Political Islam and Middle East Politics

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POLS 536- Issues in Middle East Politics: Transformations in Political Islam: Post-Islamism or another Islamism? Islamic democrats, Salafists and Islamist Neo-Preachers

Spring-2013

Instructor: Dr. Ashraf El Sherif

Thursday 5-7:15

Office hours: Sundays and Wednesday 12:30-2:00

RM 2006

Email:

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I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When And How and

Where and Who.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

This special topic course is designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the contemporary transformations of political Islam in the Arab and Muslim worlds before and through the Arab Spring. It examines the dynamics, processes, reasons, implications, and consequences of the new facets of the reassertion of Islam in today's politics. Traditional forces of political Islam gave way to new manifestations that subscribed to novel doctrines and approaches to politics and society. Failures of radical Islamism and puritanical Islamic movements inspired the rise of new types of Islamist actors. This course will focus on three major types of the new Islamist actors: Islamist democrats, neo-Salafists and Islamist neo-Preachers. What constitutes the ideologies of Islamist democrats, neo-Salafism and neo-liberal Televangelists and their yuppie following? Does it represent a breakthrough in the development of Islamist activism or a punctual re-adaptation of some of its salient characteristics? What are the parameters of the public sphere within which they operate? And how do they posit themselves in it? And what kind of broader social interests they promote? Finally, to what extent can we talk about transmutation of neo-liberal doctrines and practices of globalization into their discourses? What are the doctrinal and socio-political implications of those ruptures for the future role of older Islamic political movements and for the evolution of politics towards more secular democracy in their respective countries? Is it heralding a completely new trajectory for Islamic movements? In order to answer this question, this course will examine the three movements and their active profiles in several Middle Eastern countries over the last two decades.

The course will start with questioning post-Islamism theories. New strategies of Islamic movements will be illustrated amid a sphere of fragmented religious authorities. An alternative analysis of the current Islamist transformations will be presented to garner a better understanding of the transformation of Islamist ideologies and political behavior.

A) Islamist democrats:

The current decade has seen the rise of Islamist political movements winning electoral victories in Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and other countries in the Middle East. A key shift has occurred in the position of the Islamist movements on the question of pluralist democracy. Yet there are significant differences from one case to another. At the center of this new era is a fundamental problematization in the position of the Islamist movements regarding the question of pluralist democracy.What are the intellectual, doctrinal and socio-political implications of those differences for the future role of Islamic political movements and for the evolution of politics in their respective countries? And finally what does this variation tell us about the question of the relationship between Islamic movements in the Middle East and the possibility of democratic transitions in the region?

Islamic political discourse on democracy, political participation, gender, modernity and citizenship proved to be volatile. Its dynamism cannot be captured apart from its interaction both with its contextual social/political reality and with other intellectual traditions. Islamism is becoming a commonplace item shared by disparate ideological and institutional movements to the extent that we can talk about ‘Islamic right’, ‘Islamic left’, ‘Islamic communitarians’, ‘Islamic democrats’ and ‘Islamic libertarians’. Each movement has developed its own particular form of political discourse and behavior on the question of democracy

B) Neo-Salafists and neo-preachers

The second part of the course will analyze the reasons behind the emerging popularity of the neo-Salafists and neo-preachers as the most fashionable example of new religious actors in Middle Eastern societies. Aim is to contextuazlie them within the broader structures of changing market-society relations, Muslim identity, state policies, political competition and socio-economic conditions in addition to the elements of continuity and change within Islamism. Several questions are to be addressed. What are the political repercussions of their ascent on national and Islamist politics? Are they part of broader ideological transformations on the part of the Islamist movements?

