The Inward Turn and the Vices of Political (Dis)engagement
Ahmed AboHamad (Ph.D. Canadidate, Philosophy, UConn)
with a response by Julia Smachylo (Landscape Architecture, UConn)
Wednesday September 10, 2025, 3:30pm, Humanities Institute Conference Room (HBL 4-209)
The event will also be livestreamed with automated captioning.
Quietism and extremism may appear to occupy opposite ends of the political engagement spectrum, yet I argue that they share more in common than one might initially assume. They can spring from the same philosophical ground and be facilitated through turning inward: embracing philosophies which maintain that individuals already possess within themselves all that is necessary for Happiness. Sufism offers a particularly instructive case study. In this talk, I critique the romanticization of Sufism by U.S. think tanks, foreign policy actors, and authoritarian regimes, which rests on the essentialist assumption that Sufism counters extremism and promotes peace. Such political instrumentalization of Sufism is troubling because it overlooks how the asceticism and emotional detachment associated with turning inward can either foster passivity toward unjust power or serve as enabling conditions for violent extremism.
Ahmed AboHamad is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at the University of Connecticut, where he also earned his M.A. in Philosophy and completed graduate certificates in Human Rights and in Intersectional Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (IIREP). Prior to joining UConn, he graduated summa cum laude with honors from Connecticut College, majoring in Biological Sciences and Philosophy. His areas of interest include Political Philosophy, Ethics, the History of Philosophy, and Moral Psychology.
Julia Smachylo is a Canadian urban designer and planner, and an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut. Julia’s research is grounded in critical urban and landscape theory, political ecology and media studies, and traces the rise of neoliberal forms of natural resource management that have set in motion larger aggregate impacts bearing direct relation to environmental conservation, ecological design, and the organization of cities. Working across disciplines, her research connects urban landscapes with multi-scalar processes of environmental stewardship, with the goal of contributing to ongoing efforts to generate more holistic and socially responsible approaches to planning and design intervention.
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