Islamism, State, and Ideology

Transcription

1 University Press Scholarship Online You are looking at 1-10 of 100 items for: keywords : Islamism Islamism, State, and Ideology Jeffrey T. Kenney in Muslim Rebels: Kharijites and the Politics of Extremism in Egypt Published in print: 2006 Published Online: September 2006 ISBN: eisbn: DOI: / X This chapter explores the modern context in which Egyptians began to introduce the Kharijites into their political discourse. It argues that Muslims in different historical and political circumstances have engaged in rhetorical accusations of Kharijism, with the early rhetorical context considerably obscured by the shadow of the orthodox tradition. The modern context stands more clearly in view; it covers the process of political and economic modernization begun by the Ottoman governor Muhammad Ali in the 19th century, the centralized planning and authoritarian style of President Gamal Abdul Nasser's regime, and the development of Egyptian Islamism. The Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the making of State Power. Item type: book DOI: / Islamism is often associated with oppositional social movements. However, increasingly, Muslim states too have served as agents of Islamism. They have adopted Islamization strategies, and realigned state ideology and policy making to reflect Islamist ideals and to fulfill demands of Islamic ideology. They have done so not only as a reaction to Islamist challenges from below but also to harness the energies of Islamism to expand state power and capacity. By co opting Islamism, they have strengthened the postcolonial state. Pakistan during the Zia ul Haq period, and Malaysia under Mahathir Mohammad have been at the forefront of this trend, devising Islamization from above strategies that allowed these weak states to effectively alleviate limitations before Page 1 of 6

2 exercise of state power and to pursue goals such as economic growth. The Islamization of the postcolonial state underscores the importance of religion and culture to state power and capacity. Introduction: Defining the Problem DOI: / Most studies of Islamism have focused on the role of oppositional forces. Increasingly, states are also important Islamist actors. States pursue Islamization not only in reaction to Islamist challenges but also because in Islamism they see the opportunity to address the inherent weaknesses of the postcolonial state structure, and to significantly increase the power and capacity of the state. This trend is most evident in Pakistan and Malaysia where both the weakness of the postcolonial state and the opportunity inherent in Islamization have been greatest. These cases deviate from other models of state formation in the Muslim world, and provide new insights not only into state formation in the Muslim world but also into the study of the role of religion in state expansion in comparative politics. The Islamist Challenge in Malaysia and Pakistan DOI: / The 1970s was a period of Islamic resurgence in Malaysia and Pakistan. In Malaysia, ABIM and dakwah movements, and in Pakistan, the Jama`ati Islami spearheaded Islamist challenge to the secular state. These movements grew in popularity, and became the voice of the disgruntled political elements. They also floated new and powerful political concepts and ideas that quickly gained in popularity and framed public debates and influenced political culture. Page 2 of 6

3 Malaysia, : Islamization and Capitalist Development DOI: / In the 1980s, Malaysia adopted the policy of state led Islamization. The ruling UMNO party co opted ABIM, fashioned itself as an Islamically oriented party, and adopted many Islamist ideas. The state created Islamic institutions, and supported Islamic cultural, political, and economic activities. It used Islamization to expand its power and to penetrate the Malay society. The state also embarked on rapid economic growth to address racial tensions. It used its control of Islam to manage Islamic politics and define Islamic values with a view of economic growth and accommodating globalization. Pakistan, : Islamization and Restoration of State Power DOI: / The Zia ul Haq regime adopted state led Islamization to shore up waning state power. It adopted aspects of Islamist ideology to reshape the country's judicial and political structures. This strategy expanded state power after years of domestic strife and at a time when Pakistan was involved in the Afghan War. The policy was also used to legitimate military rule, providing a justification for its continuation as demands for democratization grew. The Islamization strategy firmly entrenched the postcolonial state in Islamic ideology and allowed the military to ally itself with Islamist forces to achieve its goals. Order, Justice, and Global Islam James Piscatori in Order and Justice in International Relations Published in print: 2003 Published Online: DOI: / Page 3 of 6