The current decade (2000-2010) has seen the rise of new variants of Islam-inspired activities in Egypt and other Middle Eastern Societies. At the center of this new era is a fundamental transformation in the structure of the Islamic public sphere that has been largely unnoticed by scholars. Neo-Salafism is emerging as major a producer in the market of religious ideas and social values.Neo-Salafists are depoliticized religious activists who focus exclusively on social morality, rituals and personal behavior. Typically conservative in social outlook and literalist in religious interpretations, their objective is to propagate a model of religious righteousness which implies nothing short of the re-appropriation of the personal conduct and ethics of ancient Muslims. A third type of new Islamist actors are the neo-preachers. Social mobility, changing class structure and flow of images and ideas created by revolution of media and communication produced new religious sensibilities. In their turn, they found subterfuge in mediating Islam with values of neo-liberalism on the part of the Islamic televangelist Yuppies and in withdrawing from politics to the individual on the part of the neo-Salafists

The doctrine of the comprehensiveness of Islam encompassing all fields of life, characteristic to the political Islamic movements, is alien to their methods. Nevertheless, their soaring popularity helped shaped the public opinion and religious imagination on questions of politics and public affairs. Both employ new technologies of mass media and communication to spread their message. Their TV proselytizing programs are among the most popular in society shaping the public opinion not just on religious issues but questions of social morality broadly. For many reasons to be explored in the course, both actors have an audience that cuts across class boundaries, and they were able to command considerable influence in mosques, religious schools and charities.

Course Objectives

It is expected that students in this course will be able to explain and understand the current Islamist transformations with all its diversities, layers and levels of analysis ; relate current resurgence of political Islam to earlier legacies; understand the socio-economic, political, and cultural causes behind the emergence of new Islamist doctrines and actors; critically examine the main ideas of Islamic activists; and understand the implications of new Islamist

variants on domestic and international politics.

COURSE PHILOSOPHY

A sage (Karl Jaspers) once said: “University life is no less dependent on students than on professors. The best professors flounder helplessly at a school where the student body is unfit. Hence, it is all up to the young people who are supposedly entitled to study. They must show themselves worthy of this privilege to the best of their ability.”

This course has been organized on the premise that you are worthy of this privilege. The success of this course depends entirely on your continued and sustained participation. Thus, I ask that you be agile participants and intervene as often as possible in class discussion by posing questions and comments or even disagreements (based on additional or alternative readings or personal experiences).

In this course you will be exposed to a wide range of ideas, norms, preferences, and values different from your own. This exposure may force you to question, rethink (and if needed, abandon) your present "understanding" of Political Islam. Who knows by the end of the course you might feel that you have taken part in a serendipitous voyage of discovery!

In the course, we will analyze such categories as states, classes, ethnicity, and modes of production, ideologies, elites, civic culture, and gender that have been used to shed light on the various political configurations in this region. The readings will introduce the students to some of the more important scholarship on the subject, and form the springboard for interactive class discussions. My role is to steer class discussion and engender an informal participatory class environment where we can all search collectively for the broader understanding of the subject matter at hand. Importantly, an excess of readings was given for each theme and students will be left with the choice of selecting from the given readings.

Please do not hesitate to drop by my office should you have problems with the course, or just want to talk. My office hours provide us with an opportunity to get to know each other better. So, it is incumbent upon you to take advantage of my office hours to pursue interests and concerns not raised in class. Students who may need special consideration because of any sort of disability should make an appointment to see me in private at the beginning of the semester.

ACADEMIC QUALITY

In addition to the above issue, my main priority now is to promote academic quality and make sure that students who come out of my classes meet the highest educational standards. This is a shared responsibility of the instructor and the students. My part is to come to class prepared, update my lectures, be involved, address your questions, and be available during office hours. Your part is to come to class on time, do the readings in advance, raise questions and participate effectively in class discussions, turn in your assignments on time, and be involved. Let us all strive to fight mediocrity (According to Oxford Dictionary, a mediocre person is: indifferent, ordinary, common place, average, medium, third-rate, inferior, and poor).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attendance and classroom participation 20%

In view of the fact that lectures and presentations will complement rather than reiterate the assigned readings, it is expected that you attend all class meetings. You will be held responsible for all the material we cover in readings, lectures, and films. Attendance is also mandatory for all exams, and make-ups will be given only for bona fide emergencies (i.e., severe illness documented by a physician).Participation: In addition to being physically present, I expect you to be mentally present as well! As such, you should complete all assigned readings before each class meeting, so that you are familiar with the concepts, facts, theories, and controversies with which we are dealing.

Presentations 20%

Each student should give two presentations related to the week’s topic outlining aspects not included in the reading list

Final research paper 30%

Min 8000 words on a pre-approved topic due May 9h

Final take-home exam 30%

Due May 18th

GRADING SCALE

A = 93 – 100 A- = 91 – 93 B+ = 8 – 90 B = 85 – 88 B- = 80-85 C+ = 76-80

C = 71-76 C- = 66 – 70 D+ = 60-66 D= 56 - 60

REQUIRED TEXTS (available in the bookstore):

1- Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement edited by Roel Meijer

Columbia University Press, 2009

2- Assef Bayat.Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn

Stanford University Press, 2007

3- Peter Mandaville. Global Political Islam. Routledge, 2007

3- Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation and Democratization edited by Robert W. Hefner. Princeton University Press, 2004

4- The Arab Awakening: America and the Transformation of the Middle East. edited by Kenneth Pollak

RECOMMENDED BOOKS:

Al-Azmeh, Aziz. Islams and Modernities (Verso, 1993)

Asad, Muhammad.The Principles of State and Government in Islam (Islamic Book Trust, 1980).

Ayubi, Nazih. Political Islam : religion and politics in the Arab world . New York, NY : Routledge, 1991

Bannerman.Islam in Perspective (New York: Routledge, 1988)

Benin, Joel and Joe Stork (eds.), Political Islam (University of California Press, 1996).

Bulliet, Richard.Islam: the view from the edge (NY: Columbia UP,1994

Burgat, Francois and William Dowell. The Islamic Movement in North Africa(Texas, 1992).

Dekmejian, Richard Hrair. Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World (Syracuse, 1985)

Delong-Bas.Wahhabi Islam (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Diamond, Larry, (ed.).Islam and Democracy in the Middle East (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003).

Eickelman , Dale and James Piscatori.Muslim Politics (Princeton: Princeton University

Enayat, Hamid.Modern Islamic Political Thought (Islamic Book Trust (August 30, 2001).

Entelis, John. Ed.Islam, Democracy, and the State in North Africa (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997)

Esposito, John and John Voll. Makers of Contemporary Islam (Oxford University Press, 2001).

Esposito, Islam.The Straight Path (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 2004).

Esposito, John. Voice of Resurgent Islam (Oxford University Press, 1983).

Esposito, John.Islam in Transition (Oxford University Press, 1982).

Euben, Roxanne.Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism (Princeton, 1999)

Guazzone, Laura ed..The Islamist Dilemma (Reading: Ithaca, 1995).

Hefner, Robert W. ed., Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization (Princeton, 2005)

Hunter, Shireen. ed..The Politics of Islamic Revivalism: Diversity and Unity (Indiana, 1988).

Giles Kepel.Prophet and Pharaoh: Muslim Extremism in Egypt (U. California 1986).

Halliday, Fred.Nation and Religion in the Middle East (Boulder CO:Lynne Rienner, 2000)

Lewis, Bernard.What Went Wrong? (Harper Perennial, 2003).

Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Political Islam (Random House, 2004).

Maddy-Weitzman. Bruce and Efraim Inbar, Religious Radicalism in the Greater Middle East (Frank Cass Publishers, 1997).

Mandaville, Peter. Global Political Islam. (Routledge, 2007).

Moussalli, Ahmed S.Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: The Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1992)

Moussalli, Ahmed.The Islamic Quest for democracy, liberalism and Human rights

University press of Florida, 2003.

Munson, Henry Jr. Islam and Revolution in the Middle East (Yale 1988)

Piscatori, James P. ed.Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge, 1983)

Rashid, Ahmed. Taliban : militant Islam, oil, and fundamentalism in Central Asia. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2000.

