Where Did All the Wahhabis Go? The Evolution of Threat in Central Asian Scholarship

Abstract

This essay addresses discursive practices in the literature on Islam in Central Asia and highlights a recent shift from Wahhabism to Salafism as the main ‘non-traditional’ movement perceived to pose a threat. This shift is the result of a postimperial understanding of religious dynamics as well as the standardisation of global security discourses. Relying on a survey of academic journals and Central Asian media that demonstrates a recent sharp increase in the use of ‘Salafism’ rather than ‘Wahhabism’, the essay questions hierarchies of knowledge production and offers solutions to avoid the pitfalls of theoretical instrumentalisation in Central Asian scholarship.