WORKSHOP: On Leadership & Authority in the 20th Century 'Muslim World'

Religious authority in Muslim contexts is notoriously difficult to define.  The absence of an explicit ‘clerical hierarchy’ presents a long-running conundrum over the meaning of power and its location in modern Islam.  Is it vested in the body of the caliph? Within the charismatic authority of Sufi shaykhs? Among the knowledge-based-based religious economy of Salafi hadith specialists? Within tightly organized Islamic movements? Scholars present wide-ranging responses to questions on the sources, agency and scope of religious authority.  Some emphasise the role of the ulama and others ordinary Muslim, the power of poetry over law, and polycentrism over centralised authority. 

The workshop intends to advances the debate with new contributions on the various forms of Muslim leadership and authority throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.  We hope to provide fresh insights on the ‘Muslim world,’ challenging the narrow focus of area studies, tired frameworks of ‘orthodoxy’ and ‘heterodoxy’ and the privileging of specific Islamic sources and traditions.  Our goal is to help each other theorize leadership and associated political concepts focussing on empirically-grounded case studies.

PROGRAM