1. Target
  2. Movies, Music & Books
  3. Books
  4. Non-Fiction

Morality at the Margins - by Sarah Hillewaert (Paperback)

Morality at the Margins - by  Sarah Hillewaert (Paperback)
Store: Target
Last Price: 35.00 USD

Similar Products

Products of same category from the store

All

Product info

<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>What does it mean to be young, modern, and Muslim? Documenting everyday life in Lamu (Kenya), this book explores the mundane practices of behavior and speech that create moral personhood. In elaborating everyday practices of Islamic pluralism, the book shows how Muslim societies critically engage with change while sustaining a sense of integrity and morality.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>This book considers the day-to-day lives of young Muslims on Kenya's island of Lamu, who live simultaneously on the edge and in the center. At the margins of the national and international economy and of Western notions of modernity, Lamu's inhabitants nevertheless find themselves the focus of campaigns against Islamic radicalization and of Western touristic imaginations of the untouched and secluded. <p/>What does it mean to be young, modern, and Muslim here? How are these denominators imagined and enacted in daily encounters? Documenting the everyday lives of Lamu youth, this ethnography explores how young people negotiate cultural, religious, political, and economic expectations through nuanced deployments of language, dress, and bodily comportment. Hillewaert shows how seemingly mundane practices--how young people greet others, how they walk, dress, and talk--can become tactics in the negotiation of moral personhood. <p/><i>Morality at the Margins</i> traces the shifting meanings and potential ambiguities of such everyday signs--and the dangers of their misconstrual. By examining the uncertainties that underwrite projects of self-fashioning, the book highlights how shifting and scalable discourses of tradition, modernity, secularization, nationalism, and religious piety inform changing notions of moral subjectivity. In elaborating everyday practices of Islamic pluralism, the book shows the ways in which Muslim societies critically engage with change while sustaining a sense of integrity and morality.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> From the Back Cover </b></p></br></br><p>"In this gorgeous ethnography, Sarah Hillewaert sketches what it means to be modern in a time of significant transformation. Through elegant prose and well-honed analytical insight, she illustrates how everyday walking, talking, and gesture come to bear on what it means to be a pious and moral young person, both individually and socially. <i>Morality at the Margins</i> offers a vital contribution to localized understandings of Islam, youth, and our changing world."--Shalini Shankar, Northwestern University <p/>"Hillewaert offers a full and rich depiction of social, cultural, and linguistic life in a fast-changing place with a fascinating history. The ethnography is superb, and the focus on youth is especially welcome."--Susan F. Hirsch, George Mason University <p/>"The ethnographic vignettes and dialogues bring the broader points to life, while the author unpacks theoretical concepts with sensitivity to the needs of the reader new to anthropology."--Janet McIntosh, Brandeis University <p/>This book considers the day-to-day lives of young Muslims on Kenya's island of Lamu, who live simultaneously on the edge and in the center. At the margins of the national and international economy and of Western notions of modernity, Lamu's inhabitants nevertheless find themselves the focus of campaigns against Islamic radicalization and of Western touristic imaginations of the untouched and secluded. <p/>What does it mean to be young, modern, and Muslim here? How are these denominators imagined and enacted in daily encounters? Documenting the everyday lives of Lamu youth, this ethnography explores how young people negotiate cultural, religious, political, and economic expectations through nuanced deployments of language, dress, and bodily comportment. Hillewaert shows how seemingly mundane practices--how young people greet others, how they walk, dress, and talk--can become tactics in the negotiation of moral personhood. <p/><i>Morality at the Margins</i> traces the shifting meanings and potential ambiguities of such everyday signs--and the dangers of their misconstrual. By examining the uncertainties that underwrite projects of self-fashioning, Hillewaert shows the unstable and ever-changing ground on which moral subjectivity is built. In elaborating everyday practices of Islamic pluralism, the book shows the ways in which Muslim societies critically engage with change while sustaining a sense of integrity and morality. <p/><b>Sarah Hillewaert</b> is Assistant Professor of Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>Gesturing to the changing nature of social hierarchies in this historic Swahili town, this book opens up an important discussion on the role of language and materiality in both signifying and complicating social inequities in a conservative Muslim society, while also highlighting new expressions of moral belonging among youth in Lamu. Moreover, the <i>heshima</i>, or respect, that Hillewaert shows her host community and interlocutors makes this work a model for ethical engagement with ethnographic research subjects.-- "African Studies Review"<br><br>Hillewaert offers a full and rich depiction of social, cultural, and linguistic life in a fast-changing place with a fascinating history. The ethnography is superb, and the focus on youth is especially welcome.<b>---Susan F. Hirsch, George Mason University, <i></i></b><br><br>Hillewaert's book furnishes a wonderfully detailed and clear ethnographic and linguistic analysis of a town society long of interest to scholars but sorely in need of updated scholarly work.The ethnographic vignettes and dialogues bring the broader points to life, while the author unpacks theoretical concepts with sensitivity to the needs of the reader new to anthropology.<b>---Janet McIntosh, Brandeis University, <i></i></b><br><br>In this gorgeous ethnography, Sarah Hillewaert sketches what it means to be modern in a time of significant transformation. Through elegant prose and well-honed analytical insight, she illustrates how everyday walking, talking, and gesture come to bear on what it means to be a pious and moral young person, both individually and socially. <i>Morality at the Margins</i> offers a vital contribution to localized understandings of Islam, youth, and our changing world.<b>---Shalini Shankar, Northwestern University, <i></i></b><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>Sarah Hillewaert</b> is Assistant Professor of Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto.

Price History