"Just Admit it Man, You're a Spy!" Fieldwork Explorations into the Notion of Salafi "Oppositionality"
This article addresses two related problems in the current ethnographic study of Salafism. First, it draws attention to the lack of positionality exhibited by many commentators on Salafism; second, and more crucially, it highlights the reluctance of scholars to engage with what is here labelled Sala...
Publié dans: | Fieldwork in religion |
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Auteur principal: | |
Type de support: | Électronique Article |
Langue: | Anglais |
Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Publié: |
Equinox
[2018]
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Dans: |
Fieldwork in religion
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Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Non-musulman
/ Salafiyya
/ Recherche sur le terrain
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RelBib Classification: | AA Sciences des religions AD Sociologie des religions BJ Islam |
Sujets non-standardisés: | B
Salafism
B Ethnography B Egypt B al-wala' wa'l-bara' B da'wa B maslaha B oppositionality |
Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Résumé: | This article addresses two related problems in the current ethnographic study of Salafism. First, it draws attention to the lack of positionality exhibited by many commentators on Salafism; second, and more crucially, it highlights the reluctance of scholars to engage with what is here labelled Salafi "oppositionality". By oppositionality, I refer to a set of attitudes (non-compliance, defiance, hatred) which are formally prescribed to, and informally generated by, Salafis in their dealings with non-Muslims and very often with lapsed and/or errant Muslims. Through two case studies in pre-Arab Spring Cairo, I explore the workings of Salafi oppositionality in practice. By so doing, I highlight the often fragile and ephemeral nature of relationships that can be formed between a Western-trained ethnographer and his/her Salafi respondents, and demonstrate the ways in which instances of opposition are mutually constituted. Both the researcher and the Salafi, I argue, present each other with a dilemma. In my experience, Salafis have no problem identifying the essence of this dilemma; it is time for Western ethnographers to exhibit a similar degree of transparency. |
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ISSN: | 1743-0623 |
Contient: | Enthalten in: Fieldwork in religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/firn.37640 |