Syed Hussein Alatas and Critical Social Theory

Dustin J. Byrd, Ph.D. (2017), Michigan State University, is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Olivet College. He is the Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Critical Social Theory, and the Editor-in-Chief of Ekpyrosis Press. He has published numerous monographs, edited volumes, and articles on Islam, Critical Theory, and Political Philosophy. His latest books include: The Frankfurt School and the Dialectics of Religion: Translating Critical Faith into Critical Theory (Ekpyrosis Press, 2020), The Critique of Religion and Religion’s Critique: On Dialectical Religiology (Brill, 2020), and Frantz Fanon and Emancipatory Social Theory: A View from the Wretched (Brill, 2020).   Seyed Javad Miri, Ph.D. (2002), Bristol University, is Professor of Sociology and History of Religions at that Institute. He has published more than 61 books and 100+ articles on various issues related to Philosophy, Religion, and Sociology. He is a specialist in Islamic Social Theory, Inter-civilizational Discourse, and Contemporary Islamic Thought. He is also the founder of the journal Islamic Perspective, and serves as the co-director of the Institute for Critical Social Theory.

Acknowledgements


Notes on Contributors


Introduction

Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri


Part 1

Alatas’ Work and Legacy

1 Developing a School of Autonomous Knowledge Thoughts of the Late Syed Hussein Alatas

  Syed Imad Alatas


2 The Midlife of an Idea Syed Hussein Alatas’ Captive Mind after Fifty Years

  Masturah Alatas


Part 2

Theorizing the Captive Mind

3 Alatas on Colonial and Autonomous Knowledge

  Syed Farid Alatas


4 The Psychological Dynamics of Mental Captivity Subsequent Conceptual Developments

  Dustin J. Byrd


5 The Cartography of Reception of ‘The Captive Mind’ in Iran

  Esmaeil Zeiny


6 “The Captive Mind” and Social Sciences in Southeast Asia Syed Hussein Alatas

  Mona Abaza


7 The Captive Mind Syndrome in Indian Sociology

  N. Jayaram


8 Psychological Feudalism Malay Political Culture and Responses towards Modernization

  Norshahril Saat


9 “Irrational” Beliefs in a “Rational” World Religion and Modernization

  Hira Amin


Part 3

Mythologizing and Demythologizing the Native

10 Demythologizing Dominant Discourses Syed Hussein Alatas’ The Myth of the Lazy Native and the Discourse on Malay Cultural Values and Underdevelopment

  Zawawi Ibrahim


11 Syed Hussein Alatas Colonialism and Modernity

  Joseph Alagha and Mostafa Soueid


12 The Invention of “Islam” How (Lazy) Historians and Social Scientists Created a Fantasy

  Carimo Mohomed


Part 4

Alatas and the Socio-political

13 Syed Hussein Alatas and the Question of Intellectuals

  Seyed Javad Miri


14 West-Centric Geopolitical Discourse Situating Syed Hussein Alatas in International Relations

  Sharifah Munirah Alatas


15 Alatas Pioneer in the Study of, and the Struggle against, Corruption

  Chandra Muzaffar


16 Syed Hussein Alatas and the Question of Political Thought

  Teo Lee Ken


17 Contributions of Syed Hussein Alatas towards Global Sociology

  Habibul Haque Khondker


18 East-West Interactions and Complexities Syed Hussein Alatas, Willem Wertheim and Edward Said

  Victor T. King


19 Hidden Connections Syed Hussein Alatas and Latin American Sociology

  João Marcelo E. Maia


Index