East Asia and the Muslim World: Dialogues in Past, Present, and Future Worldmaking

December 5-6, 2025 Göttingen University
 
This workshop brings together two separate networks of scholars: those who work on connections between the Middle East and East Asia through the religious, ideational and cultural angles (and particularly the contributors of the coming special issue “East Asia and Islamic Asia: Space, Time, and Mobility” that is to be published with Modern Asian Studies) and those studying the contemporary geopolitics of China and the Middle East. While there are faint intersections between these two clusters – mostly concerning the domestic/global ramifications of state policies vis-a-vis the religious sphere (in East Asia) at various junctures in time (the 1980s or late 2010s) – there is in fact very little overlap and mutual engagement between them. This could be accounted for perhaps by their distinct disciplinary foci, canons, and thematic interests, but it is indeed remarkable how wide the chasm is between these two clusters, even though there exists immense potential for mutual enrichment and the identification of new research directions. 

The workshop is thus envisioned to help break this impasse, bringing together these clusters in dialogue to enable not only creative cross-fertilization, but to think through some of the big questions that tie the different parts of “West” (Middle East) and “East” Asia together. Most notably, the topics and questions of our interest include:
-       The making of the “worlds” (‘awalim, shijie) and the networked solidarities across East and West Asian spaces
-       Forging, re-forging, and destruction of such entanglements across temporal and spatial contexts 
-       Use of different vernaculars (i.e. religion, civilization, historical narratives) by state and non-state actors to describe and legitimate transnational/trans-regional connections
-       Infrastructure (broadly construed) as a mediatory and contested site of inquiry
-       Inter-state/national relations in a multipolar world order
-       State control of transcendental religio-political ideologies  
Hence our conceptualization of this workshop as dialogues of past, present and future worldmaking. The workshop is an invitation to explore, re-visit, and to build new bridges.