Muslim Cultures
Islam, Democracy and Public Life in South Africa and France
3-5 September 2007
Wiser – Wits University
The programme entitled ‘Muslim Cultures’ which includes a research seminar on ‘Islam, Democracy and Public Life in South Africa and France’, the projection of a film and a documentary (Samia by Philippe Faucon and The Malawian Kiss by Akiedah Mohamed) as well as the performance of two contemporary choreographies by Compagnie Sybel Ballet Théâtre (Tunis), affected a large public of academics and militants.
The research seminar was the fruit of a joint initiative of Pretoria University Anthropologist Rehana Ebrahim-Vally and IFAS-Research Director Aurelia Wa Kabwe-Segatti. In addition, the seminar was co-ordinated by Eric Germain of the Institut d’étude de l’Islam et des Mondes Musulmans (IISMM) of the EHESS and author of L’Afrique du Sud musulmane (IFAS-Karthala, 2006), by Samadia Sadouni of WISER (Wits Institute for Socio-Economic Research), former doctoral student of the Centre d’Etude d’Afrique Noire of Bordeaux, and by Eric Worby, Director of the Wits School of Social Sciences. The aim of the seminar was to renew the outlook on Muslim cultures through renewed, critical and diversified scientific and cultural approaches and, more specifically, on the daily practices of Islam in Western Europe and Southern Africa.
The seminar followed three main lines, i.e. The Status of Minority Religion: The Case of Islam; Religious Identity, Political Identities: Post-Islamism in question and Transnationalism – “Transreligionism”. As such, papers tackled various issues as diverse as Muslim representations in the media, generational conflicts and the extreme diversity of Muslim communities across continents, as well as the contrasted historicities of Islam in both regions or, still, the way homosexuality or AIDS are dealt with in the Muslim communities under study.
Two evening conferences organised by Prof. Abdulkader Tayob (Muslim Politics in South Africa: The Dominance of the Conservative) and Prof. Marc Gaborieau (CNRS-EHESS) (South Asian Muslim Diasporas and transnational Movements: Tablîghî jamâ’at and Jamâ-at Islâmî) attracted a large public made up essentially of academics, students, journalists and militants from Islamic organisations.
The exchanges created by the programme made it possible to confirm the will and the need to reinforce Franco-South African relations, particularly through the academic exchange of lecturers and students so as to diversify the profile of students working on Muslim societies and communities.