Julien LEVESQUE

Julien Levesque holds a Ph.D. (2016) in Political Science from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris. His doctoral research focused on nationalism and identity construction in Sindh after Pakistan’s independence. Before joining CSH, he was Adjunct Associate Professor (ATER) at EHESS. As a researcher at CSH, Julien Levesque focuses on South Asian Islam and Muslims from the perspective of political sociology. More precisely, his project is to study the social and political role of sayyids, the group generally described as the elite among the elite of Muslims in South Asia. Sayyids claim descent from Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and his cousin Ali. Although being sayyid is in principle a hereditary status, some people or families have become sayyid over time. Because sayyids generally stand at the top of the Muslim social hierarchy (whether defined in terms of class or caste), this status offers two advantages – charismatic authority and a network – that confer a leadership role to sayyids. In many instances, being sayyid appears as a resource that can be mobilized in social relations and in the political arena. These observations raise a number of questions that this research hopes to address on the basis of fieldwork in India and Pakistan. To what extent does being sayyid constitute an advantageous resource in the political arena? If that is the case, to what extent do sayyids consider themselves the legitimate representatives of Muslims? In other words, is this resource accepted, or even attributed, or is it self-proclaimed? How does this status, which draws its legitimacy from a prophetic filiation blending genealogy with religion, transforms into power or domination? Questions about the superiority conferred by sayyid status also need to be inverted: are all sayyids in a dominant position? Finally, can the social organization of sayyids be compared to that of a caste? What relationships of solidarity bind sayyids together? By addressing such questions, this research will bring new empirical data on the political representation of Muslims in South Asia and on the role of caste networks and patronage. It will also contribute to scholarship on political leadership by examining sayyids’ charisma as a source of legitimacy.