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Anthropology, anthropologies; Islam, islams: Fields in Flux

Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, CyberOrient, Islam: Introduction, Islamic History, Islamophobia, Terrorism Issue


The Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center (MEMEAC) presents

Anthropology, anthropologies; Islam, islams: Fields in Flux

a talk by Daniel Varisco

Thursday, March 8, 2012 6:30-8:00pm Room 9206,
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
Directions

Can there be an anthropology of Islam when both the discipline of Anthropology and the idea of Islam appear to be suspended in a state of undisciplined flux? This talk places Abdel Hamid El-Zein’s suggestion that anthropologists study “islams” in dialogue with John Comaroff’s recent response to “Is anthropology about to die?” Professor Varisco explores the ways anthropologists have been rethinking the idea of Islam. He also offers suggestions on how anthropologists can contribute to the broader study of Islam as practiced in contemporary cultural and historical contexts.

Daniel Martin Varisco is Professor of Anthropology and Director of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies at Hofstra University. His latest book, Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (2007), is a study of the contested debate over Edward Said’s seminal Orientalism. His Islam Obscured (2005) is a critical assessment of the seminal texts of Clifford Geertz, Ernest Gellner, Fatima Mernissi and Akbar Ahmed on Islam.

Co-sponsored by the Committee for the Study of Religion and the Ph.D. Program in Anthropology

The Wrapped Coin: The Ritual of Coin Giving in the Early and Middle Islamic Period

Archaeology and Antiquities, Conferences and Talks, Islamic Economics, Islamic History


Dirham of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (685-705), minted 699-741

The American Numismatic Society presents a Lecture
The Wrapped Coin: The Ritual of Coin Giving in the Early and Middle Islamic Period

by Stefan Heidemann
Wednesday 7 March 2012
5:30pm Reception
6:00pm Lecture*

The talk will focus on the cultural context of these coins and the custom of using coins, in many cases special issues, as presentation pieces.

Stefan Heidemann is curator of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and visiting professor at the Bard Graduate Center / New York. He studied history, art history and economics in Berlin, Damascus, and Cairo; Ph.D. Free University Berlin 1993; ’93 alumnus of the ANS Graduate Seminar. He became assistant and associate professor at Jena University 1994 to 2010, visiting professorships at Leipzig University 2001-2003. Fellowships include German Research Foundation; Harvard’s Center of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington; Institute of Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, Aga-Khan Program of Islamic Architecture at MIT; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK; and others. Samir-Shamma-Prize of the Royal Numismatic Society for Islamic Numismatics 2005. Cooperation with German, British, French, and Syrian archeological missions, in al-Raqqa, Damascus, Aleppo, Masyaf and other sites. Between 2009 and 2009 he taught at The Bard Graduat Center in New York Islamic Art and Material Culture, and served as Associate Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2010-2011. Publications include Das Aleppiner Kalifat (1994); Die Renaissance der Städte (2002); Raqqa II: Die islamische Stadt (ed. and author) (2003); He edited one Sylloge of Islamic Coins of the Oriental Coin Cabinet at Collection of Jena University and of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Preceding the lecture
A special ceremony will be held for the donation of a rare and unusual Umayyad silver dirham to the ANS cabinet from long-time ANS Member, Hon. Robert H. Pelletreau Jr. The Hon. Pelletreau will present the coin in honor of Dr. Michael L. Bates, ANS Curator Emeritus of Islamic Coins, in recognition of his many valuable contributions to the field of Islamic numismatics. Dr. Bates will speak briefly about the historical context of the coin and its attribution.

Among his 35 years in Foreign Service, the Hon. Robert H. Pelletreau served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from February 1994 to January 1997. Prior to that he served as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (1991-1993), to Tunisia (1987-1991) and to Bahrain (1979-1980).

NOTE: rsvp required to membership@numismatics.org (212) 571-4470 ext 117 government issued photographic i.d. required for entry

Political Cultures and the Revolution in the Cyrenaica of Libya

"Arab Spring", Anthropology/Sociology, Islamic Law, Libya


Spray painting the Libyan revolution

by Thomas Hüsken, Anthropology News, January, 2012

This commentary will explore some actors and patterns of the recent political culture in the Cyrenaica region of Libya with special regard to the revolutionary events. This political culture is shaped by the polymorphy of tribal, Islamic and civil urban forms of political organisation as well as varying notions of power and legitimacy.
Tribe and Revolution

