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Description
Lecture-cum-seminar IX Euro-Islam in Interwar Albania with Dr Nathalie Clayer
In this presentation, Prof. Dr. Nathalie Clayer discussed the ways in which local actors in Southeastern Europe adapted Islam to the Europe context in the interwar period. Albania lends itself well for such a discussion, since it was the only European country with a Muslim majority, before the recent creation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo as independent states. She concentrated on inter-war Albania in order to subsequently highlight some features of the post-socialist situation. The lecture discussed how Islam came to be redefined by Muslim reformists in relation with the "West", "Western civilization", "Europe", "modernity" or "modernization", especially around some key issues like science, education, secularism, and women. The building of a "European Islam", which occurs later in Southeastern Europe, is linked to this movement, but also has special features which differ according to regional contexts and periods.