Islamic Modernities in World Society

The Rise, Spread, and Fragmentation of a Hegemonic Idea

Dietrich Jung author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Edinburgh University Press

Published:8th Nov '23

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Islamic Modernities in World Society cover

How is one 'authentically' modern? Substantively drawing on contemporary social theory, this book investigates the multiplicity of answers that Muslims have given to this question since the end of the nineteenth century. Through six historical and thematic case studies, the chapters examine the historical evolution of multiple modernities within Islam. The book argues that we can observe the rise and spread of a relatively hegemonic idea according to which a relation to Islamic traditions bestows projects of Muslim modernities with cultural authenticity. At the same time, the book provides an interpretation of this specifically Islamic discourse of modernity as an inherent part of global modernity in conceptual terms understood as the emergence of world society.

A lively book in which social theory and observation flows effortlessly to tell the story of how Muslims across multiple continents navigate the challenges of modernity. Dietrich Jung is an astute observer, and what the author dubs as his 'last act' on the topic of Muslim peoples' encounter with modernity will no doubt spur productive debate and conversation. -- Ebrahim Moosa, University of Notre Dame
In this solid theoretical and empirical work, Jung effectively lays to rest the view that Islam is monolithic and not modern. Instead, multiple Islamic modernities have been entangled in the emergence of a single world society, co-constructing world societal systems and providing resources for modern individual and institutional agency. -- Peter Beyer, University of Ottawa
Jung’s study is an inspiration and a textbook example of how scholars might proceed when they want to combine global (theoretical macro-perspectives) and local (empirical micro-perspectives) in one study. On this note, I think (and hope) that Islamic Modernities in World Society: The Rise, Spread, and Fragmentation of a Hegemonic Idea will be an inspiration for and an influence on future studies. -- Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg * Religion *

ISBN: 9781474492638

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

336 pages