In his early years Gaddafi abolished the tribe as a legal unit and reorganised local administrative structures, explicitly replacing tribal politicians with followers of the revolution. However this collided with the political, social and cultural realities in the country. In the past decades of Gaddafi’s regime tribal leaders had not only come to dominate and control a significant part of the state but also charged the political culture with tribal notions and practices. It is thus not surprising that tribal politicians have not been at the forefront of the revolution. Nevertheless they have actively shaped and organized a great deal of the transitional political order in the last months. They have come to dominate the local transitional councils in Cyrenaica due to their skills as producers of order and conflict mediators on the basis of the tribal customary law. They have gained significant influence in the National Transitional Council (NTC). The production of order is accompanied by a broad common sense on tribal culture among the population. Both build the legitimacy of these leaders. The political practice of these politicians is shaped by a consensus-oriented process of moderation and negotiation that is embedded in tribal traditions but is also informed by their education and by experiences in governance and business. Their political visions focus on the continuation of a regional and local intermediary rule between the central state and the people. The reintroduction of polygamy and Sharia by NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jelil in November 2011 was an affirmative signal towards these leaders. In my understanding they will play an important role in the political future of post-Gaddafi Cyrenaica and in Libya as a whole. Continue reading Political Cultures and the Revolution in the Cyrenaica of Libya →

Into the Snake Pit: The US and Restructuring the Military in Yemen

"Arab Spring", Obama Administration, Yemen


by Gregory Johnsen, Waq al-Waq, February 24, 2012

The closest thing the US has to a “Yemen Czar” is John Brennan, President Obama’s Deputy National Security Adviser, and so when he speaks on Yemen – as he did recently – it is a good idea to pay attention.

On Monday, the eve of Yemen’s one-man elections, Brennan was in Sanaa, and during his time there he sat down with some journalists, and the US Embassy has since published the transcript of his roundtable.

Brennan has a lot to say, and I would encourage everyone to read his full remarks, but one of the things that stood out to me was Brennan’s comments on military restructuring.

Obviously military restructuring is going to be one of the most important and most controversial processes of the post-Salih era in Yemen. Salih’s relatives and fellow tribesmen have a stranglehold on much of the military and security apparatus in Yemen. Salih spent more than 33 years building this network, and dismantling it is going to require a great deal of patience, effort and knowledge.

Imagine the security services like a giant Jenga tower and you get some idea of the problem: the US wants to remove some key blocks, without seeing the whole thing tumble down. Continue reading Into the Snake Pit: The US and Restructuring the Military in Yemen →

A World to Fear or of Fear?

"Arab Spring", Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, Egypt, Ethics


Unknown Artist. Sinners in Hell. Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. Torcello (Italy). 12th century)

Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing a lecture by the anthropologist Talal Asad, who discussed the impact of the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt based on conversations he has held with Egyptians there and with a keen sense of historical insight. In the case of Egypt it is not just that it was sucked into strong-man rule for three decades under Mubarak, but that an entire generation has known nothing but cronyism and a firmly entrenched military elite still holds the reins, despite the street scenes on CNN. No one knows what exactly will happen next, least of all the media pundits who exude an expertise mentality that often borders on the ludicrous. One of the points that particularly struck me as poignant is the role of fear as a key aspect of all power politics. Mubarak, like Ali Abdullah Salih in Yemen and Ben Ali in Tunisia and even the Asad clan in Syria, have justified their self-serving iron grip as a quasi-secular bulwark against the specter of radical Muslims. They pretend to be the right kind of Muslims preventing the wrong kind of Muslims from taking over and returning the region to the 7th century. And Western nations, along with a number of Arab citizens, let fear dictate policy and overrule common sense.

Fear is on all sides, of course. Those who have dared to defy the power of the state have had good reason to fear, as the bloody security apparatus let loose in Syria amply demonstrates. Any trumped-up kind of “other” is an easy target for fear, especially when religious or ethnic identity is ascribed. In fact, as Talal noted, Mubarak went to great lengths to foster tension between Copts and Muslims in Egypt, creating fault lines for conflict where mutual cooperation had often been the norm. Religious sects do it to each other, dragging out the infidel charge and the heresy alibi whenever convenient. This is not at all unique to the Middle East or those who call themselves Muslims. When Rick Santorum states that President Obama does not base his policies on the Bible and Franklin Graham questions the president’s faith, religious passion is harnessed for political gain.

But what do we really mean by “fear”? Continue reading A World to Fear or of Fear? →

Talal Asad on Egypt after Mubarak

"Arab Spring", Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, Egypt, Scholars


On Friday, February 24, Professor Talal Asad will be speaking in the CUNY Graduate Program in Anthropology series. His topic is Fear and Revolution: Reflections on Egypt after Mubarak. This will be held at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, New York, NY 10016 in Room C415A (concourse level). Light refreshments will be served afterward in the Brockway Room, Rm. 6402. For more information, click here.