Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush
<p>This thesis explores the socio-political mechanisms that shaped the authority of three Muslim thinkers – Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Abdolkarim Soroush – in the European-Anglophone intellectual field between 1989 and 2010. Specifically, it investigates the role of transnational...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| _version_ | 1817930682964377600 |
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| author | Zohouri-Haghian, P |
| author2 | Katouzian, H |
| author_facet | Katouzian, H Zohouri-Haghian, P |
| author_sort | Zohouri-Haghian, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This thesis explores the socio-political mechanisms that shaped the authority of three Muslim thinkers – Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Abdolkarim Soroush – in the European-Anglophone intellectual field between 1989 and 2010. Specifically, it investigates the role of transnational networks of individuals and institutions in the intellectual legitimation of these three thinkers. Moving beyond existing literature that focuses on their intellectual contributions, this research situates their discourses within a specific socio-political context. Relying on government papers, newsletters, interviews, bibliometric data, as well as academic and journalistic publications by and about them, the study maps and investigates the <em>modus operandi</em> of their networks. For this purpose, it engages and expands on Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of social capital (resources embedded in an individuals’ network) and field theory, to explore how ‘power’ operates among different fields of interaction to shape their ‘legitimacy’.</p>
<p>In unpacking the process of intellectual legitimation, this study identifies three interacting elements: 1) the socio-political context concerning the domestic and global emergence of Islam, and the polarisation of attitudes towards Muslims which renewed interest on authoritative ‘moderate’ voices speaking for Islam; 2) their identities and ideas, which reflected this demand for specific profiles – Muslim organic voices positioned between academia and the public sphere, engaging with a synthesis of Islam and modernity, democracy, and human rights; 3) their social capital, in the form of networks of actors they engaged with: these functioned as the infrastructure through which knowledge and resources were mobilised and ultimately converted into symbolic capital, leading to their intellectual legitimacy. The nodes of these networks, this study argues, promoted their ideas and facilitated their access to resources and institutions. The conversion of this social capital into symbolic capital, and therefore legitimacy, was conditioned not only by the internal dynamics of each field they engaged but also the power relations across the fields through which they migrated (such as Middle Eastern vs European academia or academia vs the public sphere). While this thesis accounts for the socio-political dimension of these thinkers’ emergence, it also addresses their agency in negotiating their position within different fields.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:06:40Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:9f3d1953-c288-46fe-ad1e-7eb147926db6 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:10:01Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9f3d1953-c288-46fe-ad1e-7eb147926db62024-10-07T09:28:01ZTransnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim SoroushThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:9f3d1953-c288-46fe-ad1e-7eb147926db6Muslim intellectuals in the WestIslam in EuropeAcademic fieldEnglishHyrax Deposit2020Zohouri-Haghian, PKatouzian, HHerzig, E<p>This thesis explores the socio-political mechanisms that shaped the authority of three Muslim thinkers – Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Abdolkarim Soroush – in the European-Anglophone intellectual field between 1989 and 2010. Specifically, it investigates the role of transnational networks of individuals and institutions in the intellectual legitimation of these three thinkers. Moving beyond existing literature that focuses on their intellectual contributions, this research situates their discourses within a specific socio-political context. Relying on government papers, newsletters, interviews, bibliometric data, as well as academic and journalistic publications by and about them, the study maps and investigates the <em>modus operandi</em> of their networks. For this purpose, it engages and expands on Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of social capital (resources embedded in an individuals’ network) and field theory, to explore how ‘power’ operates among different fields of interaction to shape their ‘legitimacy’.</p> <p>In unpacking the process of intellectual legitimation, this study identifies three interacting elements: 1) the socio-political context concerning the domestic and global emergence of Islam, and the polarisation of attitudes towards Muslims which renewed interest on authoritative ‘moderate’ voices speaking for Islam; 2) their identities and ideas, which reflected this demand for specific profiles – Muslim organic voices positioned between academia and the public sphere, engaging with a synthesis of Islam and modernity, democracy, and human rights; 3) their social capital, in the form of networks of actors they engaged with: these functioned as the infrastructure through which knowledge and resources were mobilised and ultimately converted into symbolic capital, leading to their intellectual legitimacy. The nodes of these networks, this study argues, promoted their ideas and facilitated their access to resources and institutions. The conversion of this social capital into symbolic capital, and therefore legitimacy, was conditioned not only by the internal dynamics of each field they engaged but also the power relations across the fields through which they migrated (such as Middle Eastern vs European academia or academia vs the public sphere). While this thesis accounts for the socio-political dimension of these thinkers’ emergence, it also addresses their agency in negotiating their position within different fields.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Muslim intellectuals in the West Islam in Europe Academic field Zohouri-Haghian, P Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title | Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title_full | Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title_fullStr | Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title_short | Transnational Networks and Intellectual Authority in Islam in Europe: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, and Abdolkarim Soroush |
| title_sort | transnational networks and intellectual authority in islam in europe the case of mohammed arkoun nasr hamid abu zayd and abdolkarim soroush |
| topic | Muslim intellectuals in the West Islam in Europe Academic field |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zohourihaghianp transnationalnetworksandintellectualauthorityinislamineuropethecaseofmohammedarkounnasrhamidabuzaydandabdolkarimsoroush |