Islam, Democracy, and Cosmopolitanism This book presents a critical study of citizenship, state, and globalization in societies that historically have been influenced by Islamic traditions and institutions. Investigating the work of contemporary theorists of Islamic modernity such as Mohammed Arkoun, Abdul an-na im, Fatima Mernissi, Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, and Aziz Al-Azmeh, this book explores the debate on Islam, democracy, and modernity, contextualized within contemporary Muslim lifeworlds. These include contemporary Turkey (following the 9/11 attacks and the onset of war in Afghanistan), multicultural France (2009 10 French burqa debate), Egypt (the 2011 Tahrir Square mass mobilizations), and India. Ali Mirsepassi and Tadd Graham Fernée critique particular counterproductive ideological conceptualizations, voicing an emerging global ethic of reconciliation. Rejecting the polarized conceptual ideals of the universal or the authentic, the authors critically reassess notions of the secular, the cosmopolitan, and democracy. Raising questions that cut across the disciplines of history, anthropology, sociology, and law, this study articulates a democratic politics of everyday life in modern Islamic societies. Ali Mirsepassi is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Sociology at the Gallatin School, New York University. He is the author of Political Islam, Iran, and the Enlightenment: Philosophies of Hope and Despair (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Tadd Graham Fernée is an independent scholar and was a 2010 research Fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Institute of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, India. He is the author of The Enlightenment and Violence: Modernity and Nation-Making (2014). He is currently a guest lecturer at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria, affiliated with the English and Political Science departments.
Islam, Democracy, and Cosmopolitanism At Home and in the World ALI MIRSEPASSI New York University TADD GRAHAM FERNÉE
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107053977 C 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2014 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Mirsepassi, Ali. Islam, democracy, and cosmopolitanism : at home and in the world / Ali Mirsepassi, Tadd Graham Fernée. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index isbn 978-1-107-05397-7 (hardback) 1. Islam and politics. 2. Islam and civil society. 3. Citizenship Religious aspects Islam. 4. Democracy Religious aspects Islam. 5. Globalization Religious aspects Islam. I. Fernée, Tadd Graham, 1971 II. Title. bp173.7. m5586 2014 321.80917ʹ67 dc23 2013046211 CIP isbn 978-1-107-05397-7 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents Acknowledgments page vii Introduction: Citizenship, State, and Globalization 1 1 Ways of Being in the World: Religion and Secularism 44 2 Islams and Modernities: Al-Azmeh s Secular Critique 94 3 Talal Asad s Romance with Islamism 112 4 Arkoun s The Unthought in Islamic Thought 135 5 An-Na im s Islamic Reformation: The Reconciliation of Equality of Rights and the Shari a 156 6 Fatima Mernissi: Locally Rooted Cosmopolitanism 178 Conclusion 199 Bibliography 209 Index 217 v
Acknowledgments In writing this book, I received the help of a community of colleagues, friends, and students. Foremost among them is my co-author, Tadd Graham Fernée. I am delighted to have collaborated with Tadd, my former student and now a scholar and a colleague. As a faculty member at the Gallatin School, New York University, I feel very fortunate to be a member of such a supportive and intellectually inspiring institution. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Gallatin School s Dean Susanne Wofford. Several of my colleagues have read parts of this book, and we have benefited from their comments and suggestions for revision. I would like to thank Vasuki Nesiah, Rosalind C. Fredericks, Hannah Gurman, and Kathryn Spellman Poots for reading Chapter 3 and giving us very helpful comments for revisions. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, whose comments and suggestions for revisions helped improve the quality of the book. Ali Mirsepassi In writing this book, I am very grateful to my co-author, Ali Mirsepassi. I also extend deep gratitude to Kyoko Mifune. Kyoko made very important contributions to the writing of this book. She participated in the main interviews provided in Chapter 1. The reconstructions of these conversations and the words in this book are often based on her notebooks and letters and our conversations. Her theoretical input in interpreting these events within the larger context of globalizing vii
viii Acknowledgments capitalism was also crucial. I also would like to thank Anindo Saha for his challenging intellectual input, his criticisms, and the many important sources he recommended. Tadd Graham Fernée