The Modern Muslim Subjectivities Project (MMSP) provides the joint framework for a number of collective and individual research projects that have been conducted at the Centre for Contemporary Middle East Studies since 2013.
MMSP takes its point of departure in cultural theories about the construction of modern forms of subjectivity and applies them to the history of the modern Muslim world. In theoretical terms, the common denominator of the project is considering research on the construction of modern subjectivities first and foremost as an analytical strategy to address some of the most pertinent questions of humanistic research epitomized in the dichotomy between individual (micro level) and society (macro level).
Moreover, studying modern Muslim subjectivities makes an important contribution to the ongoing discussion on the concept of multiple modernities. From this theoretical vantage point MMSP poses two interrelated general questions: Are forms of modern Muslim subjectivities fundamentally different from so-called Western subjectivities? Or do they both rather represent historical variations on a common theme? The project addresses these questions in defining the modern Muslim world as an integral part of global society, combining case studies of Muslim majority regions with the analysis of Muslim minority communities in Europe and the Americas in a comparative perspective.
- MMSP has received funding from the Danish Council for Independent Research in the Humanities for the project “Modernities, Subjectivities and Islamic Traditions: Religion and the Good Life in the Modern Muslim World” (5.549,401 DKK; 2013-2018)
- MMSP has also received funding from the VELUX FOUNDATION for the project “Modernity, Islamic Traditions and the Good Life: Exploring the Construction of Meaningful Modern Muslim Selfhoods” (4.987,500 DKK 2013-2018).
- Carlsberg Foundation supported the fieldwork of the sub-project “The Role of Islamic Universities in Modern Muslim Subjectivity Formation in Europe and the USA” (50,000 DKK 2015-2017).
- Two subprojects – “Everyday Citizenship and Refugee Employment on the Islands of Scandinavia” (1.200,000 DKK; 2017-2019) and “Cultural Negotiation Processes by Muslim Migrant Patients in Clinical Settings in Denmark” (1.200,000 DKK; 2017-2019) received funding from the Strategic Research Fund of SDU.