Short Abstract

This roundtable brings to the fore the epistemological links between African and Islamic Studies, by convening specialists with a proven track record on both fields. It will aim to explore its possibilities and limits, so as to outline possible intersections and map out future research avenues.

Long Abstract

The main objective of this roundtable will be to discuss the pertinence of intertwining the epistemological frameworks of African Studies and of Islamic Studies. Building on the premise that Africa was never an isolated entity, but part of a multi-variable world-system, this session will adopt a longue-durée-based (that is, from the seventh- to the sixteenth-century) approach to Northwestern Africa, roughly from the shores of the Mediterranean to the lands watered by the Niger river, which encompasses the general area of expertise of the participants. As such, discussion is expected to be clustered around three major areas: firstly, the imbrication that exists between traditional/autochthonous religions with exterior prevailing monotheistic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and, especially, Islam: it is expected that case-studies will be discussed, to determine the evolving nature of those societies; secondly, the trade networks which spanned this region, cohering social mores, commercial practises, religious experiences and governing bodies: special attention shall be given to the Islamic material culture of the region, as it highlights all these tendencies and more; thirdly, surveying warring- and peace-driven attitudes in the region: the session will bring to the fore how those peoples, simultaneously connected and torn apart by their varying religious affiliations, sometimes vying for the control of the same trade routes, other times simple political rivals, resolved their differences, and how they coped with foreign interference, especially from the fifteenth-century onwards. This roundtable, thus, will ultimately attempt to delineate heretofore underexplored research avenues to be pursued in the future.

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