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2010
(Edited
Book)
Muslim
Societies and the Challenge of Secularization: An Interdisciplinary
Approach, Netherlands:
Springer.
ISBN: 978-9048133611.
Scholars from various disciplines worked together to present the first
interdisciplinary book to address the issue of Islam, secularism and
globalization. The book has a clear structure which represents its
interdisciplinary approach: the first section addresses the
philosophical and historical discussion about Islam and secularism; the
second section discusses the topic from an ethnographical and social
anthropological viewpoint; and the final section addresses Islam,
secularism and globalization from a political viewpoint. This unique
collection not only offers innovative research and new material, it
also provides empirical examples and theoretical debates, and could
therefore also be used as a textbook for courses on Islam,
globalization, anthropology, politics, sociology and law.
For
a sample chapter, please click
here.
2009
Faith,
Ideology and Fear:
Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons,
London and New
York: Continuum
Books.
ISBN 978-1847060334.
Unique
and soundly researched, this book examines the delicate
relationship between the experience of prison among Muslims and the
formation of religious identity. Based on four years anthropological
research within prisons and Muslim communities in the UK, this book
offers a unique discussion of the relationship between the experience
of prison among Muslims and the formation of religious identity.
Gabriele Marranci thoroughly examines Muslim religious life in prison,
the work of Muslim chaplains and imams (and the overall impact that
they have on Muslim prisoners), providing an analysis of the current
prison policies aiming to prevent radicalization, and discusses the
counterproductive results of an increasing young Muslim presence in
prisons, as well as the reaction of the Muslim communities to this
increase. Marranci suggests that the prison environment, and increasing
restrictions therein, are linked to the fear of radicalization, and are
facilitating identity processes in which Islam turns into an ideology.
This important study goes on to make a thorough examination of the
lives of former Muslim prisoners, showing how they are particularly
vulnerable to extremists' recruitment, and explaining the dynamics
which have led, in certain cases, to their recommitting offenses, or
embarking on a path of radicalization.
For
a sample chapter, please click
here.
Understanding Muslim
Identity, Rethinking Fundamentalism,
London and New York:
Palgrave
Macmillan.
Hardback ISBN 978-0230002555.
Since 1979, the year of the Iranian Revolution, scholars have tried to
understand what has been called Islamic fundamentalism. September 11th
has certainly highlighted the urgency of understanding such a
phenomenon. This book provides the reader with a
challenging analysis of the discussion about Islamic fundamentalism and
a new reading of the relationship between identity and
fundamentalism. It confronts the widespread idea that
Islamic fundamentalism is a mere reaction to and rejection of Western
European Enlightenment and secularism in favour of an anachronistic
religious scripturalism. In this timely book, Gabriele Marranci,
through an ethnographically based interpretation, rejects essentialist
and cultural reductionist theories, and argues that
identity and emotion play a fundamental role in the formation of what
the author calls 'Emotional Islam'.
For
a sample chapter, please click
here.
2008
The Anthropology of Islam, London
and New York:
Berg.
Hardback ISBN 1845202856,
Paperback ISBN 1845202848.
An increasing number of people have questions about Islam and Muslims.
But how can we approach and study Islam after September 11th? Which is
the best methodology to understand an Islam that is changing in a
globalized world? "The Anthropology of Islam" argues that Islam today
needs to be studied as a living religion through the observation of
everyday Muslim life. Drawing on extensive original fieldwork, Marranci
provides provocative analyses of Islam and its relation to issues such
as identities, politics, culture, power and gender. "The Anthropology
of Islam" is unprecedented in its innovative and challenging discussion
about fieldwork among Muslims, and its ethnographically based
interpretations of contemporary aspects of Islam in a post-September
11th society. The book will appeal to those in anthropology and beyond
who see and are interested in investigating the unsettled place of
Islam in our multicultural society.
For a sample chapter,
please click here.
2006
Jihad beyond Islam,
London and New York:Berg.
Hardback ISBN 1845201574
Paperback ISBN 1845201582.
'Jihad' is a highly charged word. Often mistranslated as 'Holy War', it
has become synonymous with terrorism. Current political events have
entirely failed to take account of the subtlety and complexity of
jihad. Like many concepts with a long history, different cultural ideas
have influenced the religious aspects of jihad. As a result its
original meaning has been adapted, modified and destabilized - never
more than at the present time. How does jihad manifest itself in
Muslims' everyday lives? What impact has 9/11 and its backlash had on
jihad? By observing the current crisis of identity among ordinary
Muslims, this timely book explores why, and in what circumstances
Muslims speak of jihad. In the end, jihad is what Muslims say it is.
Marranci offers us a nuanced and sophisticated anthropological
understanding of Muslims' lives far beyond the predictable cliches.
For
a sample chapter, please click
here.
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