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Showing papers by "Bryan S. Turner published in 2019"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A violent and comprehensive regime transformation following the 15 July 2016 failed coup in Turkey is described in this paper, where emergency policies, new judicial repression strategies and intensifying crackdown are introduced.
Abstract: Turkey has been experiencing a violent and comprehensive regime transformation following the 15 July 2016 failed coup. Emergency policies, new judicial repression strategies and intensifying crackd...

39 citations


MonographDOI
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: The early presidency of Donald Trump has exposed important connections between the president and religion, where he is gaining support for his anti-abortion stand, his pro-Israeli stance and most significantly from "Tender Warriors".
Abstract: [Extract] Religion typically plays a large role in presidential elections in the United States. This religious dimension was obvious in the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney contest, but it was largely absent in the 2016 election campaigns of Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. However, the early presidency of Trump has exposed important connections between the president and religion, where he is gaining support for his anti-abortion stand, his pro-Israeli stance and most significantly from ‘Tender Warriors’ – evangelical Protestants embracing masculinity and traditional notions of the gender divisions. Trump’s overtly masculine persona is an obvious attraction for men who feel dispossessed by Washington, feminism, globalisation and the gay lobby.

11 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine Max Weber's Politics as a Vocation within the broader context of his sociology through an examination of the unintended consequences of action, and present an analysis of Weber's politics as a vocation.
Abstract: The article examines Max Weber’s Politics as a Vocation within the broader context of his sociology through an examination of the unintended consequences of action. This speech, alongside Science a...

9 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The religious borders of Europe, which are more evident and controversial than ever, challenge established forms of political legitimacy and the legal requirements for citizenship as mentioned in this paper, perhaps covertly, perhaps.
Abstract: The religious borders of Europe, which are more evident and controversial than ever, challenge established forms of political legitimacy and the legal requirements for citizenship. Perhaps covertly...

7 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2019-Society
TL;DR: The authors explored the history and deployment of Islamophobia as an advocacy concept and exposes its limitations as scientific description of social reality, and concluded that Islamophobia is a valuable advocacy concept in the public sphere and scholars should keep it there.
Abstract: This article fully recognises the reality and detrimental impact of anti-Muslim sentiment and consequently that 'Islamophobia' describes an important social reality, especially in contexts where Muslims are a minority. However it is critical of ‘Islamophobia’ as a valid concept in the social science. In the sociology of Islam, it actually distorts research by concentrating on Muslims as invariably victims of social forces. This article is a modest proposal to reconsider differences between science and advocacy concepts, thereby recognising their different and distinctive roles in social movements and academic institutions. It is important that those undertaking any scholarly study of detrimental social behaviour motivated by hatred possess valid theoretical and empirical tools to counter false information or distorted views of minorities. To this extent, Islamophobia is a valuable advocacy concept in the public sphere and scholars should aim to keep it there. However, the article explores the history and deployment of Islamophobia as an advocacy concept and exposes its limitations as scientific description of social reality. There are two contrasted conclusions to this critique. The pessimistic view is that all human societies are constructed around social groups that have exclusionary boundaries. Although boundaries are always changing, the inclusion/exclusion dynamic never wholly disappears. Policy efforts enhance cosmopolitan virtues. The optimistic conclusion is that advocacy concepts and scientific practices, while not entirely compatible, are not systematically opposed. Advocacy may have greater effect when it is grounded in reliable facts and tested assumptions. Defending science and critical debate are important in a political climate of ‘fake news’ feeding off negative stereotypes, hate speech and incivility.

6 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how Shari'a is conceptualized and experienced by 50 Muslim legal professionals and leaders in Sydney and New York, and analyze qualitative data on issues concerning the experi...
Abstract: This article explores how Shari‘a is conceptualized and experienced by 50 Muslim legal professionals and leaders in Sydney and New York. It analyses qualitative data on issues concerning the experi...

