Part of the conference The Idea of France

Colloquium on his book, Can Islam be French?: Pluralism and Pragmatism in a Secularist State (2010).
The suggested reading for the colloquium discussion on Bowen’s Can Islam be French? is chaps. 1-3, and 9.

Introduced by Neil Doshi (University of Pittsburgh)

Bowen's current research focuses on comparative social studies of Islam across the world. His ethnographic studies take place in Indonesia, France, and England, but he works with students and colleagues with field sites across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In particular, he analyzes how Muslims (judges and scholars, public figures, ordinary people) work across plural sources of norms and values, including diverse interpretations of the Islamic tradition, law codes and decisions, and local social norms.