Roff, William R. ed.Islam and the Political Economy of Meaning: Comparative Studies of Muslim Discourse (U Calif. Press, 1987)

Roy, Olivier.Globalizing Islam (Columbia University Press, 2004).

______The Failure of Political Islam (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1994)

Ruedy, John, ed..Islamism and Secularism in North Africa, (NY: St Martin's, 1996).

Said, Edward.Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World (Vintage pb, 1997)

Shahin, Emad.Political Ascent: Contemporary Islamic Movements in North Africa (Boulder, Colorado, 1998).

Sivan, Emmaneul. Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics (Yale, 1985)

Stowasser, Barbra ed.The Islamic Impulse (Georgetown University Press, 1987).

Tamimi, Azzam and John L. Esposito, ed. Islam and Secularism in the Middle East (New York, 1997).

______.Rashid Ghannoushi: A Democrat within Islamism (Oxford University Press, 2001).

Tibi, Bassam.Islam and the Cultural Accommodation of Change (Westview, 1991)

Voll, John and Esposito (eds.)Islam and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 1996).

Weckham, Carrie Wicksy. Mobilizing Islam (Boston, 2002).

Wiktorowicz, Quintan.Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach (Indiana University Press, 2003).

------.The Management of Islamic Activism (SUNY Press, 2001).

Yavuz, M. Hakan. Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey Cambridge University Press, 2009

COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction

February 7th : Terms and Concepts: Failure of political Islam, Islamist revisions and transformations: Post-Islamism or Another Islamism?

• Are Islamic movements, undergoing discursive and behavioral changes, not being de-Islamized as some firsthand analyses like to believe?
• Is Post-Islamism pointing at significant transformation going underway yet presenting an inadequate description and incomplete understanding?
• Would the use of the term Another Islamism instead of post-Islamism bring more precision and coherence?

Readings:

Bayat, Assef. “What is Post-Islamism?”. ISIM Review no. 16.

______. “The Coming of a Post-Islamic Society”. Critique: Critical

Middle Eastern Studies (9): 43-52.

______. The Post- Islamists Revolutions, Foreign Affairs, April, 2011.

______. Egypt and the Post-Islamist Middle East. Open democracy,

February 2011

Mandeville, Peter. Global Political Islam, chapter 1 and chapter 4«Islam in the

system: the evolution of Islamism as Political Strategy» p. 96-107,

Hefner, Robert W. “Introduction: Modernity and the remakingof Muslim

Politics” from Hefner’s RemakingMuslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation and

Democratization;

Fuller, Graham. “The future of Political Islam”, Palgrave Macmillan 2003 :

chapter 4 “Islamism and Global Geopolitics” p. 67-95 + p. 122-143 “The

role of Islamists in the Modern State”

Roy, Olivier. Globalized Islam: The Search for a new Umma, Introduction and

chapter 1

Ismail, Salwa(2001). “The Paradox of Islamist Politics”. Middle East Report

(221):12-19.

Berman, Sheri. (2003). “Islamism, Revolution, Civil Society’. Perspectives

On Politics 1 (2):257-72.

Ashraf El Sherif, Study of Islamism: research Paradigms (unpublished

manuscript)

Part I: Islamist ideology: Islamist democrats: Post-Islamism or Another Islamism?

February 14h- Islam, Islamists and democracy: Islamist ideology: From Qutbism to Islamist democracy : Ghannoushi, Turabi and Egyptian Wasattiya school

• Are there particular Islamic movements who are shifting their ideologies from identity to reform and from faith to governance? Under what conditions Islamists are behooved to democratize their sublime Islamist ideology in an “auto-reform” process?
• What are the Islamist democrats’ new strategies of “soft politics” and engagement with civil society and day-to-day politics are in the making?
• How can Islamist democrats depart from an ideological package which is characterized by universalism, monopoly over religious truth, and exclusive approach to politics and how did they justify their message against a backdrop of a fragmented and pluralized religious sphere?

Readings: