The abolition of the Caliphate in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal in Turkey ruptured the 1400-year relationship between Islam and political authority. The Turkish Republic instituted a distinct political project anchored in the dislocation of Islam from the centre of social and political life, and the construction of a new order interweaving nationalism, secularism, modernisation, and Westernisation as its hallmarks. We deploy Kemalism as a concept to identify motley political projects across Muslimistan that emerged after the Caliphate’s abolition and sought to disrupt the imbrication of Islam and politics.

Whilst Kemalism has been studied at length, attention has focused primarily on the Turkish Republic as its exemplar. In those instances when inquiry has moved beyond Turkey, it has remained confined to the “Middle East North Africa” (MENA) region, and, furthermore, has assumed a nationalist frame of reference. Consequently, the transnational dimension of Kemalism has remained underresearched. In convening the workshop, we propose to move beyond existing historiographies of Muslimistan (Islamdom) in the post-Caliphal period that reproduce the Eurocentrism of the Westphalian template.

Panelists and Discussants

Ovamir Anjum, University of Toledo

Mukhtar Umar Bunza, Usmanu Danfodiyo University

Sandra Ahmed Shaaban, In Haldun University

Salman Sayyid, University of Leeds

AbdoolKarim Vakil, King’s College London

Ali Kaya, Istanbul University

Waqas Sajjad, University of Management and Technology

Shehla Khan, University of Derby

Jasmine K. Gani, University of St Andrews

Omar Anas, Ankara Yildirm Beyazit University

Debangana Chatterjee, JAIN University

Mohammed Alrmizan, City, University of London

Md. Ashraf Aziz Ishrak Fahim, Mahidol University

Basit Iqbal, McMaster University

Vorachai Israsena-Pichitkanjanakul, Qatar University

Ehsan Shahwahid, Independent Researcher

Sümeyye Sakarya, University of Leeds

Alia Amir, Mid Sweden University