-ve për "engagement", stresi, dieta e ndotja, deri te ADHD-ja në rritje dhe mbyllja e fëmijëve në shtëpi. 

Dida i shpjegon 12 shkaktarët sipas Harit, i lidh me kontekstin lokal, dhe përmbyll me argumentin qendror të librit: problemet sistemike kanë vetëm zgjidhje sistemike, ndërsa "cruel optimism" i zgjidhjeve individuale i shërben pikërisht atyre që përfitojnë nga shpërqendrimi.

Disa pika që trajtohen:
📌 Pse fokusi po humbet çdo vit — dhe pse nuk është faji yt
📌 Multitasking-u ul IQ-në sa marijuana
📌 Gjendja "flow" dhe pse është aq e vështirë sot
📌 "Medium is the message" — Twitter vs. libri
📌 Cruel optimism: si na kthehet faji nga kompanitë te ne
📌 Ndryshime sistemike: java 4-ditore dhe ligjet për kontaktin pas orarit
📌 Fëmijët e mbyllur në shtëpi dhe rritja e ADHD-së

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Fokusi i Vjedhur

📚 Part 5 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam according to Marshall Hodgson.

In this part, Gerdi Demneri takes up the period of the Mongol conquests, the spread of Islam into West Africa and South-East Asia, the factors behind the mass conversions, and the relationship between Muslim ascendancy and the Western renaissance. A close look at the cultural and social force of Islam in this period.

The historical course of Islam 5

📚 Pjesa 5 nga 6, e serisë mbi historinë dhe qytetërimin islam sipas Marshall Hodgson.

Në këtë pjesë, Gerdi Demneri trajton periudhën e pushtimeve mongole, përhapjen e Islamit në Afrikën Perëndimore dhe Azinë Juglindore, faktorët që çuan në konvertime masive, si dhe raportin midis epërsisë muslimane dhe rilindjes oksidentale. Një analizë e thelluar mbi forcën kulturore dhe shoqërore të Islamit në këtë periudhë.

Ecuria Historike e Islamit 5

📚 Part 4 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam.

In this episode, Gerdi Demneri takes up the gradual decline of the Abbasid caliphate and the spread of power to the regional emirates. The discussion dwells on the weakening of central authority, the influence of the military powers, and the fragmentation of the Islamic world in the post-classical period.

It also covers the forming of an international civilisation, the role of Sufism, the development of Persian literature, key figures such as Farid al-Din Attar, Saadi and Ibn Tufayl, and the mark left by Islamic art and architecture through the medieval centuries. At its centre is the relationship between the Islamic world and the West in the 13th century.

The historical course of Islam 4

Ecuria Historike e Islamit 4

In this lecture, Visar Zeka takes up “The Holocaust Industry” by Norman G. Finkelstein, reflecting on the way the memory of the Holocaust has been put to political and economic use over recent decades.

The Holocaust Industry

Industria e Holokaustit

In this episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell — a bestseller asking why some people reach extraordinary success, and why hard work and talent alone do not explain it.

Dida works through the factors Gladwell identifies: the Matthew effect (“winners win more”), relative age and the way coaches and teachers favour the more mature child, the 10,000-hour rule with the Beatles and Bill Gates as examples, the part family background plays in turning IQ into success, and how a culture of communication lay behind the Korean air crashes. He closes with the work culture of rice farming, mathematical ability among Asians, and the long shadow cast by feudal elites.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The Matthew effect, and why winners win more
📌 Relative age: why Canadian hockey players are born in January to March
📌 The 10,000-hour rule: the Beatles, Bill Gates and luck
📌 IQ is not enough: why family background decides
📌 The culture of communication and the Korean air crashes
📌 Rice farming, and why Asians are good at mathematics

📑 The presentation is available as a PDF in the link in the video's own description.

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

Outliers: The Story of Success

Të jashtëzakonshmit: Sekretet e suksesit

In this Prishtina Talks presentation, Emir Ademaj takes up “The Myth of Religious Violence” — a reading of the book of that name by the Catholic theologian William T. Cavanaugh. Ademaj examines the secular construct under which religion is presented as a special source of violence, and shows that the claim is itself the product of a secular worldview with concrete political functions.

