Constitutions and Islam: 42nd Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America (AMSS)
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Princeton University, New Jersey
The rise of Islamist parties and politics in the aftermath of the Arab Spring has brought new attention to the issue of Shari’a, and its relevance to governance. And while this attention has focused on how Islamist parties intend to implement provisions in new constitutions in which Shari’a is specified as a source, the issue itself has many precedents. This conference will seek to broaden the scope of debates about recent developments by soliciting papers which address the role of Shari’a not only in the regimes that have emerged post-Arab Spring, but also in other areas and the West.
We invite a diverse range of papers from scholars in the humanities and social sciences that address the following sub-themes:
- Shari’a and the State in Islamic History
- Shari’a as Constitution in Iran and Saudi Arabia
- Constitutional Debates in Turkey
- Shari’a and the Arab Spring: Defining the Revolution in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen
- The Maqasid Debate and the Role of al-Azhar in Egypt
- Women in the Shari’a State: Constitutional Debates and Women in Tunisia and Egypt
- Shari’a Activism in Southeast Asia: Civil Society Islamism in Indonesia and Malaysia
- Islamophobia and Shari’a in the West: Sharia Law in Canada and Europe
- Shari’a Militancy in West and East Africa: al-Shabab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Ansar el-Din in Mali
- Shari’a and Sectarianism in South Asia: Sunni Shi’i Relations in Pakistan
- Shari’a and the Opposition in Central Asia: Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics
Abstracts (250 words) are due by May 15, 2013. Abstracts will be evaluated according to the following categories: originality of theme, clear methodology, clarity and relevance of the proposal to the conference theme, and sound academic scholarship. Final papers must be submitted by August 23, 2013.
Deadlines:
- Abstracts -- 15 May 2013
- Papers -- 23 August 2013
Program Chair: Prof. Sukru Hanioglu (Princeton University)
Cosponsored By: Department of Near Eastern Studies & Program of Near Eastern Studies
Send abstracts and final papers to Director of Academic Affairs, Layla Sein, at conferences@amss.org.