Special Issue: Islam in Europe, European Islam
Deadline: 31 January 2019
Guest Editors
Prof. Dr. Stefano Allievi, University of Padua, stefano.allievi@unipd.it
Prof. Dr. Thijl Sunier, VU University Amsterdam, j.t.sunier@vu.nl
Interests: Islamic movements, authority, Islam and popular culture.
The scope of the special issue “Islam in Europe, European Islam?” is to explore and underline trends, some very visible, others seemingly marginal, which are transforming Muslim communities and Islamic landscapes in Europe in recent years.
Much of the research carried out among Muslims in Europe seems still being trapped in nationally specific formats, thereby implicitly depicting Muslims as homogenous national communities. Rather than focusing on the common nationally specific developments in the legal, organizational, doctrinal and political sphere, the special issue seeks to identify a number of cross-national, or supra-national thematic fields as angles that capture these trends. These fields may be rooted in developments specific to Islam and Muslim communities in Europe, but they may also address the question how global developments take shape locally.
The themes listed below are by no means exhaustive, but together they may indicate important trends and developments that provide clues about the tremendous diversification currently taking place among Muslims. It throws into stark relief what is meant by “European Islam” because this epithet has often been applied by politicians, journalists, and academics to denote a specific ‘domesticated’ form of Islam that conforms to dominant national values and principles. Such a frame of reference tends to ignore important developments among Muslims. The special issue addresses some of these trends.
There is a vast literature on the subjects related to “Muslims in Europe” or “Islam in Europe”, to which many of us have contributed in the last decades. We invite scholars in the field of Islam in Europe to write an article for this special issue indicating intriguing and relevant trends. We do not propose a total new set up, but instead invite researchers to address what they consider important developments.
Please write the editors for more details.