2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

An Anthropological Study of Religions and Mobilities: Transnational Muslim Networks in Contemporary China

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	19K13454
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
Research Institution	National Museum of Ethnology
Principal Investigator	NARA Masashi 国立民族学博物館, 超域フィールド科学研究部, 准教授 (10737000)
Project Period (FY)	2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	宗教 / 移動 / ムスリム / 回族 / 中国 / モビリティ / 台湾 / イスラーム
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Based on fieldwork in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China, this study examined how the promotion of economic exchanges between China and Islamic countries has stimulated the movement of people and influenced Islamic revival in China, focusing on the migration of Muslim minorities, known as Hui, from inland China to coastal China to work as Arabic interpreters. Since it became difficult to conduct fieldwork in mainland China after the spread of the COVID-19, the study examined the impact of the increase in the number of foreign Muslims on the religious practices of Sino-Muslims in Taiwan, based on the field research that was conducted in Taipei and Taoyuan, where the number of foreign Muslims, mainly Indonesians, is increasing.
Free Research Field	文化人類学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	学術的意義は、東アジアにおけるトランスナショナルなムスリム・コミュニティの形成過程とそのイスラーム復興への影響を明らかにすることで、イスラーム世界を中心にイスラーム復興を捉えてきた既往研究を相対化するとともに、宗教研究における移動論的転回を検討し、従来の議論の枠組みに対して新たな視座を提示した点にある。社会的意義は、東アジアにおいて増加傾向にあるムスリムのコミュニティの実態を明らかにすることで、ムスリムおよび非ムスリムとのあいだでの共在のあり方についての視座を提示した点にある。