Islam in the Post-Communist Area - JMMZ178

• Title: Islam in the Post-Communist Area
• Guaranteed by: Department of Russian and East European Studies (23-KRVS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2011 to 2012
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:combined
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 22 / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: prof. PhDr. Emil Aslan, Ph.D.; doc. PhDr. Slavomír Horák, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): prof. PhDr. Emil Aslan, Ph.D.; doc. PhDr. Slavomír Horák, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: HORAKS (17.02.2014)

The aim of the course is to give the students solid knowledge of the history, evolution, and the current situation of Islam as a complex socio-cultural and political phenomenon in the post-Soviet area with emphasis on developments after 1991.

Requirements to the exam

Last update: HORAKS (17.02.2014)

1. The mid-term test consisting of 15 questions is due Week 6. Its aim is to test the students' knowledge of the historical material (basically, readings for lectures 2-5). For the mid-term test, a maximum of 30 points can be obtained.

2. Every student is required to deliver one presentation on a chosen topic during the course. Presentations should be analytical rather than descriptive, demonstrating students' in-depth understanding of the researched topics. Topics are to be picked during Week 3 at the latest. A maximum of 30 points can be obtained for a presentation.

3. The analytical paper is due on May 20th. No later submissions are accepted. The analytical paper, consisting of 2.000 words, tests the students' deep understanding of the studied phenomenon (topics to be discussed with lecturers during Week 6 at the latest) and their ability to perform it in an analytical way. A maximum of 40 points can be obtained for the analytical paper.

 

Evaluation:

at least 60% Grade 3

at least 75% Grade 2

at least 90% Grade 1

Syllabus

Last update: HORAKS (20.02.2014)

Program of the course

 

1.      Introductory seminar (Souleimanov, Horak)

Syllabus of the course

Kemper, Michael: Studying Islam in the Soviet Union. Amsterodam, 2008.

 

2.      Understanding Islam: Introduction to basic terms and concepts (Horak)

Rippin, Andrew: "Muslims. Their religious beliefs and practices". Routledge, London - New York, 2005: 63-148.

Reference reading: Newby, Gordon: "A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam". Oneworld, Oxford, 2004.

 

3.      A history of Islam before and during the Russian Empire (Horak, Souleimanov)

Khalid, Adeeb: "Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus to 1917". In: The New Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge University Press, 2011: 180-202 or Khalid, Adeeb: "Islam After Communism. Religion and Politics in Central Asia". Berkeley - Los Angeles - London: University of California Press, 2007: 19-49 (Chapters 1-2).

Khodorkovsky, Mikhail: "Of Christianity, Enlightment, and Colonialism: Russia in the North Caucasus, 1550-1800," The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 71, No. 2 (1999): 394-430.

Khodorkovsy, Mikhail: "The North Caucasus during Russian Conquests: 1600-1850," The National Council for Eurasian and East European Research Paper(2008). 

 

4.      A history of Islam in the Soviet Union (Horak, Souleimanov)

Atkin, Muriel: "Central Asia and the Caucasus from the First World War". In: The New Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011: 517-541.

Bennigsen, Alexandre, Lemercier-Quelquejay, Chantal: "Muslim Religious Conservatism and Dissent in the USSR", Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 13, No. 1-2 (1979).

 

5.      The Islamic Revival in the post-Soviet period (Horak, Souleimanov)

Khalid, Adeeb: "Islam After Communism. Religion and Politics in Central Asia". University of California Press, Berkeley - Los Angeles - London, 2007: 140-203 (Chapters 6-8).

Boborvnikov, Vladimir: "The Islamic Revival and the National Question in Post-Soviet Dagestan,"  Religion, State and Society, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1996),

Akayev, Vakhit: The Conflict between Traditional Islam and Wahhabism in the North Caucasus: Origins, Dynamics and the Means for its Resolution, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs Research Paper (2008), 

 

 

6.      Mid-term

 

7.      Islam in the post-Soviet Caucasus as a socio-cultural phenomenon (Souleimanov)

Babich, Irina: "Islamic Movements in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s,"  Transcultural Studies, 2-3 (2006-2007): 139-151.

Wiktor-Mach, Dobroslawa: "Competing Islamic Traditions in the North Caucasus," Caucasian Review of International Affairs, Vol. 3, No 1 (2009): 63-69.

Raubisko, Ieva: "Religious ideology and idiosyncratic Islamic practices in post-soviet Chechnya," JASO-Online, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2009): 70-93.

 

8.      Islam in the post-Soviet Caucasus as a political phenomenon  (Souleimanov)

Zelkina, Anna: "Islam and Politics in the North Caucasus," Religion, State, and Society, Vol. 21, No. 1 (1993).

Sagramoso, Domitilla: The Radicalisation of Islamic Salafi "Jamaats" in the North Caucasus : Moving Closer to the Global "Jihadist" Movement? Europe Asia Studies, Vol. 64, No. 3 (2012): 561-595 (EBSCO database).

Souleimanov, Emil: "The Caucasus Emirate": A Genealogy of an Islamist Insurgency," Middle East Policy, Vol. 18, No. 4 (2012).

 

9.      Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia as a socio-cultural phenomenon (Horak)

The traditional way of Central Asian Islam and New challenges? Is Islam in Central Asia political, cultural or social phonomena? Who is Muslim in Central Asia? What kind of Islam people believe in?

Rasanayagam, Johan: Islam in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan. The Morality of Experience", New York: Cambridge University Press,  2011: 96-121 (Jinonice library).

 

Then you choose one the following texts (all texts have to be covered in the class):

Montgomery, David W.: "Namaz, Wishing Trees, and Vodka: The Diversity of Everyday Religious Life in Central Asia". In: Everyday Life in Central Asia. Past and Present (eds. Sahadeo, Jeff - Zanca, Russel). Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2007: 355-370 (available from Jinonice library)

Roberts, Sean R.: "Everyday Negotiations of Islam in Central Asia: Practicing Religion in the Uyghur Neighborhood of Zarya Vostoka in Almaty, Kazakhstan". In: Everyday Life in Central Asia. Past and Present (eds. Sahadeo, Jeff - Zanca, Russel). Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2007: 338-354 (Jinonice library)

Louw, Marienne: "Everyday Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia". Routledge, London, 2007: 62-83 (Jinonice Library)

 

 

10.  Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia as a political phenomenon  (Horak)

Andijon 2005 case. Were there any alternatives of Andijan events? Why western scholars have different approaches? Was the event rooted in the religion, society or politics? Use the different perspective on the event.

 

Olcott, Martha Brill: "In The Whirlwind of Jihad". Carnegie Endowment for Peace. Washington DC - Moscow - Beijing - Beirut - Brussels, 2012: 285-320 (syllabus)

 

Then you choose one the following texts (all texts have to be covered in the class):

Starr, Frederick S.: "Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia". M. E. Sharpe, New York - London, 2011: 296-372 (Jinonice library) or Akiner, Shirin: "Violence in Andijan 13 May 2005: Independent Assessment. Silk Road Paper. 2005.

Sarah Kendzior, "Inventing Akromiya: The Role of Uzbek Propagandists in the Andijon Massacre," Demokratizatsiya, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2006: 545-562 (available from EBSCO) or Uzbekistan: Andijan Uprising. International Crisis Group Report. Asia Briefing No. 38, May 2005.

 

 

11.  Perspectives of Post-Soviet Islam