Abstract
The papers included in this special issue (and the one following) grew outof contributions presented on the panel “Ethnography, Misrepresentationsof Islam, and Advocacy” at the 116th Annual Meeting of the AmericanAnthropological Association (AAA) held in Washington, DC during lateNovember and early December 2017. Meryem Zaman and I, the panelco-organizers, felt motivated to draw upon our expertise as anthropologiststo respond to the widespread attacks on Islam and Muslims by Americanpoliticians, government officials, and media outlets. We called on ourfellow social scientists to draw upon their ethnographic experiences tocorrect misrepresentations of Islam and to advocate for Muslims who areincreasingly threatened by anti-Muslim hate and violence. Robert Hefner,James Edmonds, Alisa Perkins, Yamil Avivi, and Katrina Thompson joinedus as presenters on the AAA panel.Meryem and I were keenly aware that doing ethnography brings researchersinto interpersonal relationships, interactions, and dialogue withMuslims. We participate in protests with Muslim youth, discussions withSufi sheikhs, tea parties with members of Islamic revival movements,multi-religious prayer vigils, advocacy projects with Latina Muslims, masjidfundraisers, and worship with queer Muslims. Moreover, as social scientistswe are trained to carefully consider the ways we represent othersas we write ethnographic reports and vignettes. Equipped with knowledgeand insights gained from their ethnographic experiences, contributors tothese special issues have tried to challenge misrepresentations of Islam and ...
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