On Difference and Understanding: The Use and Abuse of the Study of Islam

Abstract

Why do we study Islam, and how should we do it? As usual, what appears like a simple question poses the most intricate problems. Compared to the 'how', the 'why' is relatively easy: culture is very much in fashion, and it has been so for a while. The 'cultural turn' is widely debated, not only in the humanities, but also in the social sciences. This includes the discipline I was first trained in and remain attached to: history. The cultural turn has made an impact on sociology and political science, and to a lesser extent on economics and law. Its strong appeal has certainly to do with politics, for there can be little doubt that the demise of the Soviet Empire and the intensification of ethnic conflict in many parts of the world have contributed towards giving so high a profile to matters of culture and identity. The fact that there should be a link to politics (and I hasten to emphasize that I do not subscribe to monocausal explanations) need not render the interest in culture and identity, variously and often ill-defined, suspect or illegitimate: I at least can see nothing intrinsically wrong with an approach that looks at politics, society, law and the economy with a greater awareness of, and sensitivity to, cultural norms and aspirations. But there are disturbing aspects to this preoccupation with culture, if it is not an outright obsession; aggressive ethnic assertiveness on one hand, and the talk about a potential if not inescapable 'clash of civilizations' on the other, are among them. The latter in particular would not have found such fertile ground and reached so wide an audience, had it not been for the cultural turn in academic as well as in what is commonly considered to be 'real' life.