Muslim Politics

by Dale F. Eickelman, James Piscatori

Overview

In this updated paperback edition, Dale Eickelman and James Piscatori explore how the politics of Islam play out in the lives of Muslims throughout the world. They discuss how recent events such as September 11 and the 2003 war in Iraq have contributed to reshaping the political and religious landscape of Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities elsewhere. As they examine the role of women in public life and Islamic perspectives on modernization and free speech, the authors probe the diversity of the contemporary Islamic experience, suggesting general trends and challenging popular Western notions of Islam as a monolithic movement. In so doing, they clarify concepts such as tradition, authority, ethnicity, pro-test, and symbolic space, notions that are crucial to an in-depth understanding of ongoing political events.


This book poses questions about ideological politics in a variety of transnational and regional settings throughout the Muslim world. Europe and North America, for example, have become active Muslim centers, profoundly influencing trends in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. The authors examine the long-term cultural and political implications of this transnational shift as an emerging generation of Muslims, often the products of secular schooling, begin to reshape politics and society—sometimes in defiance of state authorities. Scholars, mothers, government leaders, and musicians are a few of the protagonists who, invoking shared Islamic symbols, try to reconfigure the boundaries of civic debate and public life. These symbolic politics explain why political actions are recognizably Muslim, and why "Islam" makes a difference in determining the politics of a broad swath of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691120539
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2004
Series:	Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics , #14
Edition description:	New Preface
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dale F. Eickelman is Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of Anthropology and Human Relations at Dartmouth College. He is the author of numerous books, including The Middle East: An Anthropological Approach and Knowledge and Power in Morocco (Princeton). James Piscatori is Professor in Muslim Politics at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford. His books include Islam in a World of Nation-States and the edited volume Islamic Fundamentalisms and the Gulf Crisis.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Preface

1 What Is Muslim Politics? 3

Imagining Politics 5

The Language of Politics 11

Doctrine and Political Action 16

Setting Boundaries 18

2 The Invention of Tradition in Muslim Politics 22

The "Modernization" of Muslim Societies 22

The Blurring of Tradition and Modernity 28

The Objectification of Muslim Consciousness 37

3 Sacred Authority in Contemporary Muslim Societies 46

The Linkage of Religion and Politics 46

Authority and the Interpretation of Symbols 57

Networks of Authority 68

4 The "Firmest Tie" and the Ties That Bind: The Politics of Family and Ethnicity 80

The Politics of Family 83

Women in the Muslim Political Imagination 89

Ethnicity 99

5 Protest and Bargaining in Muslim Politics 108

Membership and Organization 109

The Technologies and Culture of Protest 121

The Fragmentation of Authority 131

6 Muslim Politics: A Changing Political Geography 136

Transnational Linkages 138

The Civic Geography of Muslim Politics 155

Of Paradigms and Policies 162

Notes 165

Glossary 175

Annotated Bibliography 179

References 183

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"Despite the continuing avalanche of books on Islamic politics, there is still a need for a succinct, sane, up-to-date overview of the subject. Here it is. . . . An excellent and much-needed book."

International Affairs

"Eickelman and Piscatori use an impressive range of examples from across the world to bring out the richness and diversity of the political experiences of Muslims."—-Charles Tripp, Times Literary Supplement

"Refreshing and instructive. . . . [This is] an excellent and much-needed book."—-Roger Hardy, International Affairs

"With . . . thoughtful analysis and erudite facts, Eickelman and Piscatori successfully raise the discussion of Muslims and their role in today's world to a higher and more promising level."—-Akram Fouad Khater, History

"A readable, learned, and timely study. . . . The authors are to be commended for the breadth of their undertaking and the penetrating nature of their analysis."—-Lawrence Ziring, Review of Politics

"In a period of misguided accounts of the Muslim world, exposure to the Eickelman and Piscatori arguments is highly instructive. . . . It will challenge students, scholars, and policy makers in the field to rethink Islamic politics."—-Mahmood Monshipouri, Middle East Policy

From the Publisher

In a period of misguided accounts of the Muslim world, exposure to the Eickelman and Piscatori arguments is highly instructive. . . . It will challenge students, scholars, and policy makers in the field to rethink Islamic politics.

Middle East Policy - Mahmood Monshipouri

A readable, learned, and timely study. . . . The authors are to be commended for the breadth of their undertaking and the penetrating nature of their analysis.

Review of Politics - Lawrence Ziring

With . . . thoughtful analysis and erudite facts, Eickelman and Piscatori successfully raise the discussion of Muslims and their role in today's world to a higher and more promising level.

History - Akram Fouad Khater

Refreshing and instructive. . . . [This is] an excellent and much-needed book.

International Affairs - Roger Hardy

Eickelman and Piscatori use an impressive range of examples from across the world to bring out the richness and diversity of the political experiences of Muslims.

Times Literary Supplement - Charles Tripp

In a period of misguided accounts of the Muslim world, exposure to the Eickelman and Piscatori arguments is highly instructive. . . . It will challenge students, scholars, and policy makers in the field to rethink Islamic politics.
— Mahmood Monshipouri

Middle East Policy

A readable, learned, and timely study. . . . The authors are to be commended for the breadth of their undertaking and the penetrating nature of their analysis.
— Lawrence Ziring

Review of Politics

With . . . thoughtful analysis and erudite facts, Eickelman and Piscatori successfully raise the discussion of Muslims and their role in today's world to a higher and more promising level.
— Akram Fouad Khater

History

Eickelman and Piscatori use an impressive range of examples from across the world to bring out the richness and diversity of the political experiences of Muslims.
— Charles Tripp

Times Literary Supplement