Women, piety and practice: A study of women and religious practice in Malaysia

While the definition of religion in sociology has been highly contentious, we define religion in this article as simply the acts of piety that are conducted within the religious sphere. The point of this definition is to draw attention to practice and away from belief. This approach to religion appears to be especially useful in the case of contemporary Islam, where female piety has become a significant aspect of religious renewal. The idea of a religious sphere is taken from the work of Luc Boltanski and his colleagues who have coined the expression ‘the inspirational city’. Religion thus consists of acts of piety within the inspirational city, where this space is seen to be in tension with the secular city. The measurement of piety in everyday life sharply differentiates the profane world from religion. These ideas are explored in this article through qualitative data that are drawn from a small sample of pious women in contemporary Malaysia. We explore three aspects of female piety: veiling, polygamy and child-rearing. The article attempts to understand the terms in which piety is measured within the broader context of the Islamization of public life in Malaysia.     

The meta-theory of piety: reflections on the work of Saba Mahmood

This paper discusses the extent to which Saba Mahmood’s ideas about Muslim women and agency are relevant for works beyond her ethnographic speciality. The first part will reflect upon her arguments about Muslim female piety within the larger context of progressive politics in the USA and the Middle East. The second part will describe the implications of Mahmood’s work towards the production of alternative discourses—that is, works inspired by and produced from outside the overarching influence of a Euro-American intellectual tradition.

Playing with spirituality: the adoption of mulid motifs in Egyptian dance music

This study introduces a trend of Egyptian dance music called mulid that is named after festivals held in honor of the Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Muslim saints. Distinct from Islamic pop in its grassroots sound and ambiguous approach to piety, this trend draws musically and lyrically on mulids and the Sufi tradition of inshad (spiritual, ritual-focused singing) in a youthful, boisterous dance style. The range of approaches it takes in doing so is wide, from that of appreciation for the danceable musicality of inshad, to a quest to impart ‘traditional’ moral messages to youth, to playful fun-making of Sufi ritual and the mulid milieu. This study examines the content of mulid dance songs, the festive and social contexts in which they are used, and some of the cultural debates surrounding them. In doing so, it explores the ambiguous ways in which Egyptian youth culture is appropriating notions of piety in grassroots musical entertainment. It further discusses why this fusion of street-smart attitudes and spiritual-based motifs, existing as it does outside of the ‘clean’ Islamic pop current, nonetheless typically fails to incite religious sensibilities.

Creating charisma online: the role of digital presence in the formation of religious identity

This article investigates the construction and transmission of charisma through online channels and its role in the formation of religious identities. Mindful of Max Weber’s observation that charisma inhabits the relationship between a leader and his/her followers, I argue for a critical reappraisal of the theoretical model in the light of the ubiquity in the twenty-first century of new, virtual forms of social encounter. I focus my analysis on the Christian creationist movement in the United States and particularly on an influential leader called Ken Ham. Using digital ethnographic methods, I show how Ham constructs charisma online and how a virtual community forms itself around his charismatic claims. I illustrate how this virtual community intersects with offline worlds and suggest that the theme park attractions that Ham’s organisation runs (Creation Museum, Ark Encounter) are imbued with deflected charisma by virtue of their association with his online avatar.     

孝道:理论、测量、变迁及与相关变量的关系

孝道是一套子女以父母为对象的社会态度和社会行为的组合。近10余年来孝道研究领域在理论建构、测量工具的开发、孝道变迁研究以及其与相关变量之间关系的研究上取得了一些重要进展。未来研究的关键在于建构孝道多元模型,不断完善孝道测量工具,采用系统化思维、综合运用多种方法改进研究质量,更加关注孝道与积极心理变量的关系。     

Chinese intimacy: Filial piety,autonomy, and romantic relationship quality

Due to its accurate representation of parent–child interaction quality in Confucian-influenced cultures, contemporary filial piety, which refers to general beliefs about how children are expected to behave toward their parents, has drawn increasing attention in academia. However, how filial piety associates with intimate relationships beyond the family setting is less clear. This study examined the relation between dual filial piety (i.e., reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety) and romantic relationship quality among Chinese youths. We explored a mediational model in which we tested whether dual autonomy (i.e., individuating autonomy and relating autonomy) would help explain how Chinese youths' beliefs in filial piety are linked to the quality of their romantic relationships. A total of 605 youths from Macau (N = 291) and Taiwan (N = 314) who are currently or once romantically involved participated in the study. We employed structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Results showed within-culture invariance regarding the direct and indirect associations between filial piety, autonomy, and romantic relationship quality. Specifically, young people in both Macau and Taiwan who endorsed higher reciprocal filial piety had more individuating autonomy, which in turn contributed to them having higher quality romantic relationships.     

