Books by Francesco Piraino
Edinburgh University Press, 2024
Sufism, the spiritual, mystical, and esoteric dimension of Islam, is experiencing a renewal in th... more Sufism, the spiritual, mystical, and esoteric dimension of Islam, is experiencing a renewal in the 21st century. Charismatic Sufi masters have been able to revitalise their language, attracting new disciples and going beyond their cultural-geographic framework. This book describes the development of Sufism in Western Europe, particularly in France and Italy, through extended empirical research based on participant observation in four Sufi orders. The author illustrates the different forms of hybridisation between the Islamic-Sufi tradition and Western esoteric discourses, in particular the Guénonian-Traditionalist and the New Age discourse. These hybridisations often involve the creation of new doctrines, rituals, and organizational structures, and produce different universalist discourses, which imply different Sufi politics in Europe, such as a lack of interest due to an imminent eschatology, civic engagement, and metapolitical elitism
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Karthala-IRMC, 2023
Le soufisme, dimension spirituelle, mystique et ésotérique de l’islam, connaît une phase d’expans... more Le soufisme, dimension spirituelle, mystique et ésotérique de l’islam, connaît une phase d’expansion au XXIe siècle, guidé par des maîtres charismatiques qui renouvellent leurs langages, attirent de nouveaux disciples et en franchissent les cadres culturels-géographiques d’origine. Ce livre décrit le développement du soufisme en Europe occidentale, en particulier en France et en Italie, à travers une recherche empirique prolongée fondée sur l’observation participante dans quatre confréries soufies à Paris et à Milan : la ʿAlāwiyya, la Būdshīshiyya, la Naqshbandiyya Ḥaqqāniyya et l’Aḥmadiyya- Idrīsiyya Shādhiliyya. Dans une perspective réflexive en socio-anthropologie des religions, l’auteur montre la tension présente dans le soufisme contemporain entre la scientia experimentalis, la mystique axée sur l’expérience directe du divin autorisant une certaine créativité, et la sacra doctrina, la tradition fondée sur les textes sacrés qui reproduit les structures et l’ordre moral islamiques. Il décrit également les différentes formes d’hybridation entre la tradition islamique-soufie, le discours ésotérique occidental, notamment guénonien-traditionaliste, et le discours new age ; hybridations qui permettent souvent la création de nouveaux rituels, doctrines et structures organisationnelles, et qui donnent lieu à des discours universalistes variés. Enfin, l’ouvrage discute les différentes options politiques du soufisme en Europe, comme le désintérêt dû à une attente eschatologique imminente, l’engagement citoyen et l’élitisme métapolitique.
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Edited Books by Francesco Piraino
Routledge, 2022
Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories contributes to the study of conspiracy culture by ana... more Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories contributes to the study of conspiracy culture by analysing the religious and esoteric dimensions of conspiracy theories.
The book examines both historical and contemporary examples to explore transnational and transhistorical continuities between religious doctrines, eschatologies, and conspiracy theories.
It draws on a broad range of disciplinary insights from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars.
The book has a global focus and features case studies from North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, esotericism, extremism, and religion.
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Routledge, 2021
This book provides a multidisciplinary and comparative look at the contemporary phenomenon of con... more This book provides a multidisciplinary and comparative look at the contemporary phenomenon of conscientious objection or contestation in the name of religion and examines the key issues that emerge in terms of citizenship and democracy. These are analysed by looking at the different ways of challenging or contesting a legal obligation on the grounds of religious beliefs and convictions.
The authors focus on the meaning of conscientious objection which asserts the legitimacy of convictions – in particular religious convictions – in determining the personal or collective relevance of the law and of public action. The book begins by examining the main theoretical issues underlying conscientious objection, exploring the implications of the protection of freedom of conscience, the place of religion in the secular public sphere and the recognition and respect of ethical pluralism in society. It then focuses on the question of exemptions and contestations of civil norms, using a multidisciplinary approach to highlight the multiple and diverse issues surrounding them, as well as the motives behind them.
This book will be of great interest to scholars, specialists and graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are interested in issues of religious diversity. Researchers and policymakers in think-tanks, NGOs and government units will find the volume useful in identifying key issues in understanding the phenomenon of conscientious objection and its implications in managing ethical diversity in contemporary societies.
