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Simon Wolfgang Fuchs
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Orientalisches Seminar
Platz der Universität 3
79085 Freiburg
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Institut für Studien der Kultur und Religion des Islam
Senckenberganlage 31, 2. OG
60325 Frankfurt am Main
Research areas
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Transnational Shi‘i Islam
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Global History of the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79
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Religious Authority in the Middle East and South Asia
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Sectarian Conflicts and the Intellectual History of the Jihad
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Islamism and Leftist Movements in the Muslim World
Resume
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2021-2022
Visiting Professor of Islamic Culture and Society, Goethe University Frankfurt -
04/2021
Recipient of the Inaugural Book Award of the South Asian Studies Association (SAMSA) for "In a Pure Muslim Land. Shi'ism between Pakistan and the Middle East" (UNC Press, 2019) -
Since 2017
Lecturer in Islamic and Middle East Studies at the Department of Islamic and Middle East Studies, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany -
2017-2019
Research grant by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Special Program “Islam, the Modern Nation State, and Transnational Movements,” to fund research trips to the US, Lebanon, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Iran, and Afghanistan -
2015-2017
Research Fellow in Islamic Studies at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge, UK -
09/2015
PhD in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University (advisor: Muhammad Qasim Zaman). Recipient of the S. S. Pirzada Dissertation Prize on Pakistan, awarded by the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California Berkeley, USA, the Bayard and Cleveland Dodge Memorial Dissertation Prize, awarded by the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, USA, and the Dissertation Award (Forschungspreis) of the Annemarie-Schimmel-Foundation for Islamic Studies -
2009-2015
PhD candidate at Princeton University, Department of Near Eastern Studies, including research trips to Pakistan, India, Iran, Iraq, and the United Kingdom -
2002-2010
M.A. in Islamic Studies and Political Science at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Nürnberg, Germany, Institut Français d’Études Arabes de Damas (Damascus, Syria), Duke University (Durham, NC, USA), Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany, and Tehran University, Iran, supported by Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst
Selection of
publications
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In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, (2021, FirstView): 1-22, available open access.
“A Direct Flight to Revolution: Maududi, Divine Sovereignty, and the 1979 Moment in Iran”
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Islamic Law and Society (2020, Advance Articles): 1-25.
“Casting Aside the Clutches of Conjecture: The Striving for Religious Certainty at Aligarh”
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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (2020, FirstView): 1-16. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 30,3 (2020): 489-504.
“Legalised Pedigrees: Sayyids and Shi'i Islam in Pakistan”
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Together with Maria-Magdalena Fuchs. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 43,1 (2020): 1-17.
“Introduction: Religious Minorities in Pakistan: Social Belonging, Identities, and Citizenship,” special issue “Religious Minorities in Pakistan”
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South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 43,1 (2020)
“Reclaiming the Citizen: Christian and Shi‘i Engagements with the Pakistani State”, special issue “Religious Minorities in Pakistan”
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Global Discourse 9,4 (2019): 703-715.
“Faded Networks: The Overestimated Saudi Legacy of anti-Shi‘i Sectarianism in Pakistan”
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Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2019
In a Pure Muslim Land. Shi‘ism between Pakistan and the Middle East
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BEHEMOTH – A Journal on Civilisation 12,1 (2019): 52-68.
„Von Schiiten lernen: Der Reiz des Martyriums für sunnitische Gruppen in Pakistan und Afghanistan” (Learning from Shi‘ites: The Appeal of Martyrdom for Sunni Groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan)
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Oakland: University of California Press, 2017, 189-206 and 299-307.
“Glossy Global Leadership: Unpacking the Multilingual Religious Thought of the Afghan Jihad,” in Nile Green (ed), Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban.
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London: Hurst, 2017, 217-232 and 290-300.
“The Long Shadow of the State: The Iranian Revolution, Saudi Influence, and the Shifting Arguments of Anti-Shi‘i Sectarianism in Pakistan,” in Laurence Louër and Christophe Jaffrelot (eds), Pan-Islamic Connections. Transnational Networks between South Asia and the Gulf.
Activities
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Publics under Threat - Berlin
Valeska Huber and Simon Wolfgang Fuchs host this event with the focus on the Middle East and South Asia. Topics will be protest movements and public spheres, e.g. in the context of the Arab Spring or in Iran.
Topics:
- Starts on
- 23.06.23
- Ends on
- 23.06.23
Event access: Public
Humboldt Graduate School
Festsaal (2. OG)
Luisenstraße 56
10117 Berlin19:00 — 20:30
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Unspoken
Under the title "Ungesagtes" ("Unspoken"), the five articles and one discussion deal with aspects that one would tend to contrast with and deduct from the ideal of objectivity of science as "subjective" parts. On the one hand, it is about what the researching subject brings into the scientific work in often subtle ways: own views, emotions, values, personal beliefs. On the other hand, the influence of everything subjective on human behavior is itself also a topic of research.
Topics:
Berlin 2023
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A/Symmetrien, Europa und der globale Islam
Kolloquium „A/Symmetrie — Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven“
Für viele wissenschaftliche Arbeiten zum modernen Islam und der ‚muslimischen Welt‘ bleiben Europa bzw. der Westen weiterhin der zentrale Bezugs- und Bewertungsrahmen. Dies hat konkrete Auswirkungen auf Forschungsfragen. In seinem Beitrag will Simon W. Fuchs zum einem dem Phänomen nachspüren, dass Europa als Modell gesehen wird - und die ‚muslimische Welt‘ nach ihren Symmetrien und Asymmetrien dazu bewertet wird. Daneben möchte er aber auch fragen, wie wir uns genau dieser ‚Vergleichsfalle‘ von A/Symmetrien entziehen können.
Topics:
- Starts on
- 17.01.23
- Ends on
- 17.01.23
Event access: Public
online
18:00 — 19:30
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Board of Die Junge Akademie condemns violence at universities in Iran
The Board of Die Junge Akademie strongly condemns the excessive violence against peacefully demonstrating students, academics and staff on the Sharif University of Technology campus in Iran's capital Tehran last weekend. We clearly oppose infringements of the rights to freedom of expression, academic freedom, and discrimination of any kind.
Topics:
2022
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Views on the German Fixed-Term Academic Contracts Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, WissZeitVG)
Die Junge Akademie proposes measures to improve the plannability of careers in science.
Topics:
Berlin 2022
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diejungeakademie@ Theater Neumarkt Zurich
+++ new date +++
The Middle East as a utopia?
Where could concrete starting points for new utopias in the region lie, beyond the realm of day-to-day politics? Simon W. Fuchs andCaspar Battegayof Die Junge Akademie will discuss these and other questions with other experts at the Theater Neumarkt Zurich.Topics:
- Starts on
- 08.12.21
Event access: Public
Theater Neumarkt Zurich
20:00 — 21:30
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Vom Guten im Schlechten: Kalender 2021
Unser neuer Kalender „2021 – Vom Guten im Schlechten“ mit zwölf wissenschaftlichen Betrachtungen und einer Werkserie von Julian Charrière ist erschienen: ein Plädoyer für die Wissenschaften, die Kunst und ihre Verbindungen zur Gesellschaft.
Topics:
2020
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