Out of Europe Sequences in knowledge circulation between European social sciences and those of the Muslim worlds. (subproject)

What degree of universality can knowledge about society obtain? What is the potential for  different social theories beeing accepted beyond their context of origin? These are the overarching questions addressed in this project. In order to do so, the project studies the academic practice of sociologists who are involved in the circulation of concepts and theories, starting from given sequences of knowledge circulation between sociologies of various European and Muslim regions (the Arab worlds of Ibn Khaldun, Turkey and Iran, among others). Instead of a history of ideas or of a pure sociology of science approach, this project analyses the intellectual and academic practice of certain theoreticians and the way in which it is inscribed into various social and political, structural and institutional as well as theoretical contexts. This shall lead towards the development of conceptual tools that allow taking into account the articulations between theoretical argumentation, contextual and institutional frameworks and academic practice itself, as well as the relationships between scholars and social actors, such as various political movements.

The chosen sequences refer to circulation between sociologies of various European and Muslim regions: the reception of Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) in the foundational phase of modern European sociology; the reception of the sociological “classics” by Ziya Gökalp (1875-1924) as well as the relationship between this sociologist and national and transnational political movements; finally, the strongly transnational debate around “Islamization of knowledge” (1970s-today). The project concentrates on the circulation of knowledges between European and Muslim regions, taking into account the ways in which the unequal positions of the concerned places and scholars within the international scholarly community affect the circulation of knowledge.