Are Muslims in the Arab Middle East and North Africa fundamentally undemocratic? Pundits in the US often say yes, but Ahmed Khanani argues that this simplistic answer is incorrect. Instead, he shows, socially conservative, politically active Muslims value democracy or dimuqrāṭiyya as a frame that reflects and extends their religious values.

Are Muslims in the Arab Middle East and North Africa fundamentally undemocratic? Pundits in the US often say yes, but Ahmed Khanani argues that this simplistic answer is incorrect. Instead, he shows, socially conservative, politically active Muslims value democracy or dimuqrāṭiyya as a frame that reflects and extends their religious values.

The Caribbean has long been a key area for empires warring over influence spheres, and where migration waves from Africa, Europe, and Asia accompanied every political transformation. In this volume, an interdisciplinary group of scholars studies the Caribbean’s “unincorporated subjects”, and explores how against all odds, Caribbean artists, filmmakers, and writers have been resourceful at showcasing migration as the hallmark of our modern age.
 

Alternative Realities explores how the distinctions between cinematic fantasy and filmic realism are more porous than we might think by examining the emotional realism of superhero movies like Wonder Woman, the trickery of virtual reality movies like The Matrix, and the ironic gestures of mockumentaries like This is Spinal Tap.

In Poland, active aging programs both take on meanings associated with the country’s transition from socialism to capitalism and exceed such narratives of progress by resonating with older forms of activity in late life. Through intimate portrayals of a wide range of experiences of aging, Aging Nationally in Contemporary Poland shows how everyday practices and shared ideas about the Polish nation offer possibilities for living a valued, meaningful life in old age.
 

Acts of Repair explores how ordinary people grapple with decades of political violence and genocide in Argentina--a history that includes the Holocaust, the political repression of the 1976-1983 dictatorship, and the 1994 AMIA bombing.

Unsettling illustrates how Jewish community protective politics impacted representations of white male Jewish masculinity in the 1990s. By analyzing how artists and media told stories about Jewish celebrities and incest, Unsettling demonstrates how white Jewish men alleged of incestuous behavior became improbably sympathetic figures representing supposed white male vulnerability.
 

Through Japanese Eyes offers an ethnography of aging in America from a cross-cultural perspective based on a lengthy period of research. It illustrates how older Americans cope with the gap between the ideal (e.g., independence) and the real (e.g., needing assistance) of growing older, and the changes the author observed over thirty years of research. 
 

The Other End of the Needle encourages readers to step into the complex world of tattooists. Through interviews with tattooists, and observations in their shops, Lane challenges us to understand how people collectively create and sustain culture. By asking how people make things, this book shows how tattoos are more than just images on the skin.