Canon or Code? Standardising and Transmitting Islamic Law
On this page we will inform new and old cooperation partners about how we envision our next major workshop in the Cancode-project, to take place in Bergen, 16.-18. June 2022. Call for papers has deadline 10th Jan. 2022.
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This page is now static. Updated information can be found in the calendar announcement here.
Conference Description and Call for Papers
In the CanCode-project (2020-24) we study change and development of Islamic law by using “canonization” and “codification” as conceptual starting points. "Codification" tends to be reserved for modern phenomena where the colonial or national state imposes new structures on the sharia, while "canonization" is commonly used to describe processes where texts are ascribed authority by a certain interpretive and scholarly community, usually in the pre-modern period. Both concepts have in common processes of selection and validation. During the kick off events we looked into how these concepts are currently understood and used in our field, at times in different ways.
For our upcoming project conference in June (16.-18) 2022 in Bergen we wish to step beyond the two concepts "canonization" and "codification" in order to focus on the processes behind them, again seeking to keep a comparative focus across the pre-modern/modern divide and using a diversity of empirical cases. We wish to draw in old and new cooperation partners and scholars by inviting to engage in four thematic panels: 1) Courts as a Locus for Standardization 2) Standardization of fiqh 3) Transmission of Knowledge and 4) Translation and Canonization. The four panels will be spread over three days. We aim for around five presentations and a short keynote and/or contributions by commentators in each panel. We ask for a pre-circulated concept note (max five pages). The aim is thus not to present almost finished research, but rahter to present theoretical reflections relevant for the specific panel, blanaced with general information of empirical context. The outcome should be concrete cooperation and co-authorship plans to be followed up in a similar event in Bergen in June 2023.
We make a call for papers (for specific panels only): Those interested should submit a one-page abstract, preferably before January the 10th 2022. We expect participants to present new ideas/research. We will cover accommodation at the conference venue. We can cover travel for those who do not have a budget for this.
Update: The call for paper is now close and the workshop program is full. Updated information can be found in the calendar announcement here.