Book Talk by Hayrettin Yücesoy: Disenchanting the Caliphate: The Secular Discipline of Power in Abba

Book Talk Disenchanting the Caliphate: The Secular Discipline of Power in Abbasid Political Thought Assoc. Prof. Hayrettin Yücesoy, Washington University, St. Louis 14.12.2023, 17:30 SOSZ21 Disenchanting the Caliphate offers a groundbreaking new account of political discourse in Islamic history. Closely reading key eighth-century texts, Hayrettin Yücesoy traces how notions of good governance and reflections on prudent statecraft arose among cosmopolitan literati, shedding new light on the emergence and impact of a vibrant secular tradition. Drawing on this history, he critiques the concept of “Islamic political thought,” calling for decolonizing debates about “secular” and “religious” politics.