The presentation unpacks three terms — myth, violence and religion — through the lens of social constructivism, ties secular ideology to the birth of nationalism and the nation-state, and shows how the thesis “religion is violent” serves to legitimise secular state violence, from the Western wars to the construction of Israel.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Unpacking three terms: myth, violence and religion
📌 Secular ideology as secularism, and nationalism
📌 The structural similarities between religion and nationalism
📌 Did the nation-state really put religious violence behind us?
📌 Why the claim that “religion is violent” serves secular ends
📌 The construction of Israel, and secular violence

📍 Prishtina Talks

The Myth of Religious Violence

Miti i dhunës fetare

📚 Part 3 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam.

In the third session of the cycle “A reading in the history of the Islamic world”, Gerdi Demneri carries on through the American historian Marshall Hodgson's “The Venture of Islam”, focusing on the Earlier Middle Period — from the fall of the High Caliphate in 945 to the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258.

This is the period in which the Islamic world moves from a unified caliphate to an international civilisation with many centres of power: the “Shiite century” with the Fatimids in Egypt and the Buyids in Baghdad, the rise of the Seljuks and Nizam al-Mulk's Sunni reform through the Nizamiyya madrasas, Imam al-Ghazali's great synthesis of philosophy, shariah and Sufism, the institutionalisation of Sufism through the tariqas, and the confrontation with the Crusades down to the appearance of Salah al-Din.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Why Hodgson divides the periods by civilisation rather than by dynasty
📌 “The Shiite century”: the Fatimids, the Buyids and the fall of the caliphate
📌 The Seljuks and the restoration of Sunni power
📌 Nizam al-Mulk, the Nizamiyya madrasas and the “Siyasatnama”
📌 Imam al-Ghazali: the synthesis of philosophy, shariah and Sufism
📌 The institutionalisation of Sufism through the tariqas
📌 The Crusades, the loss of Jerusalem, and Salah al-Din

📍 Prishtina Talks

The historical course of Islam 3

Ecuria Historike e Islamit 3

At the jubilee gathering of Prishtina Talks — the fiftieth — hoxhë Rasim Haxha sets out the theory of justice in Islam. Starting from the meaning of justice (adl) in language and in theology — why it stands between two extremes, and why Islam brings it as absolute justice — Haxha divides justice into four relationships: with God, with oneself, with other people, and with the rest of creation.

The presentation ties the meaning of justice to human nature (the fitrah), shows why justice outside the Islamic frame remains partial and relative, and closes with the argument that the rulings of Islam — from acts of worship to economic and social relations — are all expressions of a divine justice that matches the nature of the human being.

Some of the points covered:
📌 What justice (adl) means in language and in Islamic terminology
📌 Why justice in Islam is absolute rather than relative
📌 Justice towards God, and shirk as the greatest injustice
📌 Justice towards oneself, in its two dimensions
📌 Justice towards people: the courts, the family and relationships
📌 Justice towards creation: animals, the environment and responsibility
📌 Islamic law as a fit with human nature

📍 Prishtina Talks

The theory of justice in Islam

Teoria e drejtësisë në Islam

📚 Part 2 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam.

In the second session of the cycle “A reading in the history of the Islamic world”, Gerdi Demneri takes up the period of the High Caliphate, from the founding of the Umayyad caliphate under Mu'awiya, through the consolidation of power by Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan after the second fitna in 692, down to the weakening of the Abbasid caliphate in 945.

Demneri follows the transformation of the Umayyad caliphate into an Arab imperial state, the Abbasid revolution and its unkept promises, the tensions between Arab and non-Arab Muslims, the forming of the schools of law and theology, and the culminating confrontation between the caliphate and the scholars in the case of Imam Ahmad and the mihna — the moment that, in Hodgson's reading, shaped Sunni Islam as we know it today.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The Umayyad caliphate as an Arab imperial state under Abd al-Malik
📌 Arab and non-Arab equality as one cause of the Abbasid revolution
📌 The Abbasids arrive, and the promises left unkept
📌 The forming of the schools of law, and the role of the scholars
📌 Baghdad as a centre of translation and the sciences
📌 The mihna, Imam Ahmad, and the consolidation of Sunni Islam
📌 Kalam, Sufism and philosophy as new paths of thought

📍 Prishtina Talks

The historical course of Islam 2

Ecuria Historike e Islamit 2

In the first episode of Prishtina Book Talks, Zgjim Dida presents “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas Kuhn — the 1960s book that overturned our understanding of how scientific knowledge develops, and that put words such as “paradigm”, “paradigm shift” and “normal science” into circulation.