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Palgrave, 2021
Similarities between esoteric and mystical currents in different religious traditions have long i... more Similarities between esoteric and mystical currents in different religious traditions have long interested scholars. This book takes a new look at the relationship between such currents. It advances a discussion that started with the search for religious essences, archetypes, and universals, from William James to Eranos. The universal categories that resulted from that search were later criticized as essentialist constructions, and questioned by deconstructionists. An alternative explanation was advanced by diffusionists: that there were transfers between different traditions. This book presents empirical case studies of such constructions, and of transfers between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the premodern period, and Judaism, Christianity, and Western esotericism in the modern period. It shows that there were indeed transfers that can be clearly documented, and that there were also indeed constructions, often very imaginative. It also shows that there were many cases that were neither transfers nor constructions, but a mixture of the two.
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Hurst, 2019
Sufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be... more Sufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be. This book brings together the work of fourteen leading experts to explore systematically the key themes of Sufism’s new global presence, from Yemen to Senegal via Chicago and Sweden.
The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba ‘Alawiyya, the ‘Afropolitan’ Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief?
Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both
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Articles by Francesco Piraino
Culture and Religion, 2024
This article discusses Kahina Bahloul’s political and religious engagement and her project to cre... more This article discusses Kahina Bahloul’s political and religious engagement and her project to create the liberal ‘Fatima Mosque’, founded in 2019 in Paris. Bahloul is a complex figure, and her political and religious project touches on several dimensions: she was inspired by Sufi doctrines (Ibn ʿArabi and the ʿAlāwiyya) and Islamic modernist philosophy (Mohammed Arkoun). Furthermore, she advocates for a liberal and secular Islam, proposing radical reform and implying the compliance with secular constraints, the merging of social sciences with Islamic sciences, and the polarisation between liberal Muslims and ‘fundamentalist’ Muslims. This article will show that 1) Sufism is mainly used to justify an individualistic approach to Islam; 2) Bahloul’s epistemological hybridity, based on Islam and social sciences, implies a strong tension between her role as a scholar and as a religious authority; and 3) Bahloul’s reform of Islam is not new or radical. The peculiarity of her political and religious project is her compliance with the whimsical French debate on Islam and laïcité, which implies accepting new bans, the privatisation of Islam, and the polarisation between ‘good Muslims’ and ‘bad Muslims’.
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Mediascapes , 2023
Center for the Study of World Religions-Harvard Divinity School This article describes the artist... more Center for the Study of World Religions-Harvard Divinity School This article describes the artistic production and intellectual and spiritual life of three of the most important artists in the field of comics and graphic novels: Hugo Pratt, Alan Moore, and David B. These artists share a common interest in esotericism: they have participated in esoteric and alternative spirituality groups, and in their artistic works they reproduce esoteric symbols, narratives, and doctrines. Scholars in religious studies have already described the connections between contemporary art and esotericism, arguing that artists are "spiritual seekers" who represent their spiritual quest. This article goes beyond such a perspective by describing how esotericism has changed in contemporary societies and, in particular, within the frame of comics and graphic novels. Esotericism is generally understood as a "rejected", "absolute", and "stigmatised" form of knowledge, characterised by elitism and secrecy. The esotericism of these artists (both in their life and in their artworks) is not "rejected"; on the contrary, it has become mainstream, with bestseller publications and museum exhibitions. Furthermore, it is not "absolute" or "hidden"; rather, it reveals doubt and deconstructs religion and spirituality, sometimes even challenging or mocking them. For these artists, esotericism is a form of "unsettled knowledge", a never-ending quest for transcendence and a means of learning about the unconscious and humankind. It finds its legitimisation in religious texts, revelations, and religious movements, but mainly in the power of storytelling. This article argues that the blurring between reality and narration does not imply a process of disenchantment, nor a "hyper-religion", instead representing another form of spirituality in contemporary societies. Finally, this "unsettled knowledge" is also unsettling for the reader, who is challenged by these artworks and finds in them wondrous, dazzling, and dreamlike experiences.
