In his new book The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity’s Moral Predicament, Wael B. Hallaq argues that “‘The Islamic State,’ judged by any standard definition of what the modern state represents, is both an impossibility and a contradiction in terms.” In developing this argument Hallaq draws upon his extensive body of work as a scholar of Islam, including most notably his Shari’a: Theory, Practice, Transformations (Cambridge University Press, 2009). At the same time, Hallaq contributes to debates in political theory about the nature of the modern state. As part of our new “Undisciplined” format, this symposium seeks to bring a range of disciplinary perspectives into a discussion of this timely and important argument. We have invited a number of scholars from different intellectual backgrounds to share their views on the book as a contribution to the understanding of modern Islam, and also to reflect on how this work adds to our understanding of the relationship between religion and politics.

Celeste Montoya’s Global to Grassroots: The European Union, Transnational Advocacy, and Combating Violence Against Women addresses a pressing problem—violence against women—by bringing a transnational perspective to EU politics. We have thus decided to seek comments on the book from an Eastern European feminist scholar (Oana Băluţă) and a U.S. feminist scholar (Mary Hawkesworth). —Jeffrey C. Isaac