@inbook{b6a2b359dcf34924a0e1903ba5cb7a81,
title = "Studying the Role of Muslim Southeast Asia in Global Religious Markets: Multisited Ethnography in a Globalised World",
abstract = "This chapter explores epistemological approaches to over two decades of research on the role of Muslim Southeast Asia in global religious markets. Methodologically, I discuss two interlinked approaches to studying Muslim markets and halal (literally {\textquoteleft}permissible{\textquoteright} or {\textquoteleft}lawful{\textquoteright}) commodities and services in Malaysia in particular: globalisation and networks. Drawing from George Marcus{\textquoteright}s seminal article {\textquoteleft}Ethnography in/of the world system: The emergence of multi-sited ethnography{\textquoteright} (1995), I follow {\textquoteleft}the people{\textquoteright} (bureaucrats, representatives from halal-certifying bodies, scientists, activists, company representatives and consumers); {\textquoteleft}the thing{\textquoteright} (the circulation of halal commodities as manifestly material objects of study); as well as {\textquoteleft}the metaphor{\textquoteright} (halal embedded in particular realms of classification, discourse and modes of thought). I argue that focusing on the epistemological aspects of religious markets in Malaysia reveals not only why and how these markets became globalised and {\textquoteleft}networked{\textquoteright} but also why and how Southeast Asia{\textquoteright}s arrival on the global stage from the mid-1990s onwards increasingly informed my research.",
keywords = "Field research, Globalisation, Halal, Islam, Malaysia, Markets, Networks, Field research, Globalisation, Halal, Islam, Malaysia, Markets, Networks",
author = "Johan Fischer",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.1007/978-981-16-2438-4_7",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-981-16-2437-7",
series = "Asia in Transition",
pages = "137--150",
editor = "J{\'e}r{\'e}my Jammes and King, {Victor T.}",
booktitle = "Asia in Transition",
publisher = "Springer",
}