Overview

An analysis of the growing visibility of nonreligion in Egypt. Egypt's 2011 Uprising, while often perceived as a failed revolution, nonetheless nonetheless had durable social effects. Among these has been a rise in expressing atheism and agnosticism, especially among educated and affluent youth--the country's future leaders. An intimate ethnography, Nonreligious Lifeworlds in Egypt explores the intellectual and emotional transformations of atheists and agnostics inspired by the aspirational freedom-seeking of the Arab Spring. Rejecting both of Egypt's dominant religious traditions, Islam and Coptic Christianity, nonreligious people are widely viewed as agents of moral outrage. Amid media-driven panics, their sanity is often questioned by their own families as they experiment with new ways of living and relating. Drawing from in-depth fieldwork, interviews, and social media analysis, Karin van Nieuwkerk reveals her interlocutors' changing perspectives on sex and gender, eating and drinking, and life and death. Above all, she emphasizes the affective experiences of renouncing religion, marked by anxiety and regret--but also liberation and relief. With rigor and compassion, Van Nieuwkerk opens our minds to the arduous process of exchanging established norms for self-determination.

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9781477333358

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Reviews

Karin van Nieuwkerk's book will be an enormous contribution to the growing study of nonreligion and is one of the yet rare scholarly accounts of atheists beyond the West and the East (former post-Soviet countries). It makes significant methodological and conceptual contributions by highlighting the significance of ethics, life choices, embodiment, and emotions as well as ambivalence and ambiguity in the trajectory of nonreligious people--calling into question notions of atheism as simply a cognitive and rational position.--Mascha Schulz, Coeditor of Global Sceptical Publics: From Non-Religious Print Media to ""Digital Atheism"" Nonreligious Lifeworlds in Egypt is an engaging and compelling study enhanced by statements from interviewees that are quite revealing and provide a sense of real lived experience. In addition, van Nieuwkerk's understanding of the social and political dynamics of contemporary Egypt adds nuance and relevance to the analysis.--Marcia K. Hermansen, Coeditor of Sufism in Western Contexts

Author Information

Karin van Nieuwkerk is an anthropologist and professor of contemporary Islam in Europe and the Middle East at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. She is the editor of Moving In and Out of Islam and the author of ""A Trade Like Any Other"" Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt andPerforming Piety: Singers and Actors in Egypt's Islamic Revival.

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