The Spirit of Matter discusses excessive objects: those things that move people but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking about ‘mind over matter’, and that things are... Show moreThe Spirit of Matter discusses excessive objects: those things that move people but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking about ‘mind over matter’, and that things are supposedly ‘dead’. Such wishful thinking can be traced back to Protestant Christian influences, that were secularized in the course of modern and colonial history. A range of excessive objects – exhibits of human remains or live people, fetishes, objects in a Catholic museum, exotic photographs, commodities, and computers – demonstrate a subordinate modern consciousness about powerful objects and their ‘life’. If humanity wants to survive current planetary socio-ecological crises, it should learn from its humility towards both artefacts and non-human things. Show less
This is the second volume of a two-volume co-authored study that explores the history of the concept of barbarism from the eighteenth century to the present and highlights its foundational role in... Show moreThis is the second volume of a two-volume co-authored study that explores the history of the concept of barbarism from the eighteenth century to the present and highlights its foundational role in modern European and Western identity. It constitutes an original comparative and interdisciplinary exploration of the concept’s modern European and Western history and combines overviews with detailed analyses of representative works of literature, art, fi lm, philosophy, and political and cultural theory. Volume 2 broaches figurations of barbarism and mobilizations of the barbarian across diverse contexts, media, and fields from the early twentieth century to our present: from avant-garde manifestoes to contemporary multilingual literature and adaptations of the Medea myth, from anticolonial to eco-socialist texts, from political philosophy and ethno-anthropology to contemporary pop culture, from Russian poetry to Western political rhetoric, from Europe to Latin America, from cinema to art biennials, and from (neo-)Marxists to the Alt-Right. Show less
Duyvesteyn, Isabelle; Wal, Anne Marieke van der 2022
Studying change in the course of human history, in different places, through the lens of a diverse set of core themes, World History for International Studies offers readers a set of windows into... Show moreStudying change in the course of human history, in different places, through the lens of a diverse set of core themes, World History for International Studies offers readers a set of windows into different debates historians have been conducting. Key themes, such as communication, trade, order, slavery, religion, war, identity, modernity, norms and ecology, are linked to specific world regions, which tell a story about how local ideas and individual contacts developed, started to overlap and became globally understood and used by ever larger groups of people. These themes are brought to life by a diverse set of key primary sources, such as a book, a letter, a medal, a temple and an epic, to showcase how historians have used sources to tell these stories and conduct debates. The book provides an introductory resource into the study of history and includes detailed suggestions for further study. Show less
The study of revolutions is at the forefront of the growing field of International Historical Sociology. As International Historical Sociology scholars have sought to uncover the spatio-temporally... Show moreThe study of revolutions is at the forefront of the growing field of International Historical Sociology. As International Historical Sociology scholars have sought to uncover the spatio-temporally changing character of international relations, they have come a long way in overcoming ‘unilinear’ and ‘internalist’ conceptions of revolutionary modern transformation. In this article, I re-evaluate the extent to which the International Historical Sociology of ‘bourgeois revolutions’ has succeeded in remedying unilinear conceptions of the transition to modernity. I argue that ‘consequentialist’ approaches to the study of bourgeois revolutions tend to obscure the radically heterogeneous character of revolutionary transformations, both within and outside Western Europe. Drawing on Political Marxism and Robbie Shilliam’s discussion of Jacobinism, I first provide a non-consequentialist reading of the revolutions of modernity within Western Europe, and then utilize this reinterpretation to provide a new interpretation of the Turkish Revolution (1923–1945). My aim is to demonstrate that a non-consequentialist conception of ‘bourgeois revolutions’ will enable us to historicize and theorize more accurately the co-constitution of international relations and revolutionary processes, hence providing a stronger foundation for the International Historical Sociology of modern revolutions. Show less
Starting with Weber’s disenchantment thesis, a sociological tradition has developed that associates modernity with a crisis of meaning. The de-mystification of our worldview and the decreasing... Show moreStarting with Weber’s disenchantment thesis, a sociological tradition has developed that associates modernity with a crisis of meaning. The de-mystification of our worldview and the decreasing influence of religious traditions in specific are seen as obstacles for making sense of human existence. But in fact, modern societies are full of meaning and they continue to be religious. This study shows that, in an implicit form, religion can be found everywhere in our culture. The Internet hype of the 1990s was a particularly effervescent example of implicit religiosity. The hopeful discourse about the Internet that typified this hype drew on religious ideas and language, and it inspired strong belief. This dissertation explores the appeal of the Internet as an object of faith and it looks at how it could serve as a source of meaning. Show less
