The Edge of Islam by Janet Mcintosh
Explores ethnoreligious tensions in coastal Kenya. This title also advances understanding of ethnic essentialism, religious plurality, spirit possession, local understandings of personhood, and the many meanings of 'Islam' across cultures.
“The Edge of Islam offers rare appreciation of the ways Islam, as a faith and practice, coheres across deeply fraught ethnic boundaries that inform the daily lives of Swahili and Giriama communities. . . The Edge of Islam deftly navigates questions of Islamic authority, including distinctions between scripturalism and bodily practice, virtuous inwardness and pragmatic communalism, rationalism and madness.”
-- Flagg Miller * American Anthropologist *
“[A] sophisticated discussion of theories of spirit possession, identity, ethnicity, hegemony and ideology. . . . The book is beautifully written in a precise, clear and engaging style, and is of importance for anthropologists and political scientists as well as for students of religion.” -- Kevin Ward * Leeds African Studies Bulletin *
“This is a very good book, which I would strongly recommend, offering an effective and constructive critique of existing scholarship and a sobering insight into tensions which are very real and current" -- Justin Willis * Journal of Islamic Studies *
“It is extremely hard to do justice to this remarkable book, which is filled with excellent analysis and narratives.” -- Cynthia Brantley * African Studies Review *
"[A book with] rich and wide-ranging ethnographic knowledge [and] sophisticated theoretical ambitions. . . provocative and analytically rigorous." -- Simon Hawkins * Journal of Religion in Africa *
“Janet McIntosh's The Edge of Islam is one of the very best ethnographies of East Africa to emerge in the past ten years. . . . [T]hought-provoking, interesting, and original.” -- James Smith * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
"[A] highly welcome contribution. This innovative and invigorating book provides invaluable insights to the highly complex interplay between religion and ethnicity." -- Terje Østebø * African Studies Quarterly *
“McIntosh’s account has a sharpness of focus and forcefulness of approach that is an improvement over much that has been published on religion andvalues in this area. . . . [T]his is a book well worth reading. . . . [An] excellent study, a valuable contribution to our understanding of the East African coast.” -- T. O. Beidelman * Anthropos *
"[A]n exhilarating ethnography. . . [which] reconfigures our understanding of Islam on the Swahili coast.” -- Kate Kingsford * African Affairs *
“Very original…very skillful…likely to inspire many other anthropologists working on religion, [and] a ‘must read’ for anthropologists of religion in Africa.” -- Ramon Sarro * Islamic Africa *
"The 2010 winner of the Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion was The Edge of Islam: Power, Personhood, and Ethno-religious Boundaries on the Kenya Coast . . . a sophisticated and highly accessible analysis [that] infuses fresh insight into such well-worn concepts as hegemony, ideology, syncretism and personhood, while at the same time rethinks questions relating to conversion, possession, and the margins of Islam. . . . Commented one member of the jury, McIntosh was the most subtle and engaging study of the entanglements of categories of ethnic and religious identifications that I've read. . . . Clifford Geertz would have approved of this choice for many reasons, but perhaps most of all because it is written in such elegant but straightforward prose." -- Sue Kenyon * Anthropology News *
-- Flagg Miller * American Anthropologist *
“[A] sophisticated discussion of theories of spirit possession, identity, ethnicity, hegemony and ideology. . . . The book is beautifully written in a precise, clear and engaging style, and is of importance for anthropologists and political scientists as well as for students of religion.” -- Kevin Ward * Leeds African Studies Bulletin *
“This is a very good book, which I would strongly recommend, offering an effective and constructive critique of existing scholarship and a sobering insight into tensions which are very real and current" -- Justin Willis * Journal of Islamic Studies *
“It is extremely hard to do justice to this remarkable book, which is filled with excellent analysis and narratives.” -- Cynthia Brantley * African Studies Review *
"[A book with] rich and wide-ranging ethnographic knowledge [and] sophisticated theoretical ambitions. . . provocative and analytically rigorous." -- Simon Hawkins * Journal of Religion in Africa *
“Janet McIntosh's The Edge of Islam is one of the very best ethnographies of East Africa to emerge in the past ten years. . . . [T]hought-provoking, interesting, and original.” -- James Smith * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
"[A] highly welcome contribution. This innovative and invigorating book provides invaluable insights to the highly complex interplay between religion and ethnicity." -- Terje Østebø * African Studies Quarterly *
“McIntosh’s account has a sharpness of focus and forcefulness of approach that is an improvement over much that has been published on religion andvalues in this area. . . . [T]his is a book well worth reading. . . . [An] excellent study, a valuable contribution to our understanding of the East African coast.” -- T. O. Beidelman * Anthropos *
"[A]n exhilarating ethnography. . . [which] reconfigures our understanding of Islam on the Swahili coast.” -- Kate Kingsford * African Affairs *
“Very original…very skillful…likely to inspire many other anthropologists working on religion, [and] a ‘must read’ for anthropologists of religion in Africa.” -- Ramon Sarro * Islamic Africa *
"The 2010 winner of the Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion was The Edge of Islam: Power, Personhood, and Ethno-religious Boundaries on the Kenya Coast . . . a sophisticated and highly accessible analysis [that] infuses fresh insight into such well-worn concepts as hegemony, ideology, syncretism and personhood, while at the same time rethinks questions relating to conversion, possession, and the margins of Islam. . . . Commented one member of the jury, McIntosh was the most subtle and engaging study of the entanglements of categories of ethnic and religious identifications that I've read. . . . Clifford Geertz would have approved of this choice for many reasons, but perhaps most of all because it is written in such elegant but straightforward prose." -- Sue Kenyon * Anthropology News *
Janet McIntosh is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780822345091 |
| ISBN 10 | 0822345099 |
| Title | The Edge of Islam |
| Author | Janet Mcintosh |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Duke University Press |
| Year published | 2009-07-29 |
| Number of pages | 344 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |