Muslim Communities Reemerge

Historical Perspectives on Nationality, Politics, and Opposition in the Former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia

Gerhard Simon editor Andreas Kappeler editor Gerog Brunner editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Duke University Press

Published:24th Aug '94

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Muslim Communities Reemerge cover

A contribution to an ongoing debate of tribal, religious, and national identity among Muslims in former communist states

The terrible events afflicting Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tajikistan filled the news, commanding the world's attention. This volume offers insight into the background of these catastrophic conflicts. It analyzes the historical and contemporary situation of Muslims in former communist states.The terrible events afflicting Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tajikistan fill the news, commanding the world's attention. This timely volume offers rare insight into the background of these catastrophic conflicts. First published in German on the eve of the breakup of the Yugoslav and Soviet republics, it is one of the few books in any language to analyze, in detail and in depth, the historical and contemporary situation of Muslims in former communist states and thus clarifies the sources, development, and implications of the events that dominate today's foreign news.

In fourteen chapters and an updated introduction, European and North American specialists examine the recent evolution of Islamic expression and practice in these former Communist regions, as well as its political significance within officially atheistic regimes. Representing a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, the authors detail how the modern ethno-religious situation developed and matured in hostile circumstances, the degree of latitude the local Muslims achieved in religious expression, and what prospect the future seemed to offer just before the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Overall, the book provides a thorough analysis of the coincidence and tension between ethnic and religious identity in two countries officially devoted to the separation of ethnic groups in domestic cultural arrangements but not in the social or political realm.

Contributors. Edward Allworth, Hans Bräker, Marie Broxup, Georg Brunner, Bert G. Fragner, Uwe Halbach, Wolfgang Höpken, Andreas Kappeler, Edward J. Lazzerini, Richard Lorenz, Alexandre Popovi´c, Sabrina Petra Ramet, Azade-Ayse Rorlich, Gerhard Simon, Tadeusz Swietochowski

“This volume represents a contribution to an ongoing debate of tribal, religious, and national identity among Muslims in former communist states which has been relatively neglected in the past, but whose importance has become more evident, not just to the scholarly world but also to western governments and the public at large.” —Heide Whelan, Dartmouth College
"Muslim Communities Reemerge is particularly timely in light of current speculation that Bosnian style civil war could destroy the stability of the newly independent Central Asian republics. The editors have performed a valuable service by juxtaposing ex-Soviet and ex-Yugoslav Muslims in a comparative context."—James Critchlow, Fellow at the Russian Research Center, Harvard University
"Muslim Communities Reemerge provides a remarkably balanced, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to the intricacies and multi-layered relationship of the ex-Soviet Islamic peoples to their own history, religion, and culture as well as to their non-Muslim neighbors and fellow citizens. It forces us to rethink our own definition and understanding of contemporary nationalism and federalism, particularly as related to religion, customs, or traditional and modern values."—Marc Raeff, Bakhmeteff Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies, Columbia University

ISBN: 9780822314905

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

384 pages