This collection of essays examines how modern public spheres reflect and mask - often both simultaneously - discourses of order, contests for hegemony, and techniques of power in the Muslim world. It builds on scholarship that re-imagines theories and practices of the public in modern and contemporary societies. While examining disparate time periods and locations, each contributor views modern and contemporary public spheres as crucial to the functioning, and understanding, of political and societal power in Muslim majority countries.

This collection of essays examines how modern public spheres reflect and mask - often both simultaneously - discourses of order, contests for hegemony, and techniques of power in the Muslim world. It builds on scholarship that re-imagines theories and practices of the public in modern and contemporary societies. While examining disparate time periods and locations, each contributor views modern and contemporary public spheres as crucial to the functioning, and understanding, of political and societal power in Muslim majority countries.

PART ONE: CONTESTED HEGEMONIES IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE Socio-Religious Movements and the Transformation of 'Common Sense' Into a Politics of 'Common Good'; S.LeVine Power, Religion, and the Effects of Publicness in Twentieth Century Shiraz; S.Manoukian 'Doing Good, Like Sayyida Zaynab': Lebanese Shi-i Women's Participation in the Public Sphere; L.Deeb 'Building the World' in a Global Age; R.Baker PART TWO: PRACTICE, COMMUNICATION AND THE PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION OF LEGAL ARGUMENT Constructing the Private/Public Distinction in Muslim-Majority Societies: A Praxiological Approach; B.Dupret & J.Ferrié Communicative Action and the Social Construction of Shari'a in Contemporary Pakistan; M.K.Masud Is There An Arab Public Sphere? The Palestinian Intifada, a Saudi Fatwa, and the Egyptian Press; D.Hamzah Cover Stories: A Genealogy of the Legal-Public Sphere in Yemen; B.Messick Public Spheres Transnationalized: Comparisons Within and Beyond Muslim Majority Societies; C.Lynch