Gabriele Marranci
Gabriele Marranci | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 4, 1973 Florence, Italy. |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast University of Bologna |
| Occupation | Associate Professor (Reader) in the Anthropology of Islam |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | National University Singapore University of Western Sydney |
Gabriele Marranci (born in 1973 in Florence, Italy), an anthropologist working on religion with a specialization in Muslim societies, is currently Associate Professor (Reader) of the Anthropology of Islam at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at National University of Singapore.
Marranci has successfully started, as founding editor, the first anthropological journal of Islamic Studies, Contemporary Islam: Dynamics of Muslim Life, published by the international publisher Springer and together with Prof. Bryan Turner, the book series Muslims in Global Societies also by Springer. He also maintains a personal blog on which he frequently posts commentary on current news topics and other subjects of interest.
Previous to his appointment at UWS, Gabriele Marranci was a Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Education and Academic History
While training as an anthropologist in his native Italy, Prof. Marranci studied the relationship between gender and musical identity in Algerian immigration and later wrote some important articles[1] on various aspects of raï music among Algerian immigrants in Paris, France, based on his year-long anthropological fieldwork there. Moving beyond an examination of raï in its North African context, Marranci focused upon the development of raï from its beginnings in Algeria to "Beur-raï" in France[2]. He received his MA degree in Music (Anthropology of Music) in 1999 at the University of Bologna, Italy, and also completed, concurrent with his university studies, a diploma in piano performance from Conservatoire Girolamo Frescobaldi, a musical conservatory in Ferrara, Italy, in 1998.
In 2000, Marranci moved from Italy to Northern Ireland in order to study for a PhD in Social Anthropology from Queen's University Belfast. Two years later, he began his career as a teaching assistant within the same department. After conducting extensive fieldwork with the Northern Irish Muslim community under the supervision of Kay Milton, he sucessfully completed his PhD in 2003 with a thesis entitled The Adhan among the Bells: The Muslim Community in Northern Ireland. He went on to publish many articles[3]and book chapters[4]based on his fieldwork in Northern Ireland and also used material gathered there to furnish his first two authored books Jihad Beyond Islam and The Anthropology of Islam with rich ethnographic examples.
Forschung
During his many years of research, Marranci has explored numerous topics concerning Muslims and Islam from general concepts such as arts, music, gender, ethnicity, education, political Islam and social issues to more specific ones such as jihad, the ummah and the idea of justice. His areas of interest include identity and emotions, urban sociology, Muslim migration/immigration, criminology, fundamentalism, secularisation processes, political Islam, ethnomusicology and the relationship between anthropological research and cognitive neuroscience. All of these seemingly highly varied topics, however, are linked to his main social anthropological interest: human identity and self.
England and Scotland
Between 2004 and 2007, Marranci conducted in-depth research among Muslims in prison – the longest study of its kind to date. Funded by The British Academy, The Carnegie Trust and The University of Aberdeen, this research focused on the experience of Muslims in prison in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, and how being behind bars impacted their identity and experience of Islam. Being an anthropologist, and using participant observation as a primary research methodology, Marranci has not only conducted over 170 interviews with current and former Muslim prisoners and their families, but also spent time with them. In the case of Muslim prisoners, this has meant taking part in Friday prayers, Islamic lessons, observing imams' activities and spending time with the prisoners in their cells and during their association time – sometimes for up to 10 hours a day. As far as former prisoners are concerned, this has also included living for a short time with the families of former prisoners and following the life of their children when released from prison.
Marranci was invited to present some of the results of his research at the IQRA Trust Annual Lecture at the House of Lords in London, on June 26th 2007. A draft of the paper he presented, entitled Faith, Ideology and Fear: The Case of Current and Former Muslim Prisoners, can be found here. His research has also attracted attention from newspapers such as The Guardian (England), The Herald (England), Le Figaro (France), The Daily Times (Pakistan), The Scotsman (Scotland), and many others. In addition, he has contributed to documentaries for the BBC and Channel Four in the UK, and also been interviewed by BBC Radio to disscus his research findings.
Northern Ireland
Between 2001 and 2003, during his PhD studies, Marranci carried out fieldwork among the local Muslim community, primarily in Belfast. Here his research interests included cultural influences, religious modifications, the concept of ummah, children's education, Muslim associations, community organization, child-parent relationships, identity conflicts and women. He also studied identity construction, among Muslim migrants and their children, proposing an innovative interpretation of the reasons for which Muslims in the West may radicalize or understand jihad as violent struggle. He has published some of his research in Jihad Beyond Islam (Berg) and, along with findings from his research with Muslims in prison, in Understanding Muslim Identity, Rethinking Fundamentalism (Palgrave Macmillan).
Italy
Between 1999 and 2000, Marranci studied Muslim immigrant women and their daughters in Pisa. His fieldwork centered on family roles, women's associations, diaspora, myth of return, private vs. public, female genital mutilation in immigration contexts and social relationships.
France
Between 1998 and 1999, Marranci conducted fieldwork in both Paris and Lyon with Algerian immigrants and [[immigrant generations| second-generation] Algerians. His research focuses during this year were upon the use of urban space, identity conflicts, cultural expressions, gender, transnationalism and local and global dimensions. This research also heralded the beginning of his interest in raï music mentioned above.
Recent Invited Lectures, Panel Organization and Conferences
University of Leeds, CERS Symposium, 7 May 2008, paper: 'A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: the term Islamofascism'.
Princeton University, Department Of Near Easter Studies, May 1st 2008, paper 'The Mass Media (mis)Representation of Muslim Prisoners in the UK and the 'Narcissus Syndrome.
