Understanding Islam

Reviews / Votes

This book unpacks with classic sociological discernment key binaries in unfinished debates on knowledge production within the humanities and social sciences, like insiders vs. outsiders and understanding vs. explanation. Supported by an astutely jargon-free thematic bricolage, Turner's tour de force combs one of the thorniest scholarly battlefields of our times. It helps carve out treasured clearings for helping the sociology of Islam out of the murky epistemic swamplands of proliferating positionalities. -- Armando Salvatore, Professor of Global Religious Studies, McGill University Bryan Turner has long been the most accomplished and original of scholars in the sociology of Islam. In this new book, he brings his trademark mix of theoretical insight and rigorous case comparison to bear on the nature of life worlds and social change in the contemporary Muslim world. Taking exception to security-oriented approaches to "political Islam", he reminds us that there are many varieties of Muslim politics and sociability. He also offers no less original insights into how we should understand shari'a law, Muslim feminisms, interpretive positionality, and post-institutional individualism in both Western and Muslim-majority societies. Far-ranging and brilliant, this book is a 'must-read' for scholars and general readers interested in the rich diversity of Muslim societies today. -- Robert Hefner, Boston University