Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity

Events in the last decade have transformed the Muslim world: the Iranian Revolution, the Rushdie affair, the Gulf War. Other influences on Muslim society have perhaps been more penetrating but less obvious. The outside world now reaches into even the most closeted Muslim home through the various channels of the mass media. Processes of globalization have hit traditional cultures so hard and in such a way that they have raised issues for Muslims which can no longer be ignored; Muslims are now forced to engage these issues and to formulate responses to them. Matters which in the past might have been considered by the well-informed few are now debated throughout society by people at every level of social organization. This book examines how Muslims across the globe have responded to these changes and contradictions. It tries to capture and explore some of the debate, uncertainty and conflict which they have generated as Islam moves towards the 21st century. It presents case studies of different types of Islam: * Middle Eastern * British * Pakistani * Egyptian * Turkish * North American * Trinidadian * Malaysian It describes both the general global processes now affecting Muslims everywhere, and the way in which these processes are moulded by particular local cultural, political and economic configurations. Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity will interest anyone concerned with understanding the dynamics of contemporary Muslim society or seeking insight into the direction in which the Muslim world is moving. Richard Antoun; Abubaker Bagader; Ernest Gellner; Tomas Gerholm; Fred Halliday; Judith Nagata; Martin Stokes; Gerholm Thaiss; Helen Watson; Anita Weiss; Phina Werbner