MESA Book Awards

 

Stanford University Press

 

Annika Schmeding’s Sufi Civilities: Religious Authority and Political Change in Afghanistan is a perceptive and supple analysis of how contemporary Afghan Sufi communities have dynamically contributed to and shaped their country’s civil sphere amid changing and challenging circumstances. An engaging and well-written ethnography, Sufi Civilities examines how Sufis from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, regions, and spiritual paths have adapted and evolved through internal and external periods of transition and succession. The book beautifully clarifies how Sufi orders and leaders have adopted varying strategies in relation to the state, including alignment, resistance, and strategic distance, to navigate shifting environments. It carefully shows how religious authority is formed and how women constitute religious actors and leaders in mosques and Sufi orders. Sufi Civilities is essential reading across anthropology, gender studies, history, politics, and religious studies for all those interested in gaining a nuanced understanding of these dynamics in the contemporary Middle East.