Islam Obscured

Book Summary

"In "Islam Obscured" Daniel M. Varisco offers a brilliant and nuanced analysis of four influential anthropologists against the background of older, less field-based ethnographies of Muslim societies. His penetrating critiques of the influential works of Clifford Geertz, Ernest Gellner, Fatima Mernissi, and Akbar Ahmed lead to a probing discussion of the challenges facing the anthropology of Islam in the twenty-first century."--Richard C. Martin, Professor of Islamic Studies and History of Religions, Emory University "Islam Obscured" analyzes four seminal anthropology texts on Muslims that have been read widely outside the discipline. Two are by distinguished anthropologists: "Islam Observed" (Clifford Geertz, 1968) and "Muslim Society" (Ernest Gellner, 1981). Two other texts are by Muslim scholars: "Beyond the Veil" (Fatima Mernissi, 1975) and "Discovering Islam" (Akbar Ahmed, 1988). Varisco argues that each of these approaches Islam as an essentialized organic unity rather than letting "islams" found in the field speak to the diversity of practice. He sheds light on Islam as a cultural phenomenon, representation of the other, Muslim gender roles, politics of ethnographic authority, and Orientalist discourse. Varisco's analysis goes beyond the rhetoric over what Islam is, focusing instead on ethnographic research about what Muslims say they do and actually are observed doing.

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