University of Glasgow and The European probation organization, April 25-26 2008, paper 'Lost in Transition - The case of the Muslim former prisoners in the UK'.
106th AAA Annual Meeting 2007 Nov 28 - Dec 2, Washington DC, 'Mapping Difference across the Ummah and in Diaspora: Current Challenges to Muslim Identity'. (Panel Convenor)
Hofstra University Department of Anthropology, 27 November 2007 paper: 'Looking for Dignity: Young Muslims between Western Dystopias and Islamic Utopias'.
'Beyond the Stereotypes: Dynamics of Muslim Life in the Globalized World.' (Organizer of the symposium) Amsterdam, 26 October 2007. Sponsored by Springer.
SAASS/SCCJR Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences at Glasgow University 17 October 2007 paper: 'Ideology as Common Sense: The Experience of Current and Former Muslim Prisoners'.
XXX. Deutsche Orientalistentag 2007 Sept 24-28, 'Muslims and Globalization: Lives, Dreams and Experiences'. (Panel Convenor)
EASA Biennial Conference (Bristol) 2006 Sept 18-21, 'Muslim diaspora, Euro-Islam and the idea of the secular'. (Panel Convenor, with Prof Sacco, Luiss University of Rome).
Peer-Review and Consultancy Experience
Marranci is often a peer-reviewer for manuscripts submitted to Berg, Springer, Princeton University Press, and Palgrave Macmillan. He also frequently conducts peer reviews for the ESRC, Nuffield Foundation, British Council, and AHRC for research grants and funding.
In addition, Marranci has provided consultancy services for mass media companies as well as law firms, charities and governmental agencies.
Professional Memberships
In addition to being the Founding Member and Convenor of the EASA Network on Contemporary Study of Muslims and Societies, Marranci is a member of the following professional associations:
AAA (American Anthropological Association)
EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists)
MESA (Middle East Studies Association)
BRISMES (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)
Study Group on Anthropology of Music in Mediterranean Culture.
Selected Bibliography
Forthcoming Marranci, G. (2009), Faith, Ideology and Fear: Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons, London and New York: Continuum Books
Forthcoming Marranci, G. (2009), 'The Sociology and Anthropology of Islam' in Bryan Turner (ed.) The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Marranci, G. (2009), Understanding Muslim Identity, Rethinking Fundamentalism', London, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Marranci, G. (2008), 'British Muslims and the British State' in Bryan Turner (ed.), Religious Diversity and Civil Society: A Comparative Analysis'', Oxford: Bardwell Press.
Marranci, G. (2007), The Anthropology of Islam London and New York: Berg
Marranci, G. (2007), 'From the Ethos of Justice to the Ideology of Justice: Understanding Radical Views of Scottish Muslims' in Tahir Abbas (ed.), Islamic Political Radicalism: A European Comparative Perspective, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Marranci, G. (2006), Jihad beyond Islam London and New York: Berg.
Footnotes
- ^ Marranci, G. (2000), 'La Musique Raï: Entre Métissage et World Music Moderne' Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles 13: 137-150;
Marranci, G. (2001), 'A complex Identity and its musical representation; Beurs and Raï music in Paris' Music & Anthropology 5; Marranci, G. (2002), 'Sound Moving Around: Algerian Rai and Pop Music', Musica e Storia vol. 2;
Marranci, G. (2003), 'Pop-Raï: from Local Tradition to Globalisation' in G. Plastino (ed.), Mediterranean Mosaic, London and New York: Routledge;
Marranci, G. (2005), 'From Orano to Paris: identity, raï music and Algerian immigrants' in D. Cooper and K. Dawe (eds.) The Mediterranean in Music, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. - ^ A Bibliographic Review of Raï by Robertson Allen: http://students.washington.edu/roballen/raibibiography.doc
- ^ Marranci, G. (2003), '"We Speak English." Language and Identity processes in Northern Ireland's Muslim Community' Ethnologist 25 (2): 59-77;
Marranci, G. (2004), 'Constructing an Islamic Environment in Northern Ireland' Built Environment, 30(1): 5-17. - ^ Marranci, G. (2005), 'South Asian Muslims in Northern Ireland: their Islamic identity and the aftermath of 11th of September' in T. Abbas (ed.), Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure, London: Zed Books;
Marranci, G. (2006), 'Muslim Marriages in Northern Ireland' in B. Waldis and R. Byron (eds.), Migration and Marriage; Heterogamy and Homogamy in a Changing World, Munster and London: LIT Verlag;
Marranci, G. (2006b), 'The Transmission of Islamic Heritage in Northern Ireland' in M. Nic Craith (ed.), Cultural Heritages as Reflexive Traditions, London, New York: Palgrave Macmillan;
Marranci, G. (2006c), 'Muslim in Northern Ireland: dangerous symbols and the use of English' in R. Byron and U. Kockel (eds.), Negotiating Culture: Moving and Mixing: Migration and Boundary Crossing in Twentieth Century Europe, Munster and London: LIT Verlag;
Marranci, G. (2006d), 'Faith, Language and Migration: the Case of Muslim Migrants in Scotland and Northern Ireland' in M. Nic Craith and U. Kockel (eds.), Heritages of conflict: history, identity and the future of divided societies, London: Palgrave;
Marranci, G. (2007), 'Migration and the Construction of Muslim women's identity in northern Ireland' in C. Chison, P. Hopkins and M. kwan (eds.), Geographies of Muslim Identities: Diaspora, Gender, and Belonging, London and New York: Ashgate Publishing.