Explore the range of faculty engagement with world regions and global issues by browsing the Faculty Database System or by searching for particular keywords (major world area, country, research topic, etc).

While the Duke International website strives to provide a comprehensive listing of Duke faculty with international research interests, you may also find additional information by exploring school-specific faculty listings

Publications [#305823] of Ellen McLarney

Papers Published

1. McLarney, E, Freedom, Justice, and the Power of Adab, International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 48 no. 1 (February, 2016), pp. 25-46, Cambridge University Press (CUP), ISSN 0020-7438 [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/16)

   Abstract:
   This article analyzes in depth four main writings by the pioneering nahda intellectual Rifa'a Rafi'al-Tahtawi, who drew on classical kinds of adab to articulate new kinds of political subjectivities. He especially draws on the image of the body politic as a body with the king at its heart. But he reconfigures this image, instead placing the public, or the people, at the heart of politics, a "vanquishing sultan" that governs through public opinion. For al-Tahtawi, adab is a kind of virtuous comportment that governs self and soul and structures political relationships. In this, he does not diverge from classical conceptions of adab as righteous behavior organizing proper social and political relationships. But in his thought, disciplinary training in adab is crucial to the citizen-subject's capacity for self-rule, as he submits to the authority of his individual conscience, ensuring not only freedom, but also justice. These ideas have had lasting impact on Islamic thought, as they have been recycled for the political struggles of new generations.