However, this brief essay discusses saba mahmood bashirs work on aandhi, a film that created quite a stir with its release leading to censorship, which resulted in addition of new shots into the original script to arrive at clarity for those who demanded so. Nov 03, 2015 in religious difference in a secular age. The islamic revival and the feminist subject, is laid out in the brief preface to the book. Saba mahmood is an anthropologist who teaches at the university of california, berkeley, and whose work raises challenging questions about the relationship between religion and secularism, ethics and politics, agency and freedom. In the book, mahmood questions the idea that freedom is a general striving. Along with her ceaseless political passions and trenchant analyses, she keened to the beauty of the wilderness, the poetry of ghalib, the delights of cooking and sharing excellent food. Mahmoods work spoke back powerfully to the politics of categories and the liberal grandstanding on womens rights. Interview with sindre bangstad on saba mahmood theory. Religious difference in a secular age is original, pathbreaking, and important. Blasphemy, injury, and free speech the townsend papers in the humanties talal asad, judith butler, saba mahmood, wendy brown in this volume, four leading thinkers of our times confront the paradoxes and dilemmas attending the supposed standoff between islam and liberal democratic values. An anthropologist who brought challenging new perspectives to our understanding of secularism and islam has died. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork in egypt with coptic orthodox christians and bahaisreligious minorities in a predominantly muslim countrysaba mahmood. Reading saba mahmood critical times duke university press.
Is critique secular blasphemy, injury, and free speech. Saba mahmood was born in quetta, pakistan, in 1962 and moved to the us in 1981 for a bachelors degree in architecture and urban planning at the university of washington 1985. Heres a look on his 1975 film aandhi through saba mahmood bashirs book gulzars aandhi. Oct, 2010 much of the implicit political backgroundthe stagingpointof saba mahmoods highly acclaimed ethnography of the womens mosque movement in egypt, politics of piety. In one book, professor mahmood, a scholar at berkeley, examined a grassroots womens. This extraordinary work is at once a fascinating ethnography of two religious minorities in egypt and a compelling formulation of how secularism generates strife it claims only to modulate. Mahmood writing in english and translating the muslim traditions, religious rituals, and quranic verses to arabic, adds so much to book s credibility and makes it easy for the reader, whether. Along with her ceaseless political passions and trenchant analyses, she rejoiced in the beauty of the wilderness, the poetry of ghalib, and the delights of cooking and.
Politics of religious freedom, sullivan, hurd, mahmood. Saba mahmood, a uc berkeley professor of anthropology, died saturday at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer mahmood was born in lahore, pakistan in 1962. Gulzar saab is a name familiar in cinema for bringing revived lyricism through his poetry in filmmaking. Politics of piety is essential reading for anyone interested in issues at the nexus of ethics and politics, embodiment and gender, and liberalism and postcolonialism.
Mar 29, 2018 saba mahmood, a professor, theorist and author from pakistan whose work focused on the intersection of islam and feminist theory, died on march 10 at her home in berkeley. In saba mahmood s own words, the book is an attempt to understand the islam contemporary dawa movement as articulated against many of the concepts, sensibilities, practices, and forms of life associated with a secularliberal. Concomitantly, it is often argued, that more of secularism and less of religion represents the solution to this problem. Saba mahmood, born in quetta in pakistan in 1962, died of pancreatic cancer on march 10 th, 2018. Instead, her book on the islamic revivalist movement, politics of piety. Mar 30, 2018 anthropologist saba mahmood, who died on march 10, 2018, of pancreatic cancer, aged 56, changed the course of scholarship in two main areas. Mahmood writing in english and translating the muslim traditions, religious rituals, and quranic verses to arabic, adds so much to books credibility and makes it easy for the reader, whether. Religious difference in a secular age princeton university. Interview with saba mahmood, the present as history. Anthropologist saba mahmood challenges this common refrain. Plight of minorities sometimes show up on irtiqa, as that is one of the countries that i am most familiar with. Remembering saba mahmood, a pioneer in redefining ideas of rights and freedom. For example, given the struggle between saudi arabia and iran, shiism in egypt is regarded as a. Winner of the 2005 victoria schuck award, american political science association.
