Description
Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Western public discourse promoted “moderate Islam” as an important facet of the American “war on terror.” Rather than asking how Western secular liberal democracies understand or promote a particular kind of Islam, this proposal focuses on how state and non-state actors in Muslim-majority countries deploy the idea of religious moderation. Is moderation seen as a key to overcoming the myriad of social and political challenges? What does the term mean for different groups of Muslims, whether those pursuing internal reforms at home or geopolitical ambition abroad? What is at stake, practically and ethically, for Muslims themselves in different countries and political systems?
These are among the questions that will be examined in this comparative research project across three Muslim-majority countries: Indonesia, Morocco, and Egypt. Although the political contexts differ (democracy, reforming monarchy, counter-revolutionary authoritarianism), the concept of “moderate Islam” resonates and has been mobilized by governments, religious leaders, and civil society organizations in each country.
Anthropologists James Hoesterey (Emory University) and Yasmin Moll (University of Michigan) will direct a team of researchers in ethnographic studies of sites in which moderation is both constituted and challenged. Cases range from village-level Islamic schools in Indonesia and inter-religious dispute resolution initiatives in rural Egypt, to Jakarta’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, Morocco’s “spiritual diplomacy” and religious training programs, and Egypt’s Observatory for Combatting Extremism. In studying both social life on the ground and institutional spaces of power, the project seeks “to illuminate the multiple sites and diverse ways in which religious moderation is imagined, practiced, and contested, whether by those who wield great power or those who are forced to act within the constraints and terms of such power.”
The project’s findings will be presented in ways that reach both academic and wider audiences, including a workshop, an edited volume and special journal issue, discussions on platforms such as The Immanent Frame , curricular materials, and a report for the U.S. policy community, where the term “moderate Islam” is widely used and poorly understood.
With over 20 full-time faculty specializing in Islam, Emory also has a Center for Digital Scholarship and an online religion magazine, Sacred Matters . The team includes scholars from Islamic studies, anthropology and political science. Hoesterey, the principal investigator, teaches religious studies and has published widely on Islamic media, religious authority and popular culture in Indonesia. Co-PI Moll has published widely on religion, media and politics in the wake of the Arab Spring. Six other scholars comprise the core research team (from Emory, Washington University, Victoria University of Wellington, and Colgate University).
Our grant would primarily support travel for research, a workshop, and two course releases for the untenured co-PI. Emory will provide course releases for the senior co-PI.