The following is intended to suggest a fairly simple contention concerning
a number of interconnected propositions made in connection with the
debates on modernity and secularism. None of these propositions is
particularly novel, nor is this the first time that they have been put forward.
Yet the issues raised have remained with us and become all the more
pressing; I can see that points that were made, against the flow, more than
two decades ago, now stand out more cogently than ever, and are being
revisited, rediscovered or simply discovered by many.
The simple contention I wish to start with concerns Islamism, often
brought out emblematically when secularism and modernity are discussed.
Like other self-consciously retrogressive identitarian motifs, ideas,
sensibilities, moods and inflections of politics that sustain differentialist
culturalism and are sustained by it conceptually, Islamism has come to gain
very considerable political and social traction over the past quarter of a
century. This had until recently reached the extent that it, as a perceptual
grid of social and cultural purchase relating to societies and countries that
many associate with Islam, has become hegemonic in public discussions
about society and politics and, until recently, hegemonic without serious
challenge. It has also been crucial for triggering the latest round of antisecular
discussions and polemics.
The following discussion will proceed in three stages. First, an overall
characterisation of anti-secular polemics and motifs in their broader
discursive and other contexts and motifs will be offered, with special attention to writings characterised as post-colonialist. Next will be offered a discussion of some keywords that come up in this context and which indicate the conceptual profile in question. The essay will then move on to discuss two specific methods of using history in arguments against secularism. Finally, the essay will concentrate on post-colonialist discussions of Islam and secularism, exemplified in a particular case.:1 Sentiment, Pathos, Rhetoric........................................................................4
2 Moods and Keywords.................................................................................11
3 Actually Existing Secularism and the Challenge of Fate........................21
4 One Genealogy of Post-colonialist Eminence.........................................38
5 Bibliography.................................................................................................51
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:73305 |
| Date | 13 January 2021 |
| Creators | Al-Azmeh, Aziz |
| Contributors | Kolleg-Forschergruppe 'Multiple Secularities - Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion, doc-type:workingPaper, info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa2-167259, https://doi.org/10.36730/2020.1.msbwbm, 2700-5518, qucosa:16725 |
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