New Project on Islam in Africa
Starting in January 2008, I will be beginning a new research project at the University of Cape Town in the study of Islam. The project is dedicated to a critical and comparative study of Muslim publics in different parts of Africa since the end of the Cold War. For the purpose of this project, a Muslim public is a discursive space formed by multiple and competing interventions on a variety of topics through texts (written and oral), gestures, rituals, organizations, institutions and multiple media. A Muslim Public is a form of public sphere.
The project has identified three countries and three key aspects of Muslim publics for detailed investigations. The countries chosen are South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana, representing three key regions of Africa south of the Sahara. In each country, the research will focus on three broad aspects of Muslim publics: agents, media, and effects.
The present and future of Muslim publics will be in the spotlight of our contemporary world for some time to come. This research takes a broader analytical view to map the possibilities and the threats that emerge from developments within religious groups, and the constraints that are imposed from without. Using the framework of of Muslim publics within broader public spheres, and focussing on agents, sites and effects, the research will help us to appreciate the past and anticipate the future.
For more information, please visit www.uct.ac.za/depts/religion, or write to me Abdulkader.Tayob@uct.ac.za
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