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Studi Culturali, 2021
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Religion , 2022
Contemporary Sufi orders in Western societies have been often
described as ‘universal’, implying ... more Contemporary Sufi orders in Western societies have been often
described as ‘universal’, implying a conceptualisation of religion
that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. This article
challenges a univocal understanding of universalism, arguing for
a plurality of universalist discourses, which entail different
relations with otherness, practices, organisational structures, and
politics. This article shows the continuities and discontinuities
among different competing universalist discourses present in
contemporary Sufism and Islam, such as Guénonian-
Traditionalism, the New Age, and neo-liberalism. Furthermore, it
describes another universalist discourse which has not been
previously discussed in relation to contemporary Sufism, defined
as ‘Islamic humanism’, which focuses on (1) the anthropo-cosmic
role of the human being, connecting God, nature, and
humankind; (2) a universal truth, which goes beyond religious
and cultural differences, but is inscribed in Islam; (3) a pluralistic
epistemology merging Islamic, natural, and social sciences; and
(4) a sense of responsibility towards society, which implies a
socio-political engagement.
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International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2020
In the first part of this two-part article it was argued that the New Age could be understood as ... more In the first part of this two-part article it was argued that the New Age could be understood as a discourse instead of a movement, a modality of belief, or a set of doctrines. It identified the key elements of this discourse, stressing the differences from other religious discourses, such as esotericism. In the second part of this article, the conceptualization of the New Age as discourse will be applied to the Sufi order Naqshbandiyya-Haqqaniyya in the Italian context. The main aim is to understand how this Sufi order has been influenced by the New Age, shaping its doctrines, rituals, practices and organizational structures. This article will show that the coexistence between the Islamic tradition and the New Age discourse entails internal tensions and ambivalences, coexistence and tensions that are justified and mitigated by the Naqshbandi millennialism. This article challenges the dichotomous conceptualizations of Islamic/non-Islamic contemporary Sufism influenced by the New Age, stressing both its continuities and discontinuities.
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Sociologica, 2021
This article analyses the emergence of a transnational network of Sufis, composed of intellectual... more This article analyses the emergence of a transnational network of Sufis, composed of intellectuals, artists, politicians, and religious authorities, which emerged thanks to the cultural festivals in Morocco and later in France. It will show that the approach adopted by social movement theory is particularly effective in describing this Sufi network, connected by a collective identity and a political-cultural struggle. Unlike other forms of transnational network based on ethnic ties and/or imagined communities, this network focuses on Sufism, conceptualised as a heritage meant for all humankind, addressing both Muslim and non-Muslim publics. This network presents itself as a moralising force capable of tacking Islamophobia, Islamism, and some negative trends in globalisation and Western modernity.
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International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 2020
This article, the first of a two-part discussion, focuses on the influence
of the New Age on cont... more This article, the first of a two-part discussion, focuses on the influence
of the New Age on contemporary Sufism. It will consider the main definitions
of the New Age and how they have been applied in relation to
contemporary Sufism. After having shown the limits of these definitions
and applications, it will propose an alternative reading, considering the
New Age not as a movement or a cultural phenomenon, but as a discourse.
This will allow us to better connect doctrines with practices and
organizational structures, and to grasp the continuities and discontinuities
between esoteric and New Age discourses.
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Correspondances 7, no. 1: 239–276, 2019
In this article I will analyse the Sufi order Aḥmadiyya-Idrīsiyya Shādhiliyya based in Milan, est... more In this article I will analyse the Sufi order Aḥmadiyya-Idrīsiyya Shādhiliyya based in Milan, established by Abd al-Wahid Pallavicini in the 1980s. This is one of the most important Sufi orders in Italy, and it is engaged in interreligious dialogue activities and institutional relations with Italian political actors. I will argue that this Sufi order has experienced a process of esotericisation, “Western”-style, in the sense that: 1) it was shaped by the “forms of thought” of the French esotericist René Guénon; 2) following Hanegraaff’s and von Stuckrad’s definitions, it embodies both a rejected
and an absolute knowledge; and 3) it is characterised by a sectarian organisational structure, which has distanced it from other Islamic communities. Starting from the 2010s, this Sufi order has been living through a process of “de-esotericisation,” following the same sense outlined before, in that the absolute knowledge is gradually opening up to other forms of esoteric knowledge and the sectarian dimensions are gradually fading, allowing a dialogue with other Islamic communities.
