Practicing Islam

Knowledge, Experience, and Social Navigation in Kyrgyzstan

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Middle East Religions, Islam, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Practicing Islam by David W. Montgomery, University of Pittsburgh Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David W. Montgomery ISBN: 9780822981978
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press Publication: December 16, 2016
Imprint: University of Pittsburgh Press Language: English
Author: David W. Montgomery
ISBN: 9780822981978
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication: December 16, 2016
Imprint: University of Pittsburgh Press
Language: English

David W. Montgomery presents a rich ethnographic study on the practice and meaning of Islamic life in Kyrgyzstan. As he shows, becoming and being a Muslim are based on knowledge acquired from the surrounding environment, enabled through the practice of doing. Through these acts, Islam is imbued in both the individual and the community. To Montgomery, religious practice and lived experience combine to create an ideological space that is shaped by events, opportunities, and potentialities that form the context from which knowing emerges. This acquired knowledge further frames social navigation and political negotiation.
            Through his years of on-the-ground research, Montgomery assembles both an anthropology of knowledge and an anthropology of Islam, demonstrating how individuals make sense of and draw meanings from their environments. He reveals subtle individual interpretations of the religion and how people seek to define themselves and their lives as “good” within their communities and under Islam. 
            Based on numerous in-depth interviews, bolstered by extensive survey and data collection, Montgomery offers the most thorough English-language study to date of Islam in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. His work provides a broad view into the cognitive processes of Central Asian populations that will serve students, researchers, and policymakers alike.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

David W. Montgomery presents a rich ethnographic study on the practice and meaning of Islamic life in Kyrgyzstan. As he shows, becoming and being a Muslim are based on knowledge acquired from the surrounding environment, enabled through the practice of doing. Through these acts, Islam is imbued in both the individual and the community. To Montgomery, religious practice and lived experience combine to create an ideological space that is shaped by events, opportunities, and potentialities that form the context from which knowing emerges. This acquired knowledge further frames social navigation and political negotiation.
            Through his years of on-the-ground research, Montgomery assembles both an anthropology of knowledge and an anthropology of Islam, demonstrating how individuals make sense of and draw meanings from their environments. He reveals subtle individual interpretations of the religion and how people seek to define themselves and their lives as “good” within their communities and under Islam. 
            Based on numerous in-depth interviews, bolstered by extensive survey and data collection, Montgomery offers the most thorough English-language study to date of Islam in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. His work provides a broad view into the cognitive processes of Central Asian populations that will serve students, researchers, and policymakers alike.

More books from University of Pittsburgh Press

Cover of the book A Map of the Lost World by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Anti-Literature by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book James Watt, Chemist by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Designing Resilience by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Authoritarian Russia by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Plasma by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Picturing the Barrio by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Liberty and the Pursuit of Knowledge by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book The Man Who Loved Levittown by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Swans of the Kremlin by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Ambient Rhetoric by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Let's All Die Happy by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book More than Moonshine by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book Historicizing Humans by David W. Montgomery
Cover of the book She Didn't Mean To Do It by David W. Montgomery
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy