Abdallah Laroui and the Location of History : A Postfoundationalist Critique of Time, Islam, and Modernity (Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World)

Abdallah Laroui and the Location of History is the first major study in English that considers Laroui’s unique theoretical interventions, revealing how his work provides insights into local, regional, and global debates on history, historiogaphy, and time; modernity and Islam; and critique and tradition. The book is structured around four concepts—modernity, history, temporality, and Islam—and demonstrates how Laroui historicizes each of these concepts, thereby denaturalizing them and giving them a new form and content. To distill Laroui’s critical contribution, the book develops an innovative methodological framework that traces Laroui’s reconfiguring of temporal relations and brings his work into conversation with historical theory, political philosophy, and postcolonial studies. It demonstrates the relevance of this important thinker to a larger audience by situating his work within major contemporary theoretical debates. Inviting readers to follow and think along the philosophical foundations of Laroui’s critique, the book will be of interest for postgraduate students and researchers in religious, Islamic, and Middle East studies, political theory, and history.