Aug 17, 2011 saba mahmood 19622018 was associate professor of anthropology at the university of california, berkeley. Saba mahmoods religious difference in a secular age masterfully combines the. The plight of religious minorities in the middle east is often attributed to the failure of secularism to take root in the region. Apr 01, 2018 saba mahmood, born in quetta in pakistan in 1962, died of pancreatic cancer on march 10 th, 2018. Saba mahmood, a professor, theorist and author from pakistan whose work focused on the intersection of islam and feminist theory, died on march 10 at. Through a careful and brilliant analysis, mahmood convincingly shows that far. Politics of piety is a groundbreaking analysis of islamist cultural politics through the ethnography of a thriving, grassroots womens piety movement in the mosques. A social and cultural anthropologist working on contemporary egypt, he is author and editor. Earlier this year, as a project to return to the oeuvre of gulzar the filmmaker, harpercollins released three books that looked back at three of his.
Even though this book is about islarnist politics in egypt, its genesis owes to a. The minority report, princeton university press 2016 lama abu odeh saba mahmood is not a huge fan of political secularism, particularly, in its modern. Discover book depositorys huge selection of saba mahmood books online. The islamic revival and the feminist subject, which received the 2005 victoria schuck award from the american association of political science. Mar 12, 2018 saba mahmood was a brilliant scholar, cherished colleague, and dedicated teacher and graduate mentor. At berkeley, she was also affiliated with the center for middle eastern studies, institute for south asia studies, and the program in critical theory. Preface to booksection on freedom, politics of religious. Saba mahmood19622018 was associate professor of anthropology at the university of california, berkeley. Please join the light in her eyes community by signing up for our email list below. See all books authored by saba mahmood, including politics of piety. The islamic revival and the feminist subject ebook written by saba mahmood. Saba mahmood books list of books by author saba mahmood. She was awarded the 20 axel springer berlin prize fellowship at the american academy in berlin. Remembering saba mahmood, a pioneer in redefining ideas of.
Your article critiques the work of saba mahmood, and in particular her book politics of piety 2005. Saba mahmood was a brilliant scholar, cherished colleague, and dedicated teacher and graduate mentor. Follow to get new release updates and improved recommendations. Saba mahmoods compelling exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are indelibly linked within the context of such movements. Samuli schielke is a research fellow at leibnizzentrum moderner orient, associate primary investigator at berlin graduate school muslim cultures and societies, and visiting fellow in the european research council project comparative anthropologies of revolutionary politics at university college london. In a couple of pages, mahmood discusses the sense of embattlement and. Saba mahmood kept open the definitions of her objects of inquiry. The islamic revival and the feminist subject, by saba mahmood speaks to all people. The book politics of religious freedom, edited by winnifred fallers sullivan, elizabeth shakman hurd, saba mahmood, and peter g. In saba mahmoods own words, the book is an attempt to understand the islam contemporary dawa movement as articulated against many of the concepts, sensibilities, practices, and forms of life associated with a secularliberal.
Joan wallach scott, author of the politics of the veil written by one of the most prominent anthropologists of her generation, religious difference in a secular age is a significant contribution to political theory and the study of religion in the contemporary. Simon dawes interviews sindre bangstad on his article saba mahmood and anthropological feminism after virtue tcs 28. Jan 01, 2004 politics of piety is an analysis and ethnography of the womens piety movement taking place in mosques in cairo. Religious difference in a secular age princeton university press. Most recently she is the coauthor of is critique secular. Oct 25, 2004 saba mahmood s compelling exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are indelibly linked within the context of such movements. Saba mahmood is a premier scholar of the constitutive powers of secular governance. She also questions the idea that agency in the sense of the ability to act and make a difference needs to go against the grain of power and conservative authority. By the time my generation of pakistanis carne to political consciousness during the. Preface to booksection on freedom, politics of religious freedom. Cynthia nelson, middle east journal this very timely book opens doors into spaces of islamic piety that shatter the stereotypes which dominate thinking in the west. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read politics of piety. Saba mahmood s compelling exposition of these practices challenges this assumption by showing how the ethical and the political are indelibly linked within the context of such movements.
Much of the implicit political backgroundthe stagingpointof saba mahmoods highly acclaimed ethnography of the womens mosque movement in egypt, politics of piety. The islamic revival and the feminist subject, and religious difference in a secular age. The new gaze is not the disinterested effect of a break with inheritance, but rather an awareness of inheritance that effects a new and less certain relation to it by means of engagement with its internal and external others mahmood 2006, 199. Join facebook to connect with sabba mahmood and others you may know. Saba mahmood is an associate professor of social cultural anthropology at uc berkeley. The state sanctioned persecution of ahmadis, in particular, is hard to ignore. A new book by anthropologist saba mahmood, religious difference in a secular age. Saba mahmoods compelling exposition of these practices challenges this.
Preface even though this book is about islarnist politics in egypt, its genesis owes to a set of puzzles i inherited from my involvement in progressive left politics in pakistan, the country of my birth. In my family culture and tradition, 40 days after death is an important marker of passage, of coping, of figuring out how you will move on for both those who have passed and those who experienced the loss. A minority report, saba mahmood has produced a valuable account both of how the idea of separating religion from politics came to be central to the development of the religiously neutral state in europe. A minority report princeton university press, 2015, saba mahmood, professor of anthropology at the university of california at berkeley, brings such a celebratory view of secularism into fatal doubt. Saba mahmood, religious difference in a secular age. A fascinating interview of saba mahmood on religious. The book tracks these arguments through five issues. The islamic revival and the feminist subject 2011, an ethnography of muslim women in cairo, was a pathbreaking intervention into. The movement is a part of the larger islamic revival occurring since the 1970s, marked by increased religious sociability. Saba mahmood, a professor, theorist and author from pakistan whose work. Saba mahmood, author who traced intersection of feminism and. This essay is a reflection on saba mahmoods book, the politics of piety, the islamic revival and the feminist subject 2005 which analyzes conceptions of self, agency, and politics among the female practitioners of dawa, or womens mosque movement, in egypt. The modern state and the secular political rationality that. In her stunning new book religious difference in a secular age.
Mar 29, 2018 an anthropologist who brought challenging new perspectives to our understanding of secularism and islam has died. The ideal social scientist, then, is not disinterested but productively selfconflicted. Her book politics of piety, a study of a grassroots womens piety movement in cairo, questions the analytical and political claims of feminism as well as the. Saba mahmood, a professor, theorist and author from pakistan whose work focused on the intersection of islam and feminist theory, died on march 10 at her home in berkeley, calif. New books in islamic studies thoroughly researched and ambitious in scope, mahmoods latest study is an essential contribution to our understanding of secularism, minority relations and the study of religion in plural societies. Saba mahmood died on march 10, 2018, at the age of 57. For example, given the struggle between saudi arabia and iran, shiism in egypt is regarded as a heretical cult. Anthropology book forum saba mahmood is a premier scholar of the constitutive powers of secular governance. Mar 28, 2018 saba mahmood, a professor, theorist and author from pakistan whose work focused on the intersection of islam and feminist theory, died on march 10 at her home in berkeley, calif. Not only is this book a sensitive ethnography of a critical but largely ignored dimension of the islamic revival, it is also an unflinching critique of the. Anthropologist saba mahmood, who died on march 10, 2018, of pancreatic cancer, aged 56, changed the course of scholarship in two main areas. The issue of minority rights in muslim societies is often in the news these days.
In a substantial new preface, mahmood addresses the controversy sparked by the original publication of her book and the scholarly discussions that have ensued. Religious difference in a secular age, saba mahmood. Oct 23, 2011 discover book depositorys huge selection of saba mahmood books online. Honorable mention, 2005 albert hourani book award, middle east studies association. Saba mahmood february 3, 1962 march 10, 2018 was professor of anthropology at the university of california, berkeley. Sabas work points to how anthropology can contribute to the realization of a more just and equitable world and for that we owe her a great debt. Saba mahmood, author who traced intersection of feminism. Rediscovering gulzars aandhi through saba mahmood bashirs. Politics of piety is an analysis and ethnography of the womens piety movement taking place in mosques in cairo. Bashir, therefore, explores the background of emergency in the country during. She had taught through the most recent fall semester.
She had gained her phd in anthropology from stanford university in 1998 and taught at the university of chicago before becoming professor of anthropology at the university of california at berkeley in 2004. Danchin is published by university of chicago press. A minority report, mahmood argues that by solidifying religious divisions and emphasizing differences, modern secularism itself has heightened tensions in countries like egypt. She secured separate masters in architecture 1987 and urban planning 1988 at the.