Revisioning Modernity

Abstract

The 33rd Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) was held on September 24-26, 2004, at George Mason University Law School in Arlington, Virginia. It was cosponsored by George Mason University, the Center for Global Studies (CGS), and the Islamic Studies Program. Under the seamless directorship of Peter Mandaville, program chair and CGS director, the timely subject of revisioning modernity for and by Muslims in a post-9/11, post-Afghanistan, and post-Iraq world was addressed in 10 panels. With the theme “Revisioning Modernity: Challenges and Possibilities for Islam,” these sessions focused primarily on identity formation, human rights, interfaith dialogue and peacemaking, institutional development, methodological reform, and knowledge paradigms. The conference featured a remarkable array of scholars and graduate students who raised thought-provoking questions and offered clear, yet nuanced, solutions based on studied field and academic research. For example, Saadia Yacoob’s (Huntington Learning Center, VA) “Developing Identities: What Is Progressive Islam and Who Are Progressive Muslims?” elicited an impassioned and contentious reaction from the audience about this somewhat elusive term and whether it was a contradiction of terms or a logical redundancy. She identified five common elements of self-identified “progressive” Muslim: an anti-imperialist stance, a belief that action and faith must go hand in hand, a championing of the oppressed and poor, a return to core principles, and a belief in a pluralistic and humanistic society. Kamran A. Bokahri (Howard University, DC) used his “Moderate Islam, Progressive Muslims, Democracy, and Post-Islamism” to discuss themes related to identity formation among moderate Islamists, traditional Muslims, liberal Muslims and regimes, all of which claim to represent ...