Anything but Orthodox

Anthropological Observations of Islam in the 21st Century
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-04924-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 320 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Anthropology of Now

The book is a study of the dynamic, multi-faceted, and even unorthodox things that are happening within Muslim-majority societies. The mission is to bring together in a single volume an array of anthropological observations of individuals, groups, and movements in contemporary Islamic settings, focusing neither primarily on religion nor on nonreligion or secularism but on the range of activities that people engage in under the umbrella of Islam.

The volume includes 14 chapters by anthropologists on and in a wide array of Muslim-majority countries, from Morocco to Turkey, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia. It features explorations of unorthodox piety (including “algorithmic faith” and ex-Muslim “digital migration”), economics (Islamic currencies and “market Islam” in the form of Gülen movement), gender (online female entrepreneurship, heavy metal women, queer-feminist pilgrimage, and transgender and anti-transgender movements), and arts and environments (eco-Islam, modernist Islamic art, and Ottoman objects and authority). The collected essays illustrate clearly that Islam is much more than “Islamism” or, worse, Islamic terrorism and that contemporary Muslims are creative makers of their own forms of modernity, usually respectful of but also actively reimaging the “discursive tradition” that is Islam.

The volume should be of interest to scholars and students of Islam (and other religions), as well as general readers, who want to see beyond the stereotypes of Islam and appreciate today’s Muslims as makers of their own, often unorthodox, cultural realities.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Eller, Jack David

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam: Leben & Praxis

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Toward an Anthropology of Dynamic Islam Part I Unorthodox religiosity 1 Discussing the relationship with the invisible: paradoxes of the tension between orthodoxy and heterodoxy in a Moroccan shrine 2 The state, ritual and gender: women’s Islamic practices in post-Soviet Uzbekistan 3 The algorithmic faith: Islam, social media and transformation of faith in Bangladesh 4 Lost cities and forced digital migration: the online reclamation of identity among Arab atheists and ex-Muslims Part II Islam and economics 5 Debating currency, debating Islam: from the gold dinar to Bitcoin 6 Market Islam, Muslim charisma, and the weight of material interests: the rise and fall of the Fethullah Gülen movement in Turkey Part III Islam and gender 7 Islamic authority and women’s conversation: the majlis taklim of Raja Aisyah Sulaiman Riau 8 Bargaining with patriarchy through online entrepreneurship in Islamic YouTube web series 9 Gender, religion, and heavy metal music in Indonesia: the case of Voice of Baceprot 10 Empowering pilgrimage: queer(feminist) and intersectional perspectives on Islamic rituals 11 Transgender rights movement and anti-trans countermovement in Bangladesh Part IV Islam, arts, and environments 12 Cubism is divine: Rasheed Araeen’s universalism and rebuttal of Eurocentric art history 13 Eco-Islam: environmental crisis, Islamic reasoning, and alternative Islamic authorities 14 Ottoman Things and the Making of Islamic Counter-Authority in Contemporary Turkey  Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jack David Eller is Distinguished Professor Anthropology with Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India. His research interests include religion, religious violence, and secularism; ethnicity and ethnic conflict; and psychological anthropology. He is the author of over 20 books and the editor of several others, as well as series editor of Routledge’s book series “Anthropology of Now.”