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Journal for Islamic Studies, Vol. 37, 120-144, 2018
In this article, we show how Islamic traditions interact with queer practices and identities. By ... more In this article, we show how Islamic traditions interact with queer practices and identities. By presenting the example of The Inner Circle, a Muslim queer association in Cape Town, and the figure of its leading Imam, Muhsin Hendricks, we argue the need to overcome the separation between the Islamic tradition and queer rights and struggles. Drawing from empirical data, and focusing on Imam Hendricks' approach to queer issues as being non-normative, bottom-up, and inclusive, we present an example of an intersectional approach, which illustrates one way of breaking the triangulation between Muslim queerphobia, homocolonialism, and Islamophobia. The Inner Circle is the product of South African Islam, it is multicultural and multi-ethnic, and is shaped by the apartheid struggle and its claims for social justice. At the same time, we will argue how this association is also the expression of a globalised Islam.
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Social Compass, 2019
Cet article se veut être une analyse de la politique de la confrérie soufie Qādiriyya
Būdshīshiyy... more Cet article se veut être une analyse de la politique de la confrérie soufie Qādiriyya
Būdshīshiyya dans le contexte français. Les activités culturelles de cette confrérie
installée à Paris, et les activités de certains disciples et personnalités publiques comme
le rappeur Abd Al Malik et la sénatrice Bariza Khiari sont ici analysées. Ces activités
peuvent être décrites comme une forme d’engagement post-islamiste à la manière d’Asef
Bayat. En effet, les valeurs démocratiques, appréhendées à la fois comme l’acceptation
des diversités religieuses, ethniques et culturelles, et la participation communautaire
dans la régulation du vivre ensemble, sont non seulement acceptées, mais sont surtout
considérées comme intrinsèquement islamiques. Cet article remet ainsi en question le
stéréotype d’un soufisme européen considéré comme radicalement privatisé, et n’ayant
aucune incidence dans la sphère publique.
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Religiologiques, 2016
Résumé : René Guénon est l’un des penseurs les plus importants de l’ésotérisme européen. Il a con... more Résumé : René Guénon est l’un des penseurs les plus importants de l’ésotérisme européen. Il a contribué à faire connaître le soufisme en Occident et a favorisé la conversion de beaucoup d’Européens. Cet article vise à décrire son héritage intellectuel et spirituel dans le soufisme européen contemporain. L’héritage de Guénon est décrit à travers des types idéaux élaborés à partir d’une enquête de terrain réalisée auprès des confréries soufies les plus importantes de France et d’Italie. La figure de Guénon, qui date du XXIe siècle, occupe une place centrale chez beaucoup d’adeptes d’origine musulmane, bien que le penseur ait perdu ses dimensions les plus apocalyptiques. Sa critique de la modernité change, quant à elle, de forme et se fait plus symbolique. L’oeuvre de Guénon devient une orientation intellectuelle, un vadémécum pour la quête spirituelle.
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«Religioni e Società» · xxvi · 71 · Settembre-Dicembre 2011
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Critical Research on Religion, Jun 2015
Despite the secularization process, popular religion in modern or post-modern societies still ret... more Despite the secularization process, popular religion in modern or post-modern societies still retains a central role. In this article, we analyze the worship of Santa Rosalia and Mamma Schiavona. The former is worshiped by Romani and Tamil people; the latter, the Mary of Montevergine Sanctuary, is also venerated by groups of homosexuals and transsexuals. The reworking of religious categories made by these subaltern groups reminds us of the dynamic nature of Catholicism, which changes thanks to continuous contact with external and internal elements. Through Gramsci’s interpretation of popular religion as a symbolic instrument of social recognition and affirmation in opposition to the hegemonic culture, we demonstrate that popular religion plays a central social role in the construction of worldviews, sometimes in contrast with the hegemonic culture, not only as an affirmation of a different identity but as an affirmation of presence.
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Books by Francesco Piraino
Edited Books by Francesco Piraino
The book examines both historical and contemporary examples to explore transnational and transhistorical continuities between religious doctrines, eschatologies, and conspiracy theories.
It draws on a broad range of disciplinary insights from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars.
The book has a global focus and features case studies from North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, esotericism, extremism, and religion.
The authors focus on the meaning of conscientious objection which asserts the legitimacy of convictions – in particular religious convictions – in determining the personal or collective relevance of the law and of public action. The book begins by examining the main theoretical issues underlying conscientious objection, exploring the implications of the protection of freedom of conscience, the place of religion in the secular public sphere and the recognition and respect of ethical pluralism in society. It then focuses on the question of exemptions and contestations of civil norms, using a multidisciplinary approach to highlight the multiple and diverse issues surrounding them, as well as the motives behind them.
