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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have contributed, directly or indirectly, to this book’s development . It could not have been written without the input, patience, support, and humor of many people I worked with in San, Segou, and Bamako, and with whom I often established long-lasting ties of trust and friendship. Foremost, I thank the members of the Muslim women’s groups and their leaders who, over all the years of our acquaintance and conversations, generously shared their views and concerns with me, taking me to their social events and patiently answering most of my questions. Key male leaders of the movement similarly showed an amazing willingness to discuss their critical views on society and politics. Employees from the national broadcast station ORTM, especially the members of the Bureau des Ulemas, as well as the directors and radio speakers of various local radio stations in San, Segou, and Bamako helped me immensely to orient myself in the complicated field of Muslim debate. Mory Soumano’s unfailing logistical support and substantive intellectual input, and his insightful analyses into the micropolitics of Malian family life, proved crucial in understanding important aspects of the economic, social, and political setting within which Muslims’ efforts to renew society and self need to be understood. I also incurred an enormous debt of gratitude while working on various incarnations of this book during my nomadic years spanned between the two sides of the Atlantic. Foremost, I thank Harold Scheffler of Yale University and Jan Simpson for their long-standing friendship, intellectual input, and encouragement since my graduate years at Yale; Ute Luig of Free University of Berlin for contributing to the making of this manuscript, through the breadth of her theoretical and ethnographic expertise, and by offering me unwavering support during the sometimes stormy days at the Free University; and Jean and John Comaroff of the University of Chicago for their impressive intellectual inspiration and unfailing institutional support. Birgit Meyer’s scholarship and intellectual generosity have been an endless source of inspiration. Next I express my gratitude to Annelies Moors for inviting me to spend seven months at the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World in Leiden; and to the Society for the Humanities at Cornell University for awarding me a one-year fellowship that allowed me to work full-time on the monograph. I particularly thank my former colleagues at Indiana University for a stimulating and collegial working environment that enabled me to complete the manuscript. Special thanks go to Maria Grosz-Ngaté, Nancy Levene, and Katie Lofton for their logistical and moral support. xviii n ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Earlier versions of some of the chapters were presented at various conferences , workshops, and seminars at Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam, Free University and Humboldt University in Berlin, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Indiana University, the University of Hannover, and the University of Frankfurt. I acknowledge the tremendous intellectual input of all the colleagues who on these occasions offered me critical feedback and helpful suggestions. For intellectual and moral support, I thank the many colleagues and friends whom I cajoled into reading different versions of the manuscript. Barry Hall provided swift and efficient copyediting work in times of emergency. At Indiana University Press, Dee Mortensen shepherded the book manuscript through the publication process with excellent advice and gentle efficiency, and Rita Bernhard did a first-rate copyediting job. Passages of chapters 3, 5, and 6 originated in the articles “Drama, Desire, and Debate: Mass-Mediated Subjectivities in Urban Mali,” Visual Anthropology 20 (1): 19–39; “Competing Sartorial Assertions of Femininity and Muslim Identity in Mali,” Fashion Theory 11, nos. 2–3 (2007): 253–280; and “Promises of (Im)mediate Salvation: Islam, Broadcast Media, and the Remaking of Religious Experience in Mali,” American Ethnologist 33, no. 2 (2006): 210–229. I am grateful to my extended family, especially my sister Dr. Katharina Erling, for their practical support. Finally, and especially, I express my deep gratitude to Ulrich Thon for his enormous emotional, intellectual, and logistical support during the final phase of writing, and for often sacrificing his own interests so that I could complete this book. I dedicate this book to my mother, Dr. Gesina Schulz, and to my late father, Dr. Arnold Schulz, with gratitude for everything they have given me; and to my daughter Dussuba Johanna who, with her thoughtfulness, vivacity, and wit, embodies what I enjoyed most about the women and men I worked and lived with...

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