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Philosophising in Mombasa provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an 'anthropology of philosophy', a project which is spelled out in the opening chapter.Entry-points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection.In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, as well as common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers. Ultimately, the study directs attention beyond the regional and the African contexts, towards the anthropological study of knowledge and intellectual practice around the world

Part I: Conceptualizations; Chapter 1. Introduction: Past Present Continuous: Postcolonial Experience, Intellectual Practice, and the Struggle for Meaning; Chapter 2. Muslim Publics, Postcolonial Imaginations, and the Dynamics of Self-Positioning; Part II: Readings; Chapter 3. Colonial Experience and Future Anticipations: Sheikh Al-Amin Mazrui and Swahili Islamic Pamphlets, 1930-32; Chapter 4. The Voice of Justice: An Islamic Newspaper in Postcolonial Kenya, 1972-82; Chapter 5. "Get Educated with Stambuli!": An Open Discussion Platform on Local Islamic Radio, 2005-07; Chapter 6. Conclusion: Toward the Understanding of Understanding Elements of a Swahili Intellectual Tradition

This text introduces the Kitabkhana book discussion platform on Isabel Hofmeyr's Gandhi's Printing Press: Experiments in Slow Reading. After positioning Hofmeyr's research within the wider field of Indian Ocean studies, it sketches out, in comparison, the contributions of the five commentaries by Anne K. Bang, James R. Brennan, Gail M. Presbey, Lakshmi Subramanian, and Goolam Vahed.

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This paper investigates Muslim politics in its wider social context in postcolonial Kenya, with a historical focus mainly on the Moi era (1978‐2002). Hereby, I look at the introduction, integration, and internal constestation of Islamic reformist ideologies in Swahili discourse and in social practice. Central to my argument about the interconnections between Muslim politics, national politics, and coastal sociality is the notion of a 'knowledge economy', within the postcolonial setting of a 'double‐periphery' in which Kenyan coastal Muslims are situated, vis‐à‐vis the state and the Muslim umma (community of believers). I discuss the dynamics between aspects of knowledge and rhetorics, reasoning and power, and ideology and social practice at work in this particular Muslim context. All of this is situated within national Kenyan politics, and discussed against the background of a postcolonial state governed by upcountry Christians with whom coastal Muslims have historically had a tense and antagonistic relationship.RésuméL'auteur étudie l'islam politique dans le contexte social général du Kenya postcolonial, principalement durant l'ère Moi (1978‐2002). Il s'intéresse ainsi à l'introduction, à l'intégration et à la contestation interne des idéologies réformistes islamiques dans le discours et la pratique sociale des Swahilis. Son argumentation est que le lien entre islam politique, politique nationale et socialité dans les régions côtières est constitué par la notion « d'économie du savoir », dans le cadre postcolonial d'une « double périphérie » dans laquelle se situent les musulmans des côtes du Kenya : périphérie vis‐à‐vis de l'État, mais aussi de l'umma, la communauté des croyants musulmans. L'auteur commente la dynamique entre aspects du savoir et rhétorique, raisonnement et pouvoir, idéologie et pratique sociale à l'œuvre dans ce contexte musulman particulier. L'ensemble s'inscrit dans la politique nationale du Kenya et est discuté avec pour toile de fond un État postcolonial, gouverné par les chrétiens de l'arrière‐pays avec lesquels les musulmans de la côte ont toujours eu des relations chargées de tensions et d'antagonismes.

"This book discusses Henry Odera Oruka's sage philosophy, rethinking it in light of recent debates in African philosophy and African Studies. The chapters engage perspectives from anthropology, literature, and postcolonial scholarship, questioning and exploring the relevance of sage philosophy for current challenges, including decolonialization"--

As far too many intellectual histories and theoretical contributions from the 'global South' remain under-explored, this volume works towards redressing such imbalance. Experienced authors, from the regions concerned, along different disciplinary lines, and with a focus on different historical timeframes, sketch out their perspectives of envisaged transformations. This includes specific case studies and reflexive accounts from African, South Asian, and Middle Eastern contexts. Taking a critical stance on the ongoing dominance of Eurocentrism in academia, the authors present their contributions in relation to current decolonial challenges. Hereby, they consider intellectual, practical and structural aspects and dimensions, to mark and build their respective positions. From their particular vantage points of (trans)disciplinary and transregional engagement, they sketch out potential pathways for addressing the unfinished business of conceptual decolonization. The specific individual positionalities of the contributors, which are shaped by location and regional perspective as much as in disciplinary, biographical, linguistic, religious, and other terms, are hereby kept in view. Drawing on their significant experiences and insights gained in both the global north and global south, the contributors offer original and innovative models of engagement and theorizing frames that seek to restore and critically engage with intellectual practices from particular regions and transregional contexts in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.

Introduction cosmopolitanism contested : anthropology and history in the Western Indian ocean / Edward Simpson and Kai Kresse -- Islam in Indian Ocean Africa prior to the scramble / Gwyn Campbell -- The history of Bhuj as told by its own historians / Edward Simpson -- Saints, rebels, and booksellers : Sufis in the Cosmopolitan Western Indian Ocean, c.1780-1920 / Nile Green -- Cosmopolitanism colonised? : three cases from Zanzibar, 1890-1920 / Anne Bang -- The 'respectable citizens' of Shaykh Uthman : religious discourse, trans-locality and the construction of local contexts in colonial / Aden Scott Reese -- The uses of history : rhetorics of Muslim unity and difference on the Kenyan Swahili coast / Kai Kresse -- Cosmopolitanism beyond the towns : rural-urban relations in the history of the Southern Swahili coast in the twentieth century / Felicitas Becker -- Drumming and praying : Sidi at the interface of spirit possession and Islam / HeleneBasu -- Ôi am gulf' : the production of cosmopolitanism in Kozhikode, Kerala, India / Filippo Osella & Caroline Osella

Philosophising in Mombasa provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an 'anthropology of philosophy', a project which is spelled out in the opening chapter. Entry-points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, as well as common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers. Ultimately, the study directs attention beyond the regional and the African contexts, towards the anthropological study of knowledge and intellectual practice around the world.