01: Muslim Networks: From Hajj to Hip Hop (University of North Carolina Press, $21.50) edited by Miriam Cooke and Bruce B. Lawrence, examines how Islam is flourishing under the process of globalization.
The book’s editors argue that Muslims have both historically and in contemporary times formed networks with each other on a transnational basis, often conflicting with the nation state. Thus the “postmodern” stress on networks and multiple identities, especially with the advent of the Internet, is seen as essential in understanding the decentralized nature of Islam today.
Noteworthy developments discussed by contributors include: how the Islamic women’s magazine, Azizah, is forming a global, multiethnic network of feminist and professional Muslims; the mystical Sufi Muslims’ expansion on the Internet, even as they are conflicted about displaying their esoteric teachings in public; how Salafi Muslims of both extremist and reformist camps are often embedded in common networks, though employing different tactics; the various ways Muslims have confronted each other and presented themselves to the public on the Internet after 9/11; and the new connections being formed between the second generation of immigrant Muslims and African-American Muslims through Hip Hop culture .