Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication   Call For Papers

 

Intellectuals, ‘Islam’ and Modernity

 

All too often, studying ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ resembles stamp collecting, carrying the danger of putting together pieces of information without considering the broader context.  Associated with this perceived and constructed  ‘singular community’ is the idea that Muslims form a cultural unity, based upon a common cultural core that only the Orientalist is equipped to decipher. Furthermore, the ‘debate’ about ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ is overshadowed by false binaries and a very narrow optic of ‘modernization’ dichotomies: modernity v tradition, Islam v West and secularism v religious fundamentalism. Such binaries suppress the diversity of histories, cultures, struggles and aspirations, and conceal real ‘divides’.

 

This forthcoming issue of MEJCC welcomes contributions which trouble the provincialism of perceived ‘universal’ theory of culture and identity, drawing attention to the multivalent and multi-local characteristics of culture whilst highlighting the necessity, once again, of the need and the possibilities of going beyond the false binaries, of speaking with a ‘third voice’ and of recognizing the polyphonic and diverse character of the ‘Muslim Other’. A major concern of this issue is to document and critically analyze contemporary intellectual discourse emerging about ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ through an exploration of the relationship between intellectual history, political philosophy and social theory. We intend to publish a number of essays on this topic and suggest various themes, amongst others, which might be considered:

 

1-         Contemporary intellectual discourse in the Muslim World: Responses to modernity

2-         Contemporary thought in the Muslim World and the question of historicity

3-         New articulations of ‘culture’ and ‘identity’ in Middle Eastern thought

4-         Positioning Islam and Muslims in contemporary Western intellectual/literary/media discourse

5-         Re-thinking the impact of imperialism and capitalism on cultures in the Muslim World

6-         Islamic cultures and the question of modernity

7-         Muslim diaspora in the West and the politics of identity

8-         Rehearsing alternatives to Western-centric articulations of the ‘modern’

9-         Resistance, subcultures and new forms of artistic expression in the Muslim World

10-        Intellectuals, communication, and culture in the Muslim World

11-        Religious intellectuals, state intellectuals and political philosophy in the Muslim World

12-        The impact of cultural salafism on intellectual discourse in the Muslim World

13-        Intellectuals and the internet in the Muslim World

 

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words long.  They should be submitted to both Gholam Khiabany ([log in to unmask]) and Tarik Sabry ([log in to unmask]) by the 22nd of September 2009. The deadline for completed papers is the 25th of March 2010. 

 

Articles should be 6000-7000 words long and include an abstract of not more than 150 words that clearly defines the nature of the article. Up to five keywords should be included to identify the article.

Please note that all articles will be subject to our peer review process and that the Editors retain the discretion at all stages of the publication process to accept or reject an article.

MEJCC is published by Brill. The first issue of the Journal can be accessed free at www.brill.nl/mjcc.

 

 

 

Dr. Tarik Sabry

Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication Theory Co-Editor Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication Arab Media Centre, CAMRI University of Westminster Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3 TP, UK

Tel: +44-(0)20-7911 5000, ext. 4287(office)

Email: [log in to unmask]