Racializing the Ummah with Rhea Rahman

Racializing the Ummah: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown, and White
A Book Talk by Dr. Rhea Rahman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Brooklyn College (CUNY)
April 2, 2:30 to 4 p.m.
303 International Center, 427 N. Shaw Lane

An ethnography of Islamic Relief (IR), the largest Islamic NGO based in the West, Racializing the Ummah explores how a Muslim organization can do good in a world that defines Muslimness as less than human. Rooted in more than a decade of international research, Rhea Rahman’s study on the organization’s projects, methods, and limitations reveals how racial capitalism permeates all aspects of humanitarianism—and paints a frank, nuanced portrait of the constraints Islamic aid entities face in the effort to disentangle themselves from neocolonialism and Western hegemony.

Organized by the MSU Muslim Studies Program and cosponsored by the African Studies Center, Department of Anthropology, Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities, ISP Global Inclusion, and James Madison College.