BIROn - Birkbeck Institutional Research Online

    Beyond Islam: a new understanding of the Middle East

    Zubaida, Sami (2011) Beyond Islam: a new understanding of the Middle East. London, UK: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781848850705.

    Full text not available from this repository.

    Abstract

    Book synopsis: In this magisterial work, Sami Zubaida draws on a distinguished career's worth of experience trying to understand the region to address the fundamental question in Middle East studies: what is the Middle East? He argues, controversially, that to see it through the prism of Islam, as it is conventionally viewed, is to completely misunderstand it. Many of what we think of as the 'Islamic' characteristics of the region are products of culture and society, not religion.To think of Islam itself as an essential, anti-modern force in the region rather than something shaped by specific historical-economic processes is, Zubaida argues, a mistake. Instead, he offers us an alternative view of the region, its historic cosmpolitanism, its religious and cultural diversity, its rapid adoption of new media cultures, which reveals a multi-faceted and complex region teeming with multiple identities. Wide-ranging, erudite and powerfully argued, Zubaida's work will be essential reading for future generations of students of this fascinating region.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Book
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Depositing User: Sarah Hall
    Date Deposited: 19 Nov 2013 09:10
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:08
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/8732

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    0Downloads
    6 month trend
    266Hits

    Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.

    Archive Staff Only (login required)

    Edit/View Item Edit/View Item