Following the book's central concepts — the paradigm, normal science, anomalies, crisis, scientific revolutions and the incommensurability of paradigms — Dida explains why “scientific truth” is not a straight line of progress but a cycle of great changes in which the whole way of seeing shifts.

The second half turns to application: Kosovo, Albanian society, education, NGOs, art and justice — all read through the lens of paradigms, and why they are so hard to change.

Some of the points covered:
📌 Why Aristotle was “wrong” — and why he was not ignorant
📌 The paradigm: the glasses through which we see the world
📌 Normal science, anomalies, and the crises that open the way
📌 Why scientific revolutions resemble political ones
📌 Incommensurability: why two paradigms cannot talk to each other
📌 Applications in Kosovo: education, NGOs, justice and art
📌 Low ambition as a national paradigm

📍 Prishtina Book Talks

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Struktura e Revolucioneve Shkencore

In this Prishtina Talks presentation, Shasivar Kabashi — historian and doctoral student at the University of Istanbul — presents the book he translated from Ottoman Turkish: the memoirs of Ahmed Hamdi, a commander of Ottoman artillery during the First Balkan War (1912–13).

The author was present at several of the decisive battles in which the Ottoman defeat unfolded, from Çabrat above Gjakova to Kumanovo, Skopje, Bitola, Preveza, Tepelena and the surrender of Ioannina. Written in 1913 and published in Ottoman Turkish and Arabic, the book lay forgotten for more than a hundred years in the libraries of Istanbul, and appears now for the first time as a work of its own in Albanian.

Kabashi ties the military account to the political tensions of the time — the rising nationalisms, the part the Young Turks played in weakening the army and losing the war, the Balkan-to-Balkan agreements, and the reprisals against Albanians who had risen up only months before.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The story of the book, and its journey from Cairo to Prishtina
📌 Where the defeat begins: why the author starts from 1908
📌 The dictatorial reforms and the resentment of the Young Turks
📌 The battle of Kumanovo as the most decisive clash
📌 The fall of Skopje and the Serbian advance
📌 The assembly of Ferizaj and the position of the Albanians
📌 The surrender of Ioannina, and what happened at Vlora

📍 Prishtina Talks

The defeat of the Ottoman army, and the Albanians

Disfata e ushtrisë osmane dhe shqiptarët

📚 Part 1 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam.

This video opens the series of lectures with Gerdi Demneri on the history of the Islamic world, based on “The Venture of Islam” by the American historian Marshall Hodgson — a work that brought a major correction to classical orientalism. Gerdi sets out the methodology and the frame of reading he will follow across the six sessions, taking up the Western picture of history and the Islamic perspective as an alternative to it.

This session lays the foundations: the critique of orientalist myths, the situation of Afro-Eurasia and its civilisations during the Axial Age, the pre-Islamic context, the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, the making of the first Muslim community in Medina, and the period of the four rightly guided caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali). It closes with the first three fitnas and the beginning of the Umayyad caliphate under Mu'awiya, down to the moment when the split between political power and religious authority begins to take shape.

Some of the points covered:
📌 The critique of orientalist myths, and Hodgson's methodology
📌 Afro-Eurasia and the civilisations of the Axial Age
📌 The pre-Islamic context and the potential of the Arabian peninsula
📌 The choice of Abu Bakr and the grievance of the Hashimites
📌 The caliphate of the four rightly guided, and the prophetic model
📌 The killing of Uthman and the beginning of the fitnas
📌 The battle of Karbala and the birth of Shiism
📌 The Umayyad caliphate and the separation of powers in Islam

📍 Prishtina Talks

The full archive of conversations