Ziauddin Sardar is a prolific writer and an insightful cultural commentator. His latest book, Why Do People Hate America?, has been a regular feature in bestseller lists in several countries. In the UK, he is known as a leading intellectual and his regular contributions to the Observer, the Independent and the New Statesman have brought his writings to a wide audience. As one of our most high-profile Muslim intellectuals, he has also become an increasingly important voice in the media since the events of September 11th 2001. This is the first collection of his writings that offers a comprehensive introduction to his thought. Starting with his analysis of his own position as a British Muslim and a writer, it goes on to explore issues of Islam and cultural change, education, identity, post-modernism and the future. Drawn from a broad range of his work in scholarly journals as well as from his many books on aspects of culture and society, it includes his most frequently cited papers and makes an ideal introduction to the immense scope of his work in cultural studies.Ziaddin Sardar is currently the editor of Third Text and Visiting Professor of Cultural Studies at City University, London. His books for Pluto Press include Postmodernism and the Other and Aliens R Us.
β¦ Table of Contents
Contents......Page 4
Introduction: The Other Futurist......Page 6
I Islam......Page 30
1. Rethinking Islam......Page 32
2. Reconstructing Muslim Civilisation......Page 40
3. Permanence and Change in Islam......Page 53
4. The Shari'ah as a Problem- Solving Methodology......Page 69
5. Islam and Nationalism......Page 86
6. Paper, Printing and Compact Discs: The Making and Unmaking of Islamic Culture......Page 94
7. Reformist Ideas and Muslim Intellectuals: The Demands of the Real World......Page 111
II Postmodernism......Page 124
8. When the Pendulum Comes to Rest......Page 126
9. Walt Disney and the Double Victimisation of Pocahontas......Page 132
10. The Ethical Connection: Christian Muslim Relations in the Postmodern Age......Page 162
11. Total Recall: Aliens, Others and Amnesia in Postmodern Thought......Page 194
12. Bosnia and the Postmodern Embrace of Evil......Page 219
13. Postmodern(ising) Qawwali......Page 224
14. The End of Civilisation?......Page 235
III Other Futures......Page 250
15. The Problem of Futures Studies......Page 252
16. Asian Cultures: Between Programmed and Desired Futures......Page 265
17. Other Futures: Non- Western Cultures in Futures Studies......Page 284
18. Healing the Multiple Wounds: Medicine in a Multicultural Society......Page 304
19. Beyond Development: An Islamic Perspective......Page 317
20. What Chaos? What Coherence? Across the River I Called......Page 338
Ziauddin Sardar: A Working Bibliography......Page 355
Index......Page 367