International Summer School in Berlin, 12 - 17 August 2013

                                         

The Muslim presence in Sub-Saharan Africa has a long and varied history. African Muslims have taken part in the making of local social relations and habitats, creating institutions, and relating to other religious groups. They have been and are engaged in different networks, practices, and debates through which they relate to each other, both on the local and the global level. Several Islamic proselytization movements and NGOs have established themselves in Sub-Saharan Africa where their concepts and practices have been challenged and were (re)shaped in encounters with fellow Muslims as well as other (individual and institutional) actors of their respective societies. People, ideas, and materials have traveled within, to, and from Africa, leaving their marks in various forms and contexts. These movements, which have an impact on Muslim identities and practices in the context of globalization and socio-economic transformations, do not go uncontested. Accordingly, attempts for reform have always been an integral part of the Muslim communities and their divergent histories in Sub-Saharan Africa.African Muslims are active members of the global umma. Simultaneously, Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa has been subjected to the ‘African experience’. Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa have grappled with colonialism and post-colonial politics in many different ways. They have become an integral part of or were excluded by the emerging nation states, where they strive for presence or hegemony in the public space. Hence, they have become actively involved in the ongoing transformations of the social, economic, and political spheres, which in turn have profound effects on the various Islamic practices. Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa thus relate to the global umma as well as to the local context, creating a ‘glocalized’ field of religious and socio-cultural practice, which shall be taken into account at the discussions of the summer school.

 

The summer school, organised by the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies and the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies, aims at bringing together scholars from various disciplines and institutions who conduct empirical research on Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa.  

 

Venue: Berlin Graduate School for Muslim Cultures and Societies (BGSMCS)           

Altensteinstr. 48, 14195 Berlin