I am an anthropologist by training and during my career I have enjoyed exploring many topics concerning Muslims and Islam, such as arts, music, gender, ethnicity, education, political Islam and social issues as well as specific concepts like jihad, the ummah and the idea of justice. In recent years, I have expanded my research interests to include youth culture and cognitive neuroscience and look forward to exploring these topics both within the contexts of Muslim communities and beyond them.
All of these seemingly highly varied subjects, however, are linked to my main social anthropological interest in human identity and self - an interest which I have written about at length in my published work.
At the moment, my most recent book is Faith, Ideology and Fear: Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons (2009). It is the result of in-depth anthropological research among Muslims in prison between 2004 and 2007. The research focused on the experience of Muslims in prison in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and how being behind bars impacted their identity and experience of Islam. For more about my publications and research, please see the book list as well as visit my official webpage: marrnaci.net.
I am the Founding Editor of the journal " Contemporary Islam: Dynamics of Muslim Life", which I established in order to stimulate scholarly debate and to faciliate inter-disciplinary communication and collaboration on the topic of Muslim communities worldwide. However, as academic publications, even when attempting to reach a general audience, are not often widely read outside the ivory tower of academia, I also keep my own blog where I enjoy sharing my ideas, engaging in constructive debate, and discussing topics which I feel lack the attention they deserve. Indeed, I believe that anthropologists, as Franz Boas and Margaret Mead have taught us, should engage and contribute to their time by facilitating debate.
I hope that you enjoy reading my books. Please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes,
Gabriele
http://www.marranci.net
