Re-Imagining the Other (eBook)

This volume addresses the conceptualizations of the Other carried out by Western and Muslim societies historically and in contemporary times through empirical case studies.

Salah Basalamah, University of Ottawa, Canada Mahmoud Eid, University of Ottawa, Canada Mohammad R. Ghanoonparvar, the University of Texas at Austin, USA Jack Goody, University of Cambridge, UK John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield, UK Yasmin Jiwani, Concordia University, Canada Karim H. Karim, Carleton University, Canada Nabil Matar, University of Minnesota, USA Richard Rubenstein, George Mason University, USA

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The twenty-first century exploded into the global imagination with unforgettable scenes of death and destruction. An apocalyptic ''clash of civilizations'' seemed to be waged between two old foes - ''the West'' and ''Islam.'' However, the decade-long and ruinous ''war on terror'' has prompted re-assessments of the militaristic approach to Western-Muslim relations. A growing number of academics, policymakers, religious leaders, journalists, and activists view the struggles as resulting from a ''clash of ignorance.'' Re-imagining the Other examines the ways in which knowledge is manipulated by dominant Western and Muslim discourses. Authors from several disciplines study how the two societies have constructed images of each other in historical and contemporary times. The complexities and subtleties of their mutually productive relationship are overshadowed by portrayals of unremitting clash, thus serving as encouragement for the promotion of war and terrorism. The book proposes specific approachesto re-imagine the Other in order to mitigate Western-Muslim conflict.