Islam, Politics, Anthropology

Anthropology has enjoyed a lengthy - and at times problematic - engagement with Islam and Muslim societies. Islam, Politics, Anthropology offers critical reflections on past and current studies of Islam and politics in anthropology and charts new analytical approaches to examining Islam in the highly charged atmosphere of the post-9/11 world. Working with an intentionally broad understanding of politics, the volume considers not just the state, formal politics, and organizations, but also everyday politics and micropolitics - arenas where anthropology is especially adept at analysis. Essays explore contemporary ways of being Muslim and the complex politics of Muslim self-fashioning, and consider current debates about religious practice and ethics, the nature of the state, citizenship, and Muslims’ efforts to simply get by in the current historical conjuncture. Challenging formalist models of political participation in the social sciences, widespread assumptions about Muslim exceptionalism, and the recent so-called 'ethical turn,' the volume highlights the complexities, contingencies, and contradictions in the political engagements of contemporary Muslims in a variety of locales in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Provocative and timely, Islam, Politics, Anthropology represents a valuable contribution to understanding the place of Islam in the 21st century world.