5 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Mahmood as discussed by the authors described the pious woman (the da’iya) who calls on the community to follow the true path of Islam and called on the faithful to a greater and more comprehensive piety.
Abstract: [Extract] IN HER TRAGICALLY short life, Saba Mahmood (1961–2018) established an international reputation for her critique of conventional secularization theories, her appreciation of religious practices, and her contribution to the so-called “ethical turn” in religious studies. Apart from edited works and numerous articles, she published two major volumes: Politics of Piety. The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (2005; second edition 2012) and Religious Difference in a Secular Age. A Minority Report (2015). Politics of Piety is probably the more celebrated work. It was simultaneously provocative and influential. Based on her ethnographic study of a piety movement in Cairo, it describes the pious woman (the da’iya) who calls on the community to follow the true path of Islam. In modern Islam, these mosque movements call the faithful to a greater and more comprehensive piety. They were politically important in a context where educated scholars and preachers who had been trained in government-administered religious institutions were “no more than state functionaries and bureaucrats” (Mahmood 2012, 64). Against this elite, there emerged the self-trained preacher for whom da’wa (call, invitation, appeal, or summons) was a vocation rather than paid employment.

2 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the case of Weber's brief lecture on "The Profession and Vocation of Politics" (Weber 1994), the centenary publication after 1919 is not the only reason that makes this text of continuing relevance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The ritual celebration of a text after a century is always open to criticism. As Hinnerk Bruhns points out in this Special Issue, these important events become part of a sociological calendar and are built into an academic praxis that from time to time takes one back to these ‘classical texts’ in social and political theory. Yet, in the case of Weber’s brief lecture on ‘The Profession and Vocation of Politics’, as the contemporary translation of Politik als Beruf has it (Weber 1994), the centenary publication after 1919 is not the only reason that makes this text of continuing relevance. In recent years, the world seems to have gone awry. Neo-liberal restrictive policies for welfare systems, the financial and Euro crisis as well as subsequent austerity policies have resulted in rising economic and social inequality. Growing and uncontrolled migration flows, greater cultural and religious diversity and a crisis of traditional identities fuel feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. The deferral of political decisions, so placing them beyond the reach of democratically elected parliaments at European or other intergovernmental levels, restricts citizens’ participation in political processes and stimulates a widespread impression that democracy has become substantially hollowed out. Citizenship is a much contested category of membership. The beneficiaries of this multi-dimensional crisis, referred to in the public arena under the heading of ‘populism’, are above all the political entrepreneurs, who claim to represent ‘the people’ against the elite. While the ‘left-behind’ suffer the consequences of globalization and austerity, those who live off and not for politics know how to exploit the diffuse uncertainty by trading off fear and resentment. Accordingly, they can make political capital out of allegations against ‘corrupt elites’ and the ‘external enemies’ of the nation. At the same time, there are no obvious or practical solutions for the ongoing crises of global warming, economic development, social injustice, migrant integration and the larger creeping crisis of democracy. 851341 JCS0010.1177/1468795X19851341Journal of Classical SociologyEditorial editorial2019

2 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Mahmood as mentioned in this paper argues that while the influence of Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu on her work is obvious, the influence on her key concepts (agency, habitus, practice, and embodiment) has been neglected in the general literature.
Abstract: The article concentrates primarily on Saba Mahmood’s Politics of Piety in order to explore her treatment of agency in women’s piety movements. It argues that, while the influence of Judith Butler and Pierre Bourdieu on her work is obvious, the influence of Aristotle on her key concepts (agency, habitus, practice, and embodiment) has been neglected in the general literature. Aristotle’s treatment of ethics and politics has a natural affinity with Mahmood’s views on politics, religion and the ethical life. In addition, it is well known that Aristotle through numerous translations had an important impact on the Arab world and Islamic philosophy. Particular attention is given to Aristotle’s idea of Eudaimonia or flourishing as the ultimate aim of human activity. Mahmood’s criticisms of Bourdieu give a special emphasis to the importance of training and education in the creation of a pious habitus, and offer an alternative to the blunt determinism of Bourdieu’s ideas about habitus. Finally, Mahmood’s telling criticisms of the secularist assumptions behind the sociology and anthropology of religion were an important, if controversial, element in her understanding of Islam.