JPG1816H: Geographies of Secularism and Islam

Secularism is a key principle of Western modernity and an epistemic framework that shapes our understanding of the political legitimacy of bodies, spaces, nations, and borders in the contemporary world. While rooted in the social and political legacies of Enlightenment philosophy, secularism has become more contested in relation to the heightened visibility of Islam, Muslim identities, and cultural practices in the second half of the 20th century. In this course, we critically explore the geographies of secularism and the key debates around concepts of secularity, religion and secularization from feminist, post-colonial and anti-capitalist perspectives with a focus on Islam and the Islamic world. Starting with the genealogy of secularism rooted in Western colonialism, we will explore the currency and spatiality of 'religious' and 'secular' in relation to Muslim identities and cultural practices in Muslim majority contexts and in the cities of the Global North.

0.50
St. George