A01=Kirsten Wesselhoeft
activists
amid
anchor
Author_Kirsten Wesselhoeft
belonging
building.
Category=JBSR
Category=JH
Category=JHM
Category=QRAM2
civic solidarity
communities
debates
disagreements
dissent
division
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethic
ethnographies
fighting
fraternal critique
French state
insights
islam
purposeful
repression
spark
unity
values
worth
young
Product details
- ISBN 9780226838281
- Weight: 286g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 22 Mar 2025
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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An exploration of ways that discord binds rather than divides communal life, through an ethnography of French Muslim activism.
The conversation about Islam in France is framed by the presumption that Muslim communities are a threat to secular solidarity or fraternité. In the face of state repression, French Muslims have not closed ranks around a narrow range of voices; instead, Kirsten Wesselhoeft finds that young Muslim activists have continued to purposefully spark debate about the values that anchor community life. Wesselhoeft argues that such disagreements, far from dividing communities, actually constitute a form of belonging. Some activists call this ethic “fraternal critique,” and Wesselhoeft finds in it profound insights about the place for critique in civic life. The French state has reacted to Muslim solidarity with repression, but Wesselhoeft argues that unity need not come at the expense of dissent. Instead, fraternal critique can teach us how to build communities that are worth fighting over and fighting for.
The conversation about Islam in France is framed by the presumption that Muslim communities are a threat to secular solidarity or fraternité. In the face of state repression, French Muslims have not closed ranks around a narrow range of voices; instead, Kirsten Wesselhoeft finds that young Muslim activists have continued to purposefully spark debate about the values that anchor community life. Wesselhoeft argues that such disagreements, far from dividing communities, actually constitute a form of belonging. Some activists call this ethic “fraternal critique,” and Wesselhoeft finds in it profound insights about the place for critique in civic life. The French state has reacted to Muslim solidarity with repression, but Wesselhoeft argues that unity need not come at the expense of dissent. Instead, fraternal critique can teach us how to build communities that are worth fighting over and fighting for.
Kirsten Wesselhoeft is associate professor of religion at Vassar College.
