Moving Beyond Modernism: Rethinking Cultural Change in Muslim Eurasia (19th-20th Centuries)

The introduction outlines the key issues underlying the contributions to the volume, problematizing the terminology and conceptual framework typically adopted in studies of Jadidism. Following a consideration of divergent definitions of Jadidism in existing scholarship, and some examples illustrating the recurrent motifs encountered in scholarly representations of the Jadids, the authors focus on four revisionist theses that frame the directions they believe future scholarship on Jadidism should take. The first claims that Jadidism was not a coherent 'movement,' but reflected a set of intellectual and cultural practices closely connected with the discourse of Islamic 'reform;' the second recognizes that the association of particular individuals with Jadidism was itself contingent and sporadic, again calling into question the coherence of Jadidism in the social sphere. The third insists that previous scholarship has misconstrued the motivations and achievements of the Jadid 'reformers.' The fourth questions the interpretative value of the prevailing terminology of Jadid studies, including 'Islamic modernism,' the alternative of 'traditionalism,' and even 'Jadidism' itself.

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