Sarah Tobin

Sarah Tobin

Mellon Post Doctoral Fellow in Anthropology

Degrees

Ph.D., Boston University - 2011
M.A., University of South Florida - 2005
B.A., Westmont College - 1998

Research Interests

I am an anthropologist with expertise in economic anthropology, Islam, and gender in the Middle East. My work explores transformations in religious and economic life, identity construction, and personal piety. I also examine the intersections with gender, Islamic authority, public ethics and an Islamic authenticity. Ethnographically, my work has focused to a large degree on Islamic Banking and Finance. I also explore these questions in times of economic shifts, such as during Ramadan, in contested fields of consumption such as the hijab, and the Arab Spring.

I am currently editing my book tentatively entitled, Everyday Piety: Islam and the Economy in Amman, Jordan.

Everyday Piety is an ethnographic account of Islamic piety in the economic sphere of Amman, Jordan. Based on 21 months of fieldwork, including the first ethnographic research conducted inside an Islamic bank, I found that Islamic piety is a highly personalized process that is often rendered authentic by reference to Shari`a (Islamic Law) and Shari`a-derived values and norms. In turn, these contingent pieties are made visible, confounding efforts to create an Islamic consensus in the public, economic sphere. Furthermore, with ethnographic richness, I demonstrate that - contrary to popular understandings and highly relevant to contemporary debates - Shari`a is a "flexible anchor" to these processes of knowledge cultivation utilized by everyday Muslims in response to the challenges of the contemporary economy.

Beyond this book project, I am the editor of a volume tentatively entitled, Faith and Finance: Anthropological Perspectives on Islamic Banking and Finance. I am working on a third book with the working title, Seeing Islam: Islamic Symbols in Jordanian Newspapers Published in the 20^th Century. I am also exploring questions of class and culture in Amman and pursuing new analyses in light of the Arab Spring for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Teaching Interests

As a graduate of a liberal arts college, I am thrilled to support students as they engage the world both creatively and critically.

At Wheaton College I have the opportunity to return to my roots in a liberal arts education and teach the very skills that I continue to utilize from my own undergraduate education: a commitment to intentional community, respect for personal dignity, flexibility in adversity, and enhancing diversity. I believe that anthropology has much to say about these uniquely liberal arts values.

In the fall 2011 semester, I taught Anthropology 298: Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East. In the spring 2012 semester, I am teaching Anthropology 240: Urban Anthropology - Muslim Cities and Civilizations.

Publications

Forthcoming

“Being Middle Class and Anti-Revolution: The Case of Jordan.” Middle East Policy, Spring 2012.

Review of Ozzie Simmons (1957), Implications of Social Class for Public Health, Human Organization 16:7-10; posting on www.publicanthropology.org.

Review of J.D. Herzog (1974), Father-Absence and Boys’ School Performance in Barbados, Human Organization 33(1):71-83; posting on www.publicanthropology.org.

Review of Susan Emley Keefe (1992), Ethnic Identity: The Domain of Perceptions of and Attachment to Ethnic Groups and Cultures, Human Organization 51(1):35-43; posting on www.publicanthropology.org.

2011

“Banking With Allah - Islam and Capitalism: Can Islamic Banking and Finance Reconcile Them?” IWM Post 104:17.

2009

“Islamic Banking in the Global Financial Crisis: The Value of ‘Banking Rightly.’” Anthropology News. October, 2009.

2006

“White Conceptions of Racial Hierarchy: Temporary versus Permanent Preferences.” Ethnic Studies Review 29(2):46-65 (with Dr. Jonathan Gayles).

Select Conference Papers and Invited Lectures

2012

Organizer and Chair, Panel: “The Arab Spring: Impacts and Opportunities in Times of Shifting Boundaries;” Paper: ““Between Iraq and a Hard Place:” The Resistance of Amman, Jordan's Middle Class to Protest and Revolution” Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting, Baltimore (March).

“From Prophets to Profits: The Jordanian Government’s Strategies for Defining and Containing Risk in Volatile Times.” Paper submitted for Executive Session, American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (November).

Organizer, Chair, and Discussant for the Panel: "'The Learning Channel:'" Exceptionalizing Borders and Typifying Crossings." Panel proposed for American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (November).

2011

“Islamic Economics and the Economizing of Islam: How the Logic of Islamic Banking is Altering Islamic Piety.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada (November).

“The Arab Spring: Why We Should Care” FLASH Seminar at Wheaton College, Norton MA (November). Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1wQSjARsoE&feature=player_embedded.

“The Nation of Safety and Stability: How Jordan’s Middle Class Prevented a Revolution.” Invited Lecture at Boston University, Boston, MA (October).

2010

“‘The banks themselves say they’re Islamic, so they are:’ Exploring the discursive justifications for participating in Islamic Banking in Amman, Jordan.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (November).

“‘But it is really Islamic?’: Popular perceptions of Islamic banking and finance in Amman, Jordan.” 10th Annual Middle East North Africa Graduate Student Conference, Tucson, AZ (April).

2008

“Islamic economics in Jordan: An examination of Islamic consumption.” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (November).