Shaping Islam to France (and Vice-Versa)

John Bowen is the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. His research explores broad social transformations now taking place in the Muslim community worldwide with a focus on the role of cultural forms (religious practices, aesthetic genres, legal discourse) in processes of social change, and with a special emphasis on Muslim life in Indonesia. His recent books include Why the French Don't Like Headscarves: Islam, the State and Public Space (2006); Entangled Commands: Islam, Law, and Equality in Indonesian Public Reasoning (2002); and Religions in Practice (2002).