PUBLIC ISLAM AND THE COMMON GOOD

 

Dale F. Eickelman *

Armando Salvatore **

 

The article discusses the historical and contemporary emergence of a sense of an Islamic public in a variety of Muslim majority societies and elsewhere. These manifestations of public Islam facilitate discussions concerning how to define the common good, equitable solutions to collective problems, shifting boundaries of inclusion and exclusion, and practices that encourage the emergence of a public Islam. Compared to notions of public sphere developed within Western social theory, the article shows that the public sphere is no prerogative of Western modern societies nor of democratic political systems. The study demonstrates that also semi-formal and informal articulations of Muslim identities can facilitate the emergence of public, and therefore accountable, forms of Islam.

KEYWORDS: public sphere, civil society, accountability, Islam.

 

 

O ISLÃO PÚBLICO E O BEM COMUM

Este artigo discute a emergência histórica de um sentido de público islâmico em várias sociedades de maioria muçulmana e outras. Estas manifestações de Islão público facilitam as discussões sobre a definição do bem comum, as soluções equitativas para problemas colectivos, a fluidez das fronteiras de inclusão e exclusão e ainda as práticas que encorajam o aparecimento de um Islão público. Comparando com as noções de espaço público desenvolvidas na teoria social ocidental, este artigo mostra que a esfera pública não é exclusiva das sociedades ocidentais modernas nem de sistemas políticos democráticos. O estudo mostra também como articulações formais e semiformais de identidade muçulmana podem facilitar a emergência de formas públicas e portanto socialmente responsabilizáveis de Islão.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: esfera pública, sociedade civil, responsabilidade social, Islão.

 

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

 

REFERENCES

 

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* Dale F. Eickelman

Dartmouth College, USA

dale.f.eickelman@dartmouth.edu

 

** Armando Salvatore

Humboldt University, Berlin

salvatore@fosr.net