Muslim life worlds both differ from and overlap with Western modernities. Everyday expressions of Muslim identity and citizenship can give a more reliable picture of existing multiple modernities... Show moreMuslim life worlds both differ from and overlap with Western modernities. Everyday expressions of Muslim identity and citizenship can give a more reliable picture of existing multiple modernities than doctrines or ideologies do. Drawing on examples from cinema, literature, and architecture, this article argues that social visions in the Muslim world are part of modernity. Show less
The relationship between the phenomena of modernity and religion has exercised scholars in many fields over recent decades. For example, one of the original exponents of the secularization paradigm... Show moreThe relationship between the phenomena of modernity and religion has exercised scholars in many fields over recent decades. For example, one of the original exponents of the secularization paradigm in the late 1950s and 1960s, sociologist Peter Berger, had, by the end of the millennium, recanted his earlier position saying: 'The big mistake, which I shared with everyone who worked in this area... was to believe that modernity necessarily leads to a decline in religion.' Steve Bruce, sociologist and firm adherent of the secularization thesis, quotes this statement in an article in which he attempts to rescue Berger from the folly of his recantation.1 While Bruce's view may now be regarded as 'unfashionable' in sociology of religion circles, echoes of the 'modernity-religion' dichotomy are very much present in studies related to modernity, contemporary Islam, and fundamentalism. Show less
The colonization of the Punjab by the British ushered in economic, social, cultural and legal conditions in which Islamic identity came to assume new forms. In pre-modern times, Waris Shah's epic,... Show moreThe colonization of the Punjab by the British ushered in economic, social, cultural and legal conditions in which Islamic identity came to assume new forms. In pre-modern times, Waris Shah's epic, Heer, was an integral part of everyday life; it was recited at social and literary gatherings. But the text had not yet become the object of intellectual critique. Rather, the critique embedded in the text suffused everyday conflicts and pleasure. In the modern period, however, the text was dis-embedded from the life-world. It became a site for the contestation of pre-modern and modern forms of Islamic identity. Show less
A modern-day visitor to Jamic Amr ibn al-cAs mosque in Cairo during the month of Ramadan can not miss the overt female presence in the women's quarter. That Muslim women of all ages attend this and... Show moreA modern-day visitor to Jamic Amr ibn al-cAs mosque in Cairo during the month of Ramadan can not miss the overt female presence in the women's quarter. That Muslim women of all ages attend this and other congregational mosques throughout the world is a fact that clearly contravenes a legal consensus arrived at during the formative period of Islamic law. After deliberation on the legality of women's attendance at mosques for congregational prayers, the majority of jurists, both Sunni and Shi'ite, concluded that women - particularly young, attractive women - should avoid mosques for fear of the social unrest (fitna) associated with their presence there. Show less
Between 21 and 24 February 2000 a joint masterclass was held in Leiden, the Netherlands, organized by the Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies and ISIM. The theme of the class... Show moreBetween 21 and 24 February 2000 a joint masterclass was held in Leiden, the Netherlands, organized by the Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies and ISIM. The theme of the class was 'visions of modernity in the Islamic Middle East.' The objective of the class was to gain an understanding of the quest for the elusive concept of 'modernity' which has played such a dominant role in the political projects of intellectuals, governments and social movements in the Middle East during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Show less
One of the defining conflicts of modern Turkish life is the great tension between society and the state. This tension has been articulated in terms of the conflict between Islamic social movements... Show moreOne of the defining conflicts of modern Turkish life is the great tension between society and the state. This tension has been articulated in terms of the conflict between Islamic social movements and the state ideology, Kemalism. Alberto Melucci argues that social movements constitute an active resistance that seeks to free everyday life from colonization by central government so that individuals may realize their unique potential and assert their collective identity. This aptly describes the Nurcu movement, an Islamic faith movement based on the writings of Said Nursi (1876-1960). Nursi suffered persecution at the hands of the Kemalist elite and was eventually exiled. Even his dead body posed a 'security threat'. After his death, his body was exhumed by military coup leaders in 1960 and reburied at an unknown location. Show less
