
University of London, and Oxford Center for Islamic Studies
Ahmad, Irfan. 2009. Islamism and Democracy in India: The Transformation of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Princeton University Press.It was short-listed for the International Convention of Asia Scholars (2011) Book Prize for the best study in the field of Social Sciences. The South Asian edition of the book is published by Permanent Black, New Delhi, in the Indian Century Series.The Açilim Kitap, Istanbul, will publish a Turkish edition of Islamism and Democracy in India in 2014.
Currently, Irfan is working on a book manuscript on forms, functions and modalities of critique in Islam in relation to social and cultural theories.
Islamism and Democracy in India has earned a range of detailed reviews in multiple languages (English, French, Hindi, Malayalam and Urdu) in leading anthropological and social science journals as well as semi– and non–academic media. It has also been discussed in blogs, online discussions and other genres. In addition to book-talks, the author also gave a long book-based interview (in English) to People TV, a Malayalam TV channel, as well as to the BBC (Urdu).
“Part of the importance of this book is its deconstruction of the idea that Islamist groups oppose secularism and democracy. …Islamism and Democracy in India addresses some key conceptual and methodological shortcomings in the literature on the subject. …The book should be read by those interested in political Islam not only in the context of international relations and security but also by scholars and students of political anthropology and the study of social movements”.
On 20 August 2010, Monash Asia Institute (MAI), Monash University, the Centre for Islam and the Modern World (CIMOW), Monash University, Centre for Contemporary Muslim Societies (University of Western Sydney), & National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (Melbourne University) jointly organized an evening symposium at Monash University, Caulfield Campus to review Irfan Ahmad’s Islamism and Democracy in India (2009, Princeton University Press) and initiate a conversation with the author. Chaired by Prof. Marika Vicziany, Director of Monash Asia Institute, a panel of distinguished scholars –Prof. Bryan S. Turner (University of Western Sydney & CUNY, New York), Prof. Abdullah Saeed (Melbourne University) and Prof. Gary Bouma (Prof. Emiritus at Monash University and UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations, Asia Pacific) –reviewed the book. The author responded to the panel followed by a discussion with the audience.