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This volume adds to the increasingly important debate on religion and modernity and their complex interplay in Muslim-majority societies. Taking up the case of Bangladesh, the discussions are highly topical given the recent upsurges in the country. The volume offers a comprehensive perspective on the changing dynamics of Islamization and secularization processes in Bangladeshi society and deconstructs the binary opposition between religion and secular modernity as inapplicable not just to Bangladesh but also to Muslim societies elsewhere.
The contributors mostly apply anthropological approaches to cover four broad themes: transformation of identity beyond Islamization and secularization; Islamic movements in democratic arena; Islamic culture in public sphere; and beyond polarization of women s liberation and Islamization. They cast light on religion and modernity, identity politics, development, globalization, the digital space, Islamic movements, and gender identity and patriarchal structure in Bangladesh. The incisive analyses of the cases and themes presented here will help readers understand how Islamization intersects with secularization/modernity in Bangladesh, within the broader South Asian sociopolitical context. The volume is of interest to scholars of Bangladesh studies, and historians, anthropologists, feminists, political scientists, and researchers of South Asia. Policy makers and development and non-governmental professionals will also benefit from the issues, cases, and myriad examples incorporated in this volume.
List of contents
Introduction.- Islamization, Secularization, Modernization and the Identity Question.- Beyond Bipolar Opposition and Re-Secularisation and/or Re-Islamisation in Rural Bangladesh.- Sonar pathor bati : Crafting Identity Beyond the binary of Bangalee and Musalman. Belongingness to Bangalee Nationalism: Exploring the Muslimness and Indigenousness in Bangalism.- NGOs and Islam in Bangladesh: Politics of Antagonism.- The Deobandi Tradition and the Politics of Protection of Islam in Bangladesh.- Reconsidering Politics: The Case of the Tablighi Jamaat in Bangladesh.- Post-Islamist Thoughts of the Ulama of Bangladesh.- Post-Shahbag: The Rise of F-Commerce and Transformative Online Islamic Public Sphere in Bangladeshi Digital Space.- Neither Feminist, Nor Islamist: Tablighi Women s Negotiation for Redefining Gender Boundaries in the Religious Sphere.- Gender, Identity, and Making of a Religious Community : Experience of Ahmadiyya Women in Bangladesh.- Epilogue.