This book will be of great interest to scholars, specialists and graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are interested in issues of religious diversity. Researchers and policymakers in think-tanks, NGOs and government units will find the volume useful in identifying key issues in understanding the phenomenon of conscientious objection and its implications in managing ethical diversity in contemporary societies.
The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba ‘Alawiyya, the ‘Afropolitan’ Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief?
Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both
Articles by Francesco Piraino
described as ‘universal’, implying a conceptualisation of religion
that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. This article
challenges a univocal understanding of universalism, arguing for
a plurality of universalist discourses, which entail different
relations with otherness, practices, organisational structures, and
politics. This article shows the continuities and discontinuities
among different competing universalist discourses present in
contemporary Sufism and Islam, such as Guénonian-
Traditionalism, the New Age, and neo-liberalism. Furthermore, it
describes another universalist discourse which has not been
previously discussed in relation to contemporary Sufism, defined
as ‘Islamic humanism’, which focuses on (1) the anthropo-cosmic
role of the human being, connecting God, nature, and
humankind; (2) a universal truth, which goes beyond religious
and cultural differences, but is inscribed in Islam; (3) a pluralistic
epistemology merging Islamic, natural, and social sciences; and
(4) a sense of responsibility towards society, which implies a
socio-political engagement.
of the New Age on contemporary Sufism. It will consider the main definitions
of the New Age and how they have been applied in relation to
contemporary Sufism. After having shown the limits of these definitions
and applications, it will propose an alternative reading, considering the
New Age not as a movement or a cultural phenomenon, but as a discourse.
This will allow us to better connect doctrines with practices and
organizational structures, and to grasp the continuities and discontinuities
between esoteric and New Age discourses.
and an absolute knowledge; and 3) it is characterised by a sectarian organisational structure, which has distanced it from other Islamic communities. Starting from the 2010s, this Sufi order has been living through a process of “de-esotericisation,” following the same sense outlined before, in that the absolute knowledge is gradually opening up to other forms of esoteric knowledge and the sectarian dimensions are gradually fading, allowing a dialogue with other Islamic communities.
Būdshīshiyya dans le contexte français. Les activités culturelles de cette confrérie
installée à Paris, et les activités de certains disciples et personnalités publiques comme
le rappeur Abd Al Malik et la sénatrice Bariza Khiari sont ici analysées. Ces activités
peuvent être décrites comme une forme d’engagement post-islamiste à la manière d’Asef
Bayat. En effet, les valeurs démocratiques, appréhendées à la fois comme l’acceptation
des diversités religieuses, ethniques et culturelles, et la participation communautaire
dans la régulation du vivre ensemble, sont non seulement acceptées, mais sont surtout
considérées comme intrinsèquement islamiques. Cet article remet ainsi en question le
stéréotype d’un soufisme européen considéré comme radicalement privatisé, et n’ayant
aucune incidence dans la sphère publique.
The book examines both historical and contemporary examples to explore transnational and transhistorical continuities between religious doctrines, eschatologies, and conspiracy theories.
It draws on a broad range of disciplinary insights from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars.
The book has a global focus and features case studies from North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, esotericism, extremism, and religion.
The authors focus on the meaning of conscientious objection which asserts the legitimacy of convictions – in particular religious convictions – in determining the personal or collective relevance of the law and of public action. The book begins by examining the main theoretical issues underlying conscientious objection, exploring the implications of the protection of freedom of conscience, the place of religion in the secular public sphere and the recognition and respect of ethical pluralism in society. It then focuses on the question of exemptions and contestations of civil norms, using a multidisciplinary approach to highlight the multiple and diverse issues surrounding them, as well as the motives behind them.
This book will be of great interest to scholars, specialists and graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are interested in issues of religious diversity. Researchers and policymakers in think-tanks, NGOs and government units will find the volume useful in identifying key issues in understanding the phenomenon of conscientious objection and its implications in managing ethical diversity in contemporary societies.
The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba ‘Alawiyya, the ‘Afropolitan’ Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief?
Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both
described as ‘universal’, implying a conceptualisation of religion
that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. This article
challenges a univocal understanding of universalism, arguing for
a plurality of universalist discourses, which entail different
relations with otherness, practices, organisational structures, and
politics. This article shows the continuities and discontinuities
among different competing universalist discourses present in
contemporary Sufism and Islam, such as Guénonian-
Traditionalism, the New Age, and neo-liberalism. Furthermore, it
describes another universalist discourse which has not been
previously discussed in relation to contemporary Sufism, defined
as ‘Islamic humanism’, which focuses on (1) the anthropo-cosmic
role of the human being, connecting God, nature, and
humankind; (2) a universal truth, which goes beyond religious
and cultural differences, but is inscribed in Islam; (3) a pluralistic
epistemology merging Islamic, natural, and social sciences; and
(4) a sense of responsibility towards society, which implies a
socio-political engagement.
of the New Age on contemporary Sufism. It will consider the main definitions
of the New Age and how they have been applied in relation to
contemporary Sufism. After having shown the limits of these definitions
and applications, it will propose an alternative reading, considering the
New Age not as a movement or a cultural phenomenon, but as a discourse.
This will allow us to better connect doctrines with practices and
organizational structures, and to grasp the continuities and discontinuities
between esoteric and New Age discourses.
and an absolute knowledge; and 3) it is characterised by a sectarian organisational structure, which has distanced it from other Islamic communities. Starting from the 2010s, this Sufi order has been living through a process of “de-esotericisation,” following the same sense outlined before, in that the absolute knowledge is gradually opening up to other forms of esoteric knowledge and the sectarian dimensions are gradually fading, allowing a dialogue with other Islamic communities.
Būdshīshiyya dans le contexte français. Les activités culturelles de cette confrérie
installée à Paris, et les activités de certains disciples et personnalités publiques comme
le rappeur Abd Al Malik et la sénatrice Bariza Khiari sont ici analysées. Ces activités
peuvent être décrites comme une forme d’engagement post-islamiste à la manière d’Asef
Bayat. En effet, les valeurs démocratiques, appréhendées à la fois comme l’acceptation
des diversités religieuses, ethniques et culturelles, et la participation communautaire
dans la régulation du vivre ensemble, sont non seulement acceptées, mais sont surtout
considérées comme intrinsèquement islamiques. Cet article remet ainsi en question le
stéréotype d’un soufisme européen considéré comme radicalement privatisé, et n’ayant
aucune incidence dans la sphère publique.
throughout Western societies. The internet is one of the most important vehicles of
this diffusion. This article first describes the use of the internet in four European Sufi
orders, underlining how the internet: (1) is an instrument of promotion, information
and knowledge about Islam and Sufism; (2) reduces the distance between disciples and
Masters; (3) is a digital space where religious experiences are reaffirmed, not lived.
The second section of the article concerns the Naqshbandi Haqqani case, which is
completely different from the other orders studied. For some Naqshbandi disciples,
the internet is also a place in which to practise religion through rituals, prayer requests,
initiation and religious experiences. Through an analysis of this particular use of the
internet, the author explores the transformation of European Sufism both in the frame
of post-modern religiosity and in the frame of transnationalism.
The event is organized jointly by Fondazione Giorgio Cini (Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Spiritualities), DFG-funded Center for Advanced Studies “Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective” (CAS-E) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, and the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP).
The event will be enriched by a Piano Concert organized by the Institute of Music.
In this international, cross-disciplinary conference, we aim to investigate the literary, philosophical, anthropological, and political aspects of an ecological rematerialisation of religions and spiritualities, in dialogue with the ever-growing academic production related to the connection between religious thinking and environmental praxis.
The meetings brought together some of the most stimulating minds of the day to discuss topics such as spirituality, mysticism, myth and symbolism, with the aim of opposing what was perceived as an inexorable secularisation. The focus of the conference will be on the legacy of Eranos in the social sciences, humanities and the performing and figurative arts (music, dance, theatre and painting).
Global Sufi leaders and public figures, both in Europe and North Africa, are promoting a debate on religious and social gender norms, emphasising the importance of both religious freedom and adherence to Islamic values. These Sufi leaders do not impose a specific perspective. In fact, liberal and conservative, and secular and religious positions coexist in the debate involving veiled
and unveiled women, feminists and non-feminists. The study day will explore the boundaries between the secular and the religious by raising issues such as: how do Sufi women worldwide conceptualise freedom and adherence to Islamic values? How do they embody Islamic values and norms?
The event has been organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari University, Venice
Curators:
Francesco Piraino (Ca’ Foscari University)
Feyza Burak-Adli (Northwestern University)
M. Shobhana Xavier (Queen’s University)
The symposium is curated and organized by the Center for Comparative Studies of Civilization and Spiritualities, directed by Francesco Piraino, in collaboration with Joep Leerssen and Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam).
