Muslims have been shaping the Americas and the Caribbean for more than five hundred years; yet this interplay is frequently overlooked or misconstrued. Brimming with revelations that synthesize area and ethnic studies; Crescent over Another Horizon presents a portrait of Islam’s unity as it evolved through plural formulations of identity; power; and belonging. Offering a Latino American perspective on a wider Islamic world; the editors overturn the conventional perception of Muslim communities in the New World; arguing that their characterization as “minorities†obscures the interplay of ethnicity and religion that continues to foster transnational ties.Bringing together studies of Iberian colonists; enslaved Africans; indentured South Asians; migrant Arabs; and Latino and Latin American converts; the volume captures the power-laden processes at work in religious conversion or resistance. Throughout each analysis—spanning times of inquisition; conquest; repressive nationalism; and anti-terror security protocols—the authors offer innovative frameworks to probe the ways in which racialized Islam has facilitated the building of new national identities while fostering a double-edged marginalization. The subjects of the essays transition from imperialism (with studies of morisco converts to Christianity; West African slave uprisings; and Muslim and Hindu South Asian indentured laborers in Dutch Suriname) to the contemporary Muslim presence in Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Trinidad; completed by a timely examination of the United States; including Muslim communities in “Hispanicized†South Florida and the agency of Latina conversion. The result is a fresh perspective that opens new horizons for a vibrant range of fields.
#3988810 in Books 2012-03-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .54 x 6.00l; .71 #File Name: 1475034210214 pages
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