4 ISBN: eisbn: This chapter examines some of the conceptions of order and justice that are present in the Islamic world. It argues that many Islamic states have been willing to accommodate themselves to an international society based on the idea of sovereign equality. However, one of the impacts of globalization has been to shift the allegiances of some members of these states from territorially based political communities to those based on religious or cultural identity. Some of the radical Islamist groupings that have emerged in recent years and have voiced a range of grievances are seeking nothing less than the overturning of prevailing international and domestic orders. Although the outcome of this complex challenge is impossible to predict, one consequence is that it has created space for the emergence of a new and possibly transformational Islamic civil society, which directs its attention principally to the reform of Muslim societies themselves. From 11/9/1989 to 9/11/2001 and Beyond: The Return of Jeremiad and the Specter of Secularization Joshua Yates in Prophesies of Godlessness: Predictions of America's Iminent Secularization from the Puritans to Postmodernity Published in print: 2008 Published Online: September 2008 ISBN: eisbn: DOI: / acprof:oso/ This chapter examines leading figures and institutions of the Religious Right in the United States and the distinctive narrative form its public and political activism has taken from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present: namely, the jeremiad. The resurgence of publicly assertive religion has become the subject of intense scholarly scrutiny and the source of much political concern. Social scientists and policymakers have long presumed that as the world modernized it would inevitably secularize. The political ascendancy of the Religious Right in the United States and, more recently, the consequential militancy of radical Islamism confounds conventional wisdom of inevitable secularization. The chapter closes with a cursory comparison of the jeremiad with the jihad, the distinctive narrative form of radical Islamism, which reveals that despite strong rhetorical similarities between them, crucial differences persist in their political effects. Moreover, such a comparison reveals an important irony: just as the specter of resurgent religion has been undermining the longstanding academic confidence in the self evident inevitability of secularization, the perceived threat of Page 4 of 6

5 secularization has been busy mobilizing the faithful both at home and abroad. Rasta Sufis and Muslim Youth Culture in Mali Benjamin F. Soares in Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and North Published in print: 2010 Published Online: September 2010 ISBN: eisbn: DOI: / acprof:oso/ This chapter is concerned with understanding changing modalities of religious expression and modes of belonging among the Muslim youth culture in contemporary Mali. Much recent scholarship about Muslim youth has privileged Islamism, trajectories of political radicalization, as well as ethical modes of self-fashioning associated with so-called piety movements in the Muslim world, particularly in the Arab Middle East and among Muslims living in Europe and North America. Although in many cases such approaches might be perfectly legitimate, the case of young self-styled Sufis often dubbed Rasta Sufis in urban Mali helps to illustrate other, rather unconventional ways certain youth have been refashioning how to be young and Muslim. By focusing on so-called Rasta Sufis and their activities in Mali, the cultural politics of youth who are often marginalized in relation to an older generation in the interconnected realms of politics, economics, and religion are explored. Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies Nader Hashemi Published in print: 2009 Published Online: May 2009 ISBN: eisbn: Item type: book DOI: / acprof:oso/ This book analyzes the relationship between religion, secularism, and liberal democracy historically, theoretically, and in the context of the contemporary Muslim world. The central issue is: liberal democracy requires a form of secularism, yet simultaneously the main cultural and intellectual resources that Muslim democrats can draw upon are religious. A paradox, therefore, confronts the democratic theorist. Challenging the popular belief that religious politics and democratic development are structurally incompatible, three arguments are advanced: In societies where religion is a key marker of identity, the road to liberal democracy must traverse the gates of religious politics. Page 5 of 6

6 The primary theoretical implication that emerges from this claim is that the process of democratization cannot be de-linked from debates about the normative role of religion in government. While liberal democracy requires secularism, religious traditions are not born with an inherent secular conception of politics. These ideas must be socially constructed. In the context of an emerging democracy, how secularism becomes indigenized as political value is topic that this work explores. An intimate relationship exists between religious reformation and political development. While the first often precedes the second, the processes are interlinked. Democratization does not require a privatization of religion but it does require a reinterpretation of religious ideas that are conducive to liberal democracy. By engaging in this reinterpretation, religious groups can play an important role in the development and consolidation of democracy. Overall, this book argues for a rethinking of democratic theory so that it incorporates the variable of religion in the development and social construction of liberal democracy. Page 6 of 6