On the one hand, a prominent trend in ecocriticism – the so-called “material turn” – seems to exclude possible interactions with religious and spiritual approaches to the environment. On the other hand, spirits as much as stories can be seen as coming to matter – as Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann (2014) as well as Kate Rigby (2014) have convincingly argued. That is to say, materiality should be interpreted as an entanglement of interconnected human and more-than-human agencies and discourses, between and through which some kind of affectivity, or vitality, or indeed spirituality, freely moves. In this view, even a subjective mystical experience is part of a material interaction. Not by chance, the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all (material) things and events is central in many spiritual traditions. The ultimate, indivisible reality manifested in all things, and of which all things are parts, is variously referred to as Brahman in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in certain Mahāyāna texts of Buddhism, and Tao in Taoism. Even in European Christianity, especially in Francis of Assisi and in Thomas Aquinas’ theology, God is present everywhere in everything. Similarly, Islam and Judaism celebrates the sacredness of all created things. Moreover, the spiritual dimension of material ecocriticism resonates with a number of Indigenous peoples' cultural narratives. The interconnectedness of all things is only one among many concepts that, arising from different and yet comparable religious traditions, bears the potential for a fruitful understanding of humanity’s relationship with the more-than-human worlds – together with the notion of kenosis (i.e. ‘emptying’ of self), cross-species gratitude, benevolence, compassion, and harmlessness, to name but a few. Finally, in the last few years there has been a rising interconnection between religion and ecology, in both institutional religions
(e.g. the Catholic Laudato Sì) and alternative religious movements (e.g. the new phenomenon of Ecospirituality) (Becci 2021).
In this international, cross-disciplinary conference, we aim to investigate the literary, philosophical, anthropological, and political aspects of an ecological rematerialisation of religions and spiritualities, in dialogue with the ever-growing academic production related to the connection between religious thinking and environmental praxis (Jones 2005; Taylor and Kaplan 2005; Lodge and Hamlin 2006; Jenkins 2010; Bellarsi 2011; Runehov and Oviedo 2013; Grim and Tucker 2014; Armstrong 2022).
The osmosis between esoteric/occult and artistic discourse, which scholars have termed “occulture”, has mainly been studied from a national perspective and drawing upon case studies from the last 60 years. Such lack of comparative knowledge and studies is somewhat surprising if one takes into account the impact of esoteric and occult materials from a wider “South” (including not only Southern Europe, but also Northern Africa and the Mediterranean Basin) that has made its way in Northern Europe since at least the end of the 19th century, focusing, but not limited to, Sufism, Egyptosophy and Freemasonry, or, conversely, about the continuous forms of inspiration that Nordic alternative spirituality has had on artistic production in Southern Europe (e.g. with the proliferation of Nordic paganism in occultural discourse). The proposed conference aims at filling this scholarly gap, open up avenues of research and discussing new ways of approaching and conceptualizing occultural phenomena with a North-South perspective as a starting point. We understand “North” and “South” as including, respectively, the Nordic, Baltic, German and English-speaking countries in Europe, and Southern European, Mediterranean, and African countries/areas.
Inspired by the EU funded project “Invisible Lines” we invite participants to investigate different aspects of the invisible in comics culture, as a complex notion that can offer a fresh perspective around what is seen and what is not seen – and the motivations behind these absences – within the historical and/or contemporary traditions of the ninth art. We welcome submissions that explore the invisible in comics and illustration, stemming from every tradition of comics culture as well as in cultural, media, art theory that deals with ninth art and sequential narratives.
This entangled relationship warrants a fresh focus on the relationship between nationalism and religion, which remains relatively inconspicuous in the field of nationalist studies. This conference aims at bringing together scholars coming from different disciplines who are interested in this relationship. We would like to have papers focusing on the modern and contemporary period from a global perspective, but we would also welcome contributions on earlier periods that would problematise modernist concepts of nationalism.
This conference Religious dimensions of nationalism: Interdisciplinary perspectives, orgnised by Centro Studi di Civiltà e Spiritualità Comparate in collaboration with Joep Leersesen and Marco Pasi (Università di Amsterdam), aims at bringing together scholars coming from different disciplines who are interested in this relationship.
Fondazione Giorgio Cini, with this conference, aims to gather researchers from around the world to develop reflections on Sufism and Islamic spirituality in contemporary societies, in its ethical, philosophical, theological, social, and political manifestations.
