Islamic Conversation

The book evaluates on-going ethical conversations to learn how emotional communication is received teachings are internalized and a religious world-view is brought to life. Exploring how religious values saturate peopleâs consciousness to induce subtle shifts in moral and ethical sensibilities this book is about peopleâs practices that illuminate how Islam is lived. Based on fieldwork conducted in Ankara between 2010 and 2016 the study enquires into peopleâs ethical religious and moral motivations through the use of the ethnographic method and thick description. Conversations and interviews with officials community leaders students entrepreneurs professionals and blue-collar workers were subjected to close scrutiny to foreground societal change and churning. To capture perspectives absent or deliberately overlooked in mainstream public discourse and scholarship fieldwork was conducted in locations ranging from homes offices and university dorms to the shrines of saints. In listening closely to how people talk about their religious practices the book addresses the question of how Islamic subjectivities are being forged in Turkey. The study unveils how people are pushed to re-think old practices and attitudes in the process of reinterpreting Islam in light of contemporary concerns. Filling a gap in the literature where micro-level grounded analyses of culture and society are relatively rare this book is a key resource for readers interested in the anthropology of religion and gender ethnography Turkey and the Middle East. . Language: English