New Books in Middle Eastern Studies |

Hüseyin Yılmaz, “Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought” (Princeton UP, 2018)

Hüseyin Yılmaz
Caliphate Redefined
The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought
Princeton University Press, 2018

New Books in History New Books in Intellectual History New Books in Islamic Studies New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Religion New Books Network December 7, 2018 Nadirah Mansour

In Islamic intellectual history, it is generally assumed that the Ottomans did not contribute much to Islamic thought. With his new book, Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought (Princeton University Press, 2018), Hüseyin Yılmaz uses the Ottoman notion of the caliphate to push back against that assumption: he demonstrates how a new understanding... Read More

Alireza Doostdar, “The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny” (Princeton UP, 2018)

Alireza Doostdar
The Iranian Metaphysicals
Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny
Princeton University Press, 2018

New Books in Anthropology New Books in Islamic Studies New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Religion New Books in Religion & Faith New Books in Science & Technology New Books in Science, Technology, and Society New Books Network December 5, 2018 SherAli Tareen

Winner of the Middle East Studies Association’s 2018 Albert Hourani Book Award, Alireza Doostdar’s The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny (Princeton University Press, 2018) is a mesmerizing study of discourses and practices surrounding the Occult sciences or ‘metaphysicals’ in contemporary Iran. Thoroughly disrupting the common association... Read More

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, “The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan” (Cambridge UP, 2018)

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
The Politics of Common Sense
State, Society and Culture in Pakistan
Cambridge University Press, 2018

New Books in Islamic Studies New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Political Science New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Religion & Faith New Books in South Asian Studies New Books in World Affairs New Books Network November 29, 2018 James M. Dorsey

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents... Read More

Sumantra Bose, “Secular States, Religious Politics: India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism” (Cambridge UP, 2018)

Sumantra Bose
Secular States, Religious Politics:
India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism
Cambridge University Press, 2018

New Books in Hindu Studies New Books in Islamic Studies New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Political Science New Books in Politics & Society New Books in Religion & Faith New Books in South Asian Studies New Books Network November 28, 2018 James M. Dorsey

Sumantra Bose‘s new book Secular States, Religious Politics: India, Turkey and the Future of Secularism (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is a fascinating comparison of the rise of religious parties in the non-Western world’s two major attempts to establish a post-colonial secular state. The secular experiments in Turkey and India were considered... Read More

J.R. Osborn, “Letters of Light: Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design” (Harvard UP, 2017)

J.R. Osborn
Letters of Light
Arabic Script in Calligraphy, Print, and Digital Design
Harvard University Press, 2017

New Books in Arts & Letters New Books in Communications New Books in History New Books in Language New Books in Literary Studies New Books in Middle Eastern Studies New Books in Peoples & Places New Books in Politics & Society New Books Network November 12, 2018 Nadirah Mansour

Arabic script is astounding! Not only because it represents one of the most commonly spoken languages today –that is, the Arabic language– but because it has represented dozens of other languages over the course of human history from the Middle East to Asia, to Europe, and to the tip of... Read More