The Structure of Max Weber's Ethic of Responsibility

Max Weber's distinction in Politics as a Vocation between the ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility is best understood as a distinction between mutually exclusive ethical worldviews. Interpretations that correlate the two ethics with Weber's distinction between value-rational social action and instrumental-rational social action are misleading since Weber assumes that both types of rational social action are present in both ethics. The ethic of conviction recognizes a given hierarchy of values as the context for moral endeavor. The ethic of responsibility acknowledges value obligations, but assumes the absence of any given hierarchy of values and the inevitability of value conflict as the context for moral endeavor. When interpreted in the context of his multilayered understanding of value conflict, Weber's ethic of responsibility emerges as a coherent ethical perspective.     

The quest for intimate/sexual citizenship: lived experiences of lesbian and bisexual Muslim women

In recent years, the concept of ‘citizenship’ has increasingly been subjected to critique for its ‘heterosexist’ underpinnings. Indeed, in the case of non-heterosexual Muslims in Europe—particularly women—their quest for legal and cultural citizenship is inextricably linked to that for intimate/sexual citizenship. This paper draws upon a qualitative research project exploring the lived experiences of British lesbian and bisexual Muslim women, as well as the work of support groups such as the Safra Project and Imaan. It argues that, in the mainstream society—where their cultural and religious minority statuses are paramount—lesbian and bisexual Muslim women, like their heterosexual counterparts, have to manage prominent issues such as Islamophobia, racism, and assimilationist government policies that significantly inform their bodily performances and social identities. However, within their own religious and cultural communities, their sexual orientation often undermines their sense of belonging and compels them to ‘queer’ Islam. Their ‘minority within minority’ status underlines their quest for the right to: accurate representation, maintenance of identity/lifestyle, freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation, practice of religious faith in harmony with sexuality, participation in religious/community life; and be different. They achieve this through the ‘queering’ of religious texts and traditions, and grassroots support network. Indeed, their quest for legal and cultural citizenship unites them with fellow Muslims, but their quest for intimate/sexual citizenship, puts them on a collusion course with the majority of Muslims. Their experiences further demonstrate the problematics of multiple belongings in Europe.

Young Muslim Women in France: Cultural and Psychological Adjustments

Even though France has experienced increasing and inevitable feminization in its immigrant population since 1974, research has tended to ignore the role of immigrant women, especially Muslim women, in the migration process. Public attention has been diverted by concern over such relatively marginal issues as the headscarf affair, and insufficient attention has been paid to the important role Muslim women play in France, especially those coming from Algeria. These women function as cultural mediators between the traditional culture of the sending country and the modern one of the host country. They see themselves as both tradition-bearers and integration proponents. The demands of immigration have given rise to the growth and development of different leaders, among them cultural mediators seeking a bridge between Islam and modernity, economic mediators seeking to establish women in the media and as entrepreneurs, and political mediators who seek access to power at the local level for the immigrants. These new mediators will eventually shape a new generation of female actors very far from the traditional countries of origin, although for the time being they still suffer from the inequality of rights for women and chances in their overall social life.     

Introduction: the image of Islam in Russia

ABSTRACT

Russia has a long, complicated and, at times, contradictory relationship with Islam and Muslims. Islam is classified as one of the ‘traditional’ religions, along with Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. Throughout Russia’s history across the centuries, the efforts by the state and Muslims to define their relationship have led to contradictory outcomes. This special issue grew out of a conference that took place in 2016, seeking to explore the complicated nature of the image of Islam in Russia from a multidisciplinary perspective. A collection of six contributions explore how Islam is viewed and projected in the public and media sphere in contemporary Russia, including state attempts to ‘manage’ the development of Islam, initiatives to transform the public image of Muslims and the charitable work of a mosque at the local level.     

穿衣之道:诸子争辩的一个话题

文章讨论先秦诸子关于服饰问题的争论。在儒、道、墨三家特定的服饰背后,包含着一整套的观念系统。穿着本身,成为一种姿态,一种体现其学术宗旨的象征。     

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS: An Update

A survey of developments over the last forty years suggests that little progress has been made in the development of comparative religious ethics as a discipline. While authors working in this field have produced a number of interesting works, the field lacks structure, including an agreement on the basic purpose, terms, and approaches by which contributions may be evaluated as better or worse. I provide an account of this history, suggesting that a way forward will involve marrying ethicists' interest in arguments with close attention to the more and less formal structures by which groups of people organize the giving and taking of reasons.     

Rituals in the Time of COVID-19: Imagination,Responsiveness, and the Human Spirit

Following the format put forth by Imber-Black and Roberts, I examine daily rituals, family traditions, holidays, and life cycle rituals during the pandemic of COVID-19. Marked by symbols capable of carrying multiple meanings, symbolic actions, special time and special place, and newly invented and adapted rituals are illustrated through stories of couples, families, and communities.     

