| Indhold: |
This course is about the development of the contemporary Islamist movements in Middle East and Central Asia, and which focuses on social history of selected Muslim societies. The course is therefore organized around discussions of key events, important personalities and organizations that have influenced contemporary movements and their transformation to a political force with growing influence in state affairs across what is traditionally known a Muslim world. The timeline of the course theme stretches from the late 19th century up to our days.
The course is divided into three major parts. In part one; we cover briefly theoretical approaches used in social research. Since this course is on Islamist movements we will also go through some of the major works selected from the rich and wide-ranging research on social movements, touching upon the subject. Major concepts are to be discussed in this part as well as their sometimes ambiguous meanings. Furthermore, the focus will lie on a couple of important theoretical approaches which need to be critically approached in order to understand contemporary Islamist movements. We will thereafter explore these few different approaches which may be used to research social movements’ impact on social change, its successes and failures. (One third of all lectures are devoted to this part. In other words, first 7-8 lectures).
In the second part we look at some key concepts used by majority of Islamists and which are ultimately derived from their interpretation of Islam. Brief historical introduction to early Islamic society is necessary as well as subsequent historical development of different Islamic societies. Here we will revisit downfall of the Khilafah (Islamic “state” institutions) and the emergence of ideological calls for revival of the Islamic state. These events are directly related to contemporary calls to revival of the “old” order. Nevertheless, as we will discuss modern Islamist movements’ rhetoric and practical approach to social change is far removed from the “old” institutional frameworks. (One third of all lectures are devoted to this part).
In the third part we examine closely recent development of non-violent Islamist (trans)national organizations and their pragmatic call for change in some Muslim societies. Here we will use two movements working in two societies in what we traditionally call the Muslim World, namely Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Islamic Liberation Party in Uzbekistan. (One third of all lectures are devoted to this part).
Some key questions to consider:
- How do Islamists explain their claim that religion and politics are inseparable in Islam?
- How are people mobilized to Islamist movements?
- Are Islamist movements a product of modern age or are they reacting against it?
- Why are some movements violent and other non-violent?
- Why are Islamists movements more successful than other oppositional groups in the large parts of the Muslim world?
- What is the future for the Islamist movements and will they rule Muslim countries?
Course outcomes:
• understanding complexities of the subject in the field
• sufficient knowledge base for further theoretical discussions and practical research
• ability to relate theoretical explanatory efforts with the complexities from the “real life” cases
• ability to relate contemporary developments with the appropriate historical context
• student must be able to argue clearly and logically about the material presented in the course as well as to articulate his/her ideas both verbally and in writing |
| Litteratur: |
A reading plan has been added in the course-room in Absalon
Proposed literature
Theoretical introduction
- P. Bourdieu: The Logic of Practice. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.
- A. Melucci: Challenging Codes: Collective action in the information age. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
- S. Tarrow: Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective Action and Politics. New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1994.
- C. Tilly: Explaining Social Processes. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2008.
- B. Turner: “Class, generation and Islamism: towards a global sociology of political Islam,” British Journal of Sociology, 54(1). 2003.
- J. Elster: Explaining Social Behavior: More nuts and bolts for social sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- D. Della Porta: “Case selection in case-oriented versus variable-oriented research” in How many approaches in the social sciences? Eds.: Keating M and della Porta. 2008.
- N. Crossley: Making Sense of Social Movements, Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002.
Limited literature selection on Islamism
- M. Ayoob: The Many Faces of Political Islam: religion andpolitics in the Muslim World. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2008.
- A. Ali: ”Islamism: Emancipation, Protest and Identity”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 20(1). 2000.
- O. Ashour: The De-radicalization of Jihadists. London: Routledge, 2009.
- L. C. Brown: Religion and state the Muslim approach to Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
- John L. Esposito and John O. Voll: Islam and Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
- N. Feldman: The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008.
- M. Hafez: Why Muslims Rebel? Repression and Resistance in the Islamic World. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003.
- G. Kepel: Muslim Extremism in Egypt: The Prophet and Pharaoh. Berkeley: University Press, 1993.
- I. M. Lapidus: A history of Islamic societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002 (2nd edition). (chapters 22-29)
- B. Lewis: What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East. New York: Perennial, 2003.
- R. Meijer: “Taking the Islamist Movement Seriously: Social Movement Theory and the Islamist Movement”, IRSH, 50. 2005.
- A. Rashed: Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.
- Olivier Roy: Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. London: Hurst and Company, 2004.
- P. Sutton and S. Vertigans: Resurgent Islam: a sociological approach. Cambridge: Polity, 2005.
- B. S. Sayyid: A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and Emergence of Islamism. London: Zed Press, 1994.
- C. Wickham: Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism, and Political Change in Egypt. New York, Columbia University Press, 2002.
- Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach. Ed.: Wiktorowitcz. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
- S. Zubaida: Islam, the People and the State: essays on political ideas. New York: Routledge, 1989.
Selected Readings
- A. Hourani: History of the Arab Peoples. Faber and Faber, 2005.
- E. Karigiannis: Political Islam in Central Asia: The Challenge of Hizb UT-Tahrir London: Routledge, 2010.
- I. Lapidus: A history of Islamic societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002 (edition).
- R. Mitchell: The Society of the Muslim Brothers. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Recommended readings
- M. Hodgson: The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Volumes 1-3. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1977.
- Ibn Khladun: The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History. Princeton University Press, 2004. (Tr. F. Rosenthal and abridged N. J. Dawood).
Observe!
There will be a compendium/selection of articles and other selected chapters available for copying (or purchase) (ca: 20 selected scholarly articles on Islamism and social movements). |