Recent Books of Members

Below is a list of the latest books

To view all faculty publications click here

Derryl MacLean

Cosmopolitanism in Muslim Contexts: Perspectives from the Past, 2012

Edited by Derryl N. MacLean and Sikeena Karmali Ahmed

"Exceeds all previous efforts to address the intersection of Islam and cosmopolitan norms, values, and options."

– Bruce B. Lawrence, Marcus Family Professor of Humanities and Professor of Islamic Studies Emeritus, Duke University

This collection of 9 essays focuses on instances in world history when cosmopolitan ideas and actions pervaded specific Muslim societies and cultures. The contributors explore the tensions between regional cultures, isolated enclaves and modern nation-states.

Cosmopolitanism is a key concept in social and political thought, standing in opposition to closed human group ideologies such as tribalism, nationalism and fundamentalism. Recent discussions of it have been situated within Western self-perceptions. Now, this volume explores it from Muslim perspectives.

Thomas Kuehn

Empire, Islam, and Politics of Difference. Ottoman Rule in Yemen, 1849-1919, 2011 

 "Thomas Kuehn's remarkable book breaks new ground by drawing the late Ottoman Empire into comparative imperial studies. His history of late-nineteenth century Yemen examines Ottoman methods of conquest and rule that drew as much on the experience of European colonial empires as on Istanbul's own practices of ruling remote Arab lands. Drawing on the widest range of Ottoman archival sources, reinforced by contemporary Arabic references, Kuehn presents a lucid and persuasive analysis of the successes and shortcomings of the Ottomans' civilizing mission in Yemen. The sectarian order the Ottomans left behind has proven a divisive legacy that marks Yemen down to the present day. A brilliant book that deserves the widest possible readership among scholars of late nineteenth century empire and the Ottomans' place in that order."

– Eugene Rogan
St Antony's College, Oxford

"Kuehn skillfully weaves several themes together to demonstrate the tensions of Ottoman rule in a frontier province in the age of high European imperialism. He draws clear and convincing comparisons between the European colonial and imperial enterprise in the late nineteenth century and the modern Ottoman endeavor to create what he dubs 'colonial Ottomanism' in Yemen. The Ottoman bureaucrats and military men that conquered and then created the administrative structures of Yemen employed techniques of government built on a set of distinctions between tribal and civilized, between rural and urban, between governance according to 'local' Islamic norm and governance through modern administration. In their attempt to govern Yemen, the late imperial Ottomans looked similar to the late British imperialist. Their colonial enterprise, however, was distinctly Ottoman. It was from the beginning shaped by the fact that the Ottomans viewed themselves as Muslim rulers bringing into the imperial fold a Muslim frontier threatened by European encroachments. Their bureaucrats viewed the Yemenis as subjects that needed to be turned into modern Ottomans loyal to the only surviving Muslim state.
Kuehn’s book should be of great interest to historians and graduate students focused on the study of comparative empires as well as scholars who work on imperial frontiers. Is it a welcome edition to the growing and exciting field of nineteenth century Ottoman history."

– Dina Rizk Khoury
George Washington University

Paul Sedra  

From Misson to Modernity, Evangelical Reformers and Education in Nineteenth Century Egypt, 2011

"With its clear writing, broad-ranging analysis, and rich insight, From Mission to Modernity is both an impressive achievement and a pleasure to read. Sedra sweeps across an eventful nineteenth century to present what is at once an intellectual history, a history of education, and a history of religion and politics. With this book, Sedra makes a major contribution to the study of nineteenth-century Egypt."
– Heather J. Sharkey, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

"In describing nearly a century of interactions between Protestant missionaries and Egypt’s indigenous Coptic community, Paul Sedra’s new book deepens our understanding of the subtle ways missionization helped transform Egyptian society through processes of "cultural conversion" even in the absence of significant religious conversion. Sedra shows how international relations, domestic politics, specific educational strategies, and the widening gap between wealthy Coptic landowners and the Church hierarchy served to inculcate a 'modern Coptic subjectivity'."
– Gregory Starrett, Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and President, Middle East Section of the American Anthropological Association

"This book offers a compelling story of the tensions of colonialism in the intertwined realms of education and religion. As well as being a delightful read, it represents a useful contribution to Egypt studies and Middle Eastern studies with fascinating new data and fresh interpretations. Sedra has opened up new areas of research on the 19th century Middle East."
– Jessica Winegar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University

 

Amyn B. Sajoo 

A Companion to Muslim Cultures, 2011

Culture shapes every aspect of the relationship between God and the believer in Islam -- as well as between believers, and with those beyond the fold.  Fasts, prayers, and pilgrimages are attuned to social rhythms old and new, no less than the designs of mosques and public gardens, the making of 'religious' music, and ways of thinking about technology and wellbeing.  Ancient deserts and modern urban landscapes may echo with the same call for transcendence, but in voices that emerge from very different everyday realities.  The cosmopolitanism that runs through Muslim history from the outset recalls T.S. Eliot's remark that culture is 'that which makes life worth living.'

 

A  Companion to Muslim Ethics, 2010

"The field of Islamic ethics is resuming its rightful place among the disciplines of Islamic thought.  Scholars are now recognizing the ways in which ethics mediate the connection between law and spirituality, the realms of the public and the private.  Amyn Sajoo’s scholarship is very much at the forefront of this renewed interest in Islamic ethics. Highly recommended!"

–Omid Safi, University of North Carolina

Ken Seigneurie  

Standing by the Ruins: Elegiac Humanism in Wartime and Postwar Lebanon, 2010