Secularization in Egypt between Border Crossing and Border Drawing

The research project investigated the ways in which Arab intellectuals and religious scholars have adopted European concepts of religion in order to reject external stereotypes and, at the same time, to articulate the need for religious, social, and political reform. The project further investigated how the adoption of European models has been connected with resistance to colonialism/imperialism and how the authors have sought to overcome a perceived inferiority and difference to Europe and to make a step forward to cultural emancipation. The project focused on discussions in Egypt and compared two time periods. The first period roughly runs from the mid- 19th century to the mid-20th century, the second one from the late 1960s to the 1990s. The project thus attempted to show how articulations of cultural sovereignty changed under different circumstances.