Globalization and the Muslim World

Dr. Zencirci Providence College Spring 2019 PSC 470

Course Description Conventional wisdom often presents the view that there is a “clash” between the West and the Muslim World. As a result, Muslims are frequently portrayed as either victims of or as resisting dynamics of globalization. Even scholarship on the topic of globalization and Islam disproportionately focuses on how globalization and the spread of Western culture negatively affects those who belong to the Islamic faith. In this view, globalization is seen as a process that operates independently of the contributions of Muslims themselves. In contrast, in this course, students will be introduced to an alternative perspective which approaches Muslims as “agents” of globalization, instead of situating them at the margins of key cultural, economic and political processes. The course will cover a wide range of topics, such as Islamic banking, Islamic finance, women’s rights, human’s rights, minority rights, terrorism and the internet.

Learning Objectives • Learn about the heterogeneity of Islam as a lived reality of contemporary Muslims around the globe. • Develop an understanding of Islam as a global religion. • Describe the geographic and demographic characteristics of Muslim regions and significant minority populations in Europe and North America. • Become conversant with important concepts and enduring institutions related to Muslim societies.

Readings All students are required to come to class having completed the readings for that class meeting. • Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Globalization and Culture: Global Melange (3rd Edition), Rowman and Littlefield 2018. • Sarah Tobin, Everyday Piety: Islam and Economy in Jordan. Cornell University Press, 2016.

- In addition to these books, we will read a wide range of articles which will be provided in a reader to students. Grade Distribution Take Home Essays: %20 x2 = %40 Participation and Attendance: %20 Final Paper Total: %40 Abstract: %5 Extended Abstract and Outline: %10 Final Paper: %25

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Some Key Points

Attendance and Participation: This class combines a lecture format with a heavy emphasis on class participation. You need to come to class prepared to discuss the readings, and take initiative during our class meetings. Attendance is mandatory. You will lose points if you do not come to class or if you fail to participate in discussions.

Use of Technology: You are not allowed to use laptops, tablets or cellular phones during this class. If I notice that you are checking email, chatting, facebook-ing, surfing the web, and/or typing at a weird moment, you might be asked to leave class and it may negatively impact your participation grade. Cellphones should be stored in your bag, backpack, pocket or purse. Texting is not allowed!

Courtesy: It is important to maintain courtesy for other people and their opinions while discussing political issues. Listening to the points of others respectfully and not disrupting them is of utmost importance. If you are disruptive to the sharing of ideas and opinions, you may be asked to leave class and it may negatively impact your participation grade.

Entry and Exit: You are expected to come to class on time. If you need to leave early please let me know before class starts.

Difficulties: If you ever are having challenges with the material, the lessons, or the assignments, it is best to contact me as soon as possible. I am happy to help, but please note that there is little chance of significant grade improvement at the end of the semester.

Part 1: Theories and Encounters

Week I Introduction: The Myth of Clash • Huntington. 1993. “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs, 72 (3): 22-49. • Said. 2001. “The Clash of Ignorance” The Nation. • Hunt. 2002. “In the Wake of September 11: The Clash of What?” The Journal of American History, September 11: A Special Issue 89(2):416-425.

Week II Theories of Globalization • Chapter 1, “Globalization: Consensus and Controversies,” from Pieterse. • Friedman, “The Lexus and the Olive Three: Understanding Globalization.” [R] • Stiglitz, “Globalism’s Discontents.” [R]

Week III Theories of Globalization Cont’d • Chapter 3, “Globalization and Culture: Three Paradigms,” from Pieterse.

2 • Barber, Benjamin. 1995. "Jihad Vs McWorld" in Braving the New World: Readings in Contemporary Politics, pp. 17-27.

Week IV Globalization and Muslims: Resistance, Exclusion or Hybridity? • Rashid Khalidi, “The Middle East as a Framework of Analysis: Re-Mapping a Region in the Era of Globalization,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 18, no. 1 (1998): 74-80. [R] • Khurshid. “Globalization: Challenges and Prospects for Muslims.” Policy Perspectives, vol. 3, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1–11. • Cooke, Miriam and Burce Lawrence (2005). Muslim Networks from Hajj to Hip Hop, Chapel Hill: the University of North Carolina Press. [Selections] • Gole, “Snapshots of Islamic Modernities,” Daedalus, 129, no.1 (2000): 91-117. [R]

Week V Movie: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012) • Take Home Essay Due at the Beginning of Week VI.

Part 2: Global Flows in the Muslim World

Week VI Political Economy (I): Islamic Banking and Finance • Tobin. 2016. Everyday Piety: Islam and Economy in Jordan. [Entire]

Week VII Political Economy (II): Branding Islamic Products • Shirazi, 2016. Brand Islam: The Marketing and Commodification of Piety. University of Texas Press [Selections] • Latif et al. 2014. “A Comparative Analysis of Global Halal Certification Requirements, Journal of Food Products Marketing, 20(1): 85-101.

Week VIII Islam and the Question of Human Rights • Dalacoura. 2007. “Islam and Human Rights.” [R] • Ghamari-Tabrizi. 2000. “Globalization, Islam, and Human Rights: The Case of Iran.” Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 23(1): 33–48.

Week IX Uses and Abuses of the Internet • Huff. 2001. “Globalization and the Internet: Comparing the Middle Eastern and Malaysian Experiences.” Middle East Journal, 55(3): 439–458. • Anderson, 1999. “The Internet and Islam’s New Interpreters,” in New Media in the Muslim World, eds. Dale Eickelman and Jon Anderson, Indiana University Press. • Khiabany and Annabelle. 2007. “The Politics of/in Blogging in Iran.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 27(3): 563-579.

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Week X Migrants and Refugees • Saskia Sassen, “Immigration in a Global Era.” [R] • Ennaji, 2014. “Muslim Moroccan Migrants in Europe: Transnational Migration in its Multiplicity.” Palgrave Macmillan. [Selections]

Week XI Women and Gender • Lila Abu Lughod. 2002. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others". American Anthropologist 104 (3): 783-790. • Mahmood, Saba. 2005. “Feminist Theory, Agency, and the Liberatory Subject.” In Fereshteh Nouraie-Simone, ed. On Shifting Ground: Muslim Women in The Global Era, 111-152. • Dwyer, Claire. 2008. “The Geographies of Veiling: Muslim Women in Britain.” Geography 93(3): 140-147.

Week XII Terrorists and Their Others • Mahmoud Mamdani, 2000. “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim. A political perspective on culture and terrorism.” American Anthropologist, 104(3): 766-775 • Hegghammer, T. 2010. “The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad.” International Security, 35 (3): 53-94.

Week XIII Movie: The Square (2013) • Take Home Essay Due at the Beginning of Week XIV.

Week XIV Islam in America • Williams, R.H. 2011. “Creating an American Islam: Thoughts on Religion, Identity and Place,” in Sociology of Religion, 72(2): 127-153. • Hanania, Ray. 2015. “I’m Glad I Look Like a Terrorist: Growing Up Arab in America.” [selections]

Week XV Student Presentations

Final Paper Due Date to be Announced.

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