Introduction

Abstract

International audienceThis volume explores the ways in which ethnography can create a greater understanding of Islam in particular social contexts. It does so by advancing a pluralistic use of ethnography in research about Islam in anthropology and the other social science disciplines. The contributors have used ethnography to engage with and relate to specific empirical realities in regions around the world. The aim is to show the strength of this approach, despite variations in terms of the object of analysis, the theoretical frameworks or the disciplinary traditions of the researchers. They argue that this approach, which could also be called an epistemology, allows for a more precise and complex understanding of the practices and discourses that constitute social realities constructed and perceived as 'Islamic' by those who live them. Furthermore, the book encourages ethnography in the study of Muslim practices that have seldom been approached in this way