Ethnographies of Islam : ritual performances and everyday practices / edited by Baudouin Dupret ... [et al.].

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, c2012.

vi, 202 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

Published in association with the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations.

This comparative approach to the various uses of the ethnographic method in research about Islam in anthropology and other social sciences is particularly relevant in the current climate. Political discourses and stereotypical media portrayals of Islam as a monolithic civilisation have prevented the emergence of cultural pluralism and individual freedom. Such discourses are countered by the contributors who show the diversity and plurality of Muslim societies and promote a reflection on how the ethnographic method allows the description, representation and analysis of the social and cultural complexity of Muslim societies in the discourse of anthropology.--provided by publisher.

English

November 20, 2012

Includes bibliographical references and index.