Islam Between Culture and Politics

by B. Tibi

Overview

Bassam Tibi offers a radical solution to the problems faced by Islam in a rapidly changing and globalizing world. He proposes a depoliticization of the faith and the introduction of reforms to embrace secular democracy, pluralism, civil society and individual human rights. The alternative to this is the impasse of fundamentalism. The pivotal argument is that Islam is being torn between the pressure for cultural innovation and a defensive move towards the politicization of its symbols for non-religious ends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333751213
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/07/2001
Edition description:	2001
Pages:	271
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

BASSAM TIBI is Professor of International Relations at the University of Gottingen and, since 1988, a Research Associate at Harvard University. He is the author of Crisis of Modern Islam, Arab Nationalism: A Critical Enquiry and Islam and the Cultural Accommodation of Social Change. He has written six monographs in German and co-authored books in English, German and Arabic including Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East, Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives and The Study of the Middle East: International Perspectives. He is a member of the Fundamentalism Project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the second volume of this international project.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Islam Between Culture and Politics: The Scope and the Implications PART I: RELIGION, CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: ISLAM BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT Religion, Culture and Social Reality: Islam as a Cultural System and its Diversity Cultural Patterns and the Perception of Change in Islam: A Religious Model for Reality: The Islamic Worldview Culture and Social Change: Tradition and Innovation in Cultural Analysis PART TWO: THE CONTEXT: THE POLITICIZATION OF ISLAM IN THE GLOBAL AGE The Dichotomy of Structural Globalization and Fragmenting Cultural Self-Assertion: The Case of Islamic Civilization The Politicization of Religion: Political Islam as a Defence-Cultural Response to Global Challenges From Religious Belief to Political Commitment: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Secular Order PART III: THE FRAMEWORK: THE MEANS OF POLITICIZATION: THE REVIVAL OF THE SHARI'S AND THE ISLAMIZATION OF EDUCATION Social Change and the Potential for Flexibility in Islamic Law: The Shari's Between Ethics and Politicisation Institutions of Learning and Education in Islam: Between the Cultural Accommodation of Change, Religious Orthodoxy and the Politics of Cultural IslamiZation PART IV: ISLAM AND THE WEST BETWEEN INTER-CIVILIZATIONAL DIALOGUE AND POLITICAL ANTAGONISM Islam Matters to the West! Islam and Europe, Islam in Europe: Islamic Migration between Cultural Assimilation, Political Integration and Communitarian Ghettoization Islam and the West in the Age of Conflict among Civilizations: The Alternative in Inter-Cultural Dialogue as a Means of Conflict Resolution

Editorial Reviews

Review of the First Edition:

'Bassam Tibi has produced yet another impressive and thought-provoking book... an elaborate and sophisticated cultural analysis that painstakingly attempts to define concepts, elucidate relationships, and propose solutions for the dilemmas at hand.' - Emad Ei Din Shahin, American University in Cairo, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

From the Publisher