Islam in Europe / Edition 1

by Jack Goody

Overview

This vigorously argued book reveals the central role that Islam has played in European history. Following the movement of people, culture and religion from East to West, Goody breaks down the perceived opposition between Islam and Europe, showing Islam to be a part of Europe's past and present. In an historical analysis of religious warfare and forced migration, Goody examines our understanding of legitimate violence, ethnic cleansing and terrorism. His comparative perspective offers important and illuminating insights into current political problems and conflicts.

Goody traces three routes of Islam into Europe, following the Arab through North Africa, Spain and Mediterranean Europe; the Turk through Greece and the Balkans; and the Mongol through Southern Russia to Poland and Lithuania. Each thrust made its mark on Europe in terms of population and culture. Yet this was not merely a military impact: especially in Spain, but elsewhere too, Europe was substantially modified by this contact. Today it takes the form of some eleven million immigrants, not to speak of the possible incorporation of further millions through Bosnia, Albania and Turkey.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745631936
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	01/26/2004
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.52(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jack Goody is Emeritus William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at St. Johns College, Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Introduction.

1 Past Encounters.

2 Bitter Icons and Ethnic Cleansing.

3 Islam and Terrorism.

4. The Taliban, the Bamiyan and Us — the Islamic Other.

Notes.

References and Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

In seeking to restore a sense of proportion and balance to the image of Islam for his Western readers, Ernst gives proper weight to the layers of mystical humanism, philosophical speculation and hermeneutical flexibility that are no less a part of the Islamic tradition than the legacies of conquest and militancy. He also points out that intolerance and bigotry are far from being the exclusive prerogative of the Western media industries.
—The Times Literary Supplement

Malise Ruthven