
Islamization and Archaeology
Religion, Culture and New Materialism
Jose C. Carvajal Lopez(Author)
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Published on 26. December 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
200 pages
978-1-350-23159-7 (ISBN)
Description
This fresh approach to the study of Islamization proposes an innovative conceptual framework that treats the subject as a particular case of cultural change. The aim of the volume is to make Islamization amenable to archaeological and historical analyses of changes in material conditions of life without forsaking the specific history of Islam. Islam and Islamization must be understood in their particular social context, but also in relation to the conditions that hold them together over large geographical and chronological expanses.
Archaeologists and historians have considered Islamization from a range of different perspectives, from conversion to cultural change, though these studies have tended to be underpinned by a normativist conception of Islam. In contrast, Jose C. Carvajal Lopez takes a hermeneutical stance, wherein Islam is the result of exploration, and adopts a New Materialist theoretical analysis to explore Islamization and its impact on identities, communities and their material culture. The consequences for the study of Islamization are examined through examples that include some of the author's own experiences.
This innovative take on Islamization is not exclusively interested in the spread of the religion or of the polity, and therefore it overcomes the theoretical limits imposed by the concepts of religious conversion and ideological imposition. This book will appeal to scholars interested in associating cultural and religious change and, in particular, those working on Islam, whether within or outside the discipline of archaeology.
Archaeologists and historians have considered Islamization from a range of different perspectives, from conversion to cultural change, though these studies have tended to be underpinned by a normativist conception of Islam. In contrast, Jose C. Carvajal Lopez takes a hermeneutical stance, wherein Islam is the result of exploration, and adopts a New Materialist theoretical analysis to explore Islamization and its impact on identities, communities and their material culture. The consequences for the study of Islamization are examined through examples that include some of the author's own experiences.
This innovative take on Islamization is not exclusively interested in the spread of the religion or of the polity, and therefore it overcomes the theoretical limits imposed by the concepts of religious conversion and ideological imposition. This book will appeal to scholars interested in associating cultural and religious change and, in particular, those working on Islam, whether within or outside the discipline of archaeology.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
6 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
252 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-23159-7 (9781350231597)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2023
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€27.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2023
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€27.49
Available for download
Person
Jose C. Carvajal Lopez is Associate Professor in Islamic Archaeology at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain. He has published both on Islamization and on the archaeology of al-Andalus, and has developed fieldwork projects in Qatar, Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan. He is currently a Trustee of the International Association for the Study of Arabia and continues to conduct research on Islamic archaeology, particularly in Spain and Qatar.
Content
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Islam and Islamization
2. Islamization: From Conversion to Cultural Change
3. Islamic Identity and Being Islamic
4. Islamic Things, Islamic Beings and Con-Text
5. Islamization of Communities: Two Case Studies in Early Islam
6. Conclusion
References
Index
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Islam and Islamization
2. Islamization: From Conversion to Cultural Change
3. Islamic Identity and Being Islamic
4. Islamic Things, Islamic Beings and Con-Text
5. Islamization of Communities: Two Case Studies in Early Islam
6. Conclusion
References
Index