Hefner Gives Talk at Yale on Islam, Democracy, and Muslim Populism
Robert Hefner, Professor of Anthropology and International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, gave an April 16, 2018 talk entitled, “Islam, Democracy, and Muslim Populism in Indonesia and the Broader Muslim World,” in the Yale Religion and Politics Colloquium at the Department of Sociology at Yale University.
The talk covered the rise of conservative populist social movements is a development taking place across large portions of the Muslim world as well as the West
Hefner examined the dynamics of secular populism in the West in comparison with Muslim populism in Indonesia and the Muslim world. He emphasized that both present serious challenges to pluralism – and both are likely to remain powerful influences on global politics for some time to come.
Robert Hefner has directed 19 research projects and organized 18 international conferences, and authored or edited nineteen books. He is former president of the Association for Asian Studies. At CURA, he has directed the program on Islam and civil society since 1991; coordinated interdisciplinary research and public policy programs on religion, pluralism, and world affairs; and is currently involved in two research projects: “The New Western Plurality and Civic Coexistence: Muslims, Catholics, and Secularists in North America and Western Europe”; and “Sharia Transitions: Islamic Law and Ethical Plurality in the Contemporary World.” You can read more about him here.