Between critics and caretakers: current introductions to Islam

Among a general abundance of literature on Islam, a number of books by scholars of religion and Islamicists have now found regular use in religious-studies programs. This article examines recent introductions to Islam, written by academics, and distinguishes between introductory books in general and textbooks that share more specific features. All books undergo assessment with respect to such qualities as accessibility, structure, and content. Moreover, two broader approaches come into view: some books seek to counter “misrepresentations” of Islam by extremists and the media and try to present a more sympathetic picture of “true” Islam, while others place a stronger focus on the constructed nature of Islam and follow a more critical approach. The books reviewed thus reflect reactions to current developments and discourses as well as the plurality of academic approaches to the field. Aside from more critical assessments, this article contends that some excellent and useful works introduce newcomers not only to Islam itself, but also to the academic study of Islam and religion more generally.     

Just Wars,Holy Wars,and Jihads,edited by Sohail Hashmi,Oxford University Press: New York, 2012, xvi + 434 pp. ISBN 978 019 975503 5, US$35.00 (paperback)

In recent years, academic interest in the nexus between Pentecostalism, economics, and capitalism has grown significantly. Notably, the vast majority of publications that have addressed this interface are to some degree conceptually framed by Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. In this article I consider what The Protestant Ethic might contribute to our understanding of the relationship between Pentecostalism and capitalism. First, I assess a particularly noteworthy attempt to draw Pentecostalism into Weber's genealogical account which draws a series of parallels between Pentecostalism and ascetic Protestantism. Second, I discuss the merits of an approach that is not primarily genealogical but remains indebted to the concepts that Weber introduces, elaborating a new affinity between Pentecostalism and capitalism in its present iteration. With this article, I seek to comprehensively extend the scope and sharpen the conceptual underpinnings of future analysis and empirical work in this area.     

The Understanding and Creation of Rituals: Enhancing the Life of Older Adults

ABSTRACT

We live in a rapidly changing culture, often with a loss of identity, community, and meaning. Rituals can give us a foundation, that sense of stability we need as we tackle the challenges and opportunities that confront us on a daily basis. Rituals must be grounded in understanding developed through particular attention to the meaning of the aging process in the context of the life span. The purpose of this article is to discuss the meanings of rituals and to present a simple method for creating rituals that can add meaning to the lives of older adults.     

孝意识的时间分析

The reason for the emergence of consciousness of filial piety is that parental care could activate reciprocal filial piety. Parental care and filial piety are two supplementary phenomena caused by the same time consciousness. Phenomenology neglects consciousness of filial piety because it lacks the thinking that sees the fundamental “meaning of time” in the intersection of “past” and “future”. The consciousness of filial piety can only be really constituted by a human being’s personal experience. “Frustrations in personal life” and “breeding of children for oneself” are two occasions for an adult to fight against the separating effect of individualized consciousness and regain awareness of filial piety. Translated by Huang Deyuan from Beijing Daxue Xuebao 北京大学学报 (Journal of Peking University), 2006, (1): 14–24     

Two for the show: Anti-luck and virtue epistemologies in consonance

This essay extends my side of a discussion begun earlier with Duncan Pritchard, the recent author of Epistemic Luck.Pritchard’s work contributes significantly to improving the “diagnostic appeal” of a neo-Moorean philosophical response to radical scepticism. While agreeing with Pritchard in many respects, the paper questions the need for his concession to the sceptic that the neo-Moorean is capable at best of recovering “‘brute’ externalist knowledge”. The paper discusses and directly responds to a dilemma that Pritchard poses for virtue epistemologies (VE). It also takes issue with Pritchard’s “merely safety-based” alternative. Ultimately, however, the criticisms made here of Pritchard’s dilemma and its underlying contrast of “anti-luck” and “virtue” epistemologies are intended to help realize his own aspirations for a better diagnosis of radical scepticism to inform a still better neo-Moorean response.     

Mourning the Dead,Following the Living

In this paper I take up the ambivalence we rightly feel toward leaders by examining the relationship between charismatic authority and moral exemplarity. Drawing on the social theory of Max Weber, and in dialogue with a case study of an anti‐militarism movement called the SOA (School of Americas) Watch, I demonstrate that through a “politics of sacrifice” leaders synchronize their own stories with those of communally recognized exemplars and act in ways that evidence a solidarity in the suffering of those exemplars thereby generating their charismatic authority. While performing crucial strategic, motivational, and pedagogical roles, this charisma also introduces problematic temptations to authoritarianism that short‐circuit the practical reasoning that exemplars supposedly help to form. In the end this leaves our sense of ambivalence intact. What is needed, I argue, are practices of critique that reopen the distance between leader and follower and thus allow the possibility of practical reason.