The themes of the conference (which you will find in detail in the call for papers) are: 1) the cultural and social politics of contemporary Sufism, 2) the reconfigurations of Sufi identities, 3) a reflection on the categories used: what do Sufism, mysticism, and esotericism mean?
The applicant awarded the Utopia, Art, and Spirituality grant will have the opportunity to spend two months at Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice and two months at the Hotel Ascona (including boarding) – Archivio Luigi Pericle.
Deadline: 15 February 2024
Sufism and Politics in Morocco, Activism and Dissent. New York”,
In the West, Ibn ʿArabī appears today as a central reference in contemporary debates concerning Islamic spirituality, and his thought is one of the main sources of inspiration of the proponents of various creative adaptations of traditional Sufism in contemporary societies, ranging from the most conservative forms to openly New Age and syncretic movements (Morris 1986; Sedgwick 2017).
This special issue aims to explore and analyze contemporary cases of the use of Ibn ʿArabī’s thought, and to shed light on the motivations, dynamics and methods underlying its interpretations.
We invite scholars from all backgrounds in the humanities and social sciences, as well as social and political actors and artists, to propose contributions focusing on Ibn ʿArabī in connection with one or more of the following topics:
– Sufism, Sufi institutions, and the spiritual path
– Theology, metaphysics, and epistemology
– Anthropology, cosmology, and world vision
– Normativity, Islamic law, and rituals
– Ethics, ecology, and politics
– Social issues, gender, and diversity
– Art, media, and creativity
This Call for articles invites contributions that discuss case studies and answer some of the following questions:
– Can Zoroastrian esotericism exist as a field of research?
– Are geographical or cultural criteria sufficient to define its boundaries?
– In the light of the constituting characteristics of the old Iranian religion, is Zoroastrian esotericism to be intended as a dimension of religious scriptures and beliefs, of their performative aspect or of some other dimension?
– How do Zoroastrian dualism, ethnicity and purity inform the esoteric? How have Persianate, South Asian, Western, and Global esoteric currents shaped Zoroastrianism?
– To what extent do the esoteric dimensions of Zoroastrianism draw upon and/or contribute to the theoretical framework of an esotericism beyond the West?
– Interdisciplinary methods of investigation are encouraged together with an emphasis on emic categories of the esoteric.
This Special Issue aims at orienting the scholarly debate towards the assessment of Zoroastrian esotericism as a field of research in its own right.
sm and spirituality beyond the borders of the Western frame by
examining the interplay between Zoroastrianism and esotericism.
For many years, esotericism has been considered as a Western phe-
nomenon diffused globally in the modern era.1 In the last decade, this
perspective has been challenged by global historical and postcolonial
approaches2 and by the growth of research on esotericism beyond the
West: in the Afro-American,3 South American,4 South Asian,5 and
Islamic contexts.6
This largely artificial separation was due to several factors. One
was the lack of a global and postcolonial perspective in the study
of esotericism which limited the focus to Europe, downplaying the
crucial role of Non-Western actors in the development of their glo-
bal interlocutors and counterparts as did the Theosophical Society and
Aleister Crowley.7 Another reason was probably the construction of
knowledge in area studies, such as Zoroastrian studies, mainly focused
on religious institutions with a text-based approach, which might have
backgrounded more porous and hybridised phenomena such as spiri-
tuality, esotericism, and mysticism.
With this special issue, we do not intend to offer definitive defini-
tions of Zoroastrianism or esotericism, but to explore two intertwined
readings. On the one hand, describing the cultural transfers between
global esoteric actors and Zoroastrianism, our authors studied the ne-
gotiations and appropriations, but also re-imaginations (see the articles
of Rose, Eckerström, and Tessmann, and the heterography).8 On the
other hand, Zoroastrianism can be read through the lenses of esoteric
studies (see the articles of Errichiello, Panaino, and Maurer). Both the-
se readings imply a significant effort of transability among disciplines
(philology, history, socio-anthropology) and among cultures and lan-
guages. This is important because it contributes to challenging our re-
adymade narratives about modernity, society, East-West binaries, whi-
ch limit our understandings of said phenomena.9 This epistemological
and methodological dialogue is precisely at the heart of the Centre of
Comparative Studies of Civilizations and Spiritualties and its journal
Religiographies