How to Analyze Islamist Politics: Is it possible to make a Political Study without Sociology of Islam?

This article embarks on making a political analysis of Islamist politics by criticizing the hegemonic approach in the field and considering a number of the institutions or structures, composing of either state and its ideological-repressive apparatuses, political parties and actors, intellectual leadership and ideology, and political relations, events, or facts in political sphere. The aforesaid approach declares that the social and economic factors, namely class position, capital accumulation, market, education, and culture, have been far better significative for a political study in examining any political movement, party, and fact or event. However, our study will more stress on political structures, events and struggles or conflicts produced and reproduced by the political institutions, the relationships and the processes in question. Taking into account all these, it will be argued that they have been more significant as compared to class position, capital accumulation, market in economic structure, or culture and education, in a political study

Morocco and the Mirages of Democracy and Good Governance

El creciente contraste y la contradicción entre los procesos de radicalización y democratización en la era de las reformas del mercado global y la “Guerra contra el Terror” no se limitan a la escena política interna de Marruecos. Los movimientos políticos, las ONG, el gobierno, las instituciones internacionales y los gobiernos de otros países están todos implicados en un creciente número de redes internacionales, que hacen de la formulación de políticas una empresa global. En este artículo pretendemos examinar el impacto de la política estadounidense en el proceso de reformas marroquí. El antecedente de este análisis es la Iniciativa del Gran Oriente Medio de George W. Bush. La iniciativa estadounidense es ambiciosa, ya que intenta crear políticas que ataquen lo que se percibe como causas de la inestabilidad, violencia y/o islamismo en Oriente Medio. Marruecos es visto como uno de los aliados estratégicos de EE.UU. en la región, y se le ha pedido que se una a la “Guerra contra el Terror”. Marruecos es un caso interesante para estudiar simultáneamente el impacto de la “Guerra contra el Terror”, la implementación de un Acuerdo de Libre Cambio y las medidas de buen gobierno como instrumentos políticos para combatir el terrorismo por medio de la lucha contra la pobreza, y finalmente, la “cuestión islamista” particularmente presente en Marruecos

Reforming the family code in Tunisia and Morocco - the struggle between religion, globalisation and democracy

There is no doubt that one of the most contentious terrains of contestation in the supposed clash of values between Islamism and western values is the role of women in society. Thus, the issue of women's rights has become the litmus test for Arab societies with respect to the current zeitgeist of human rights in the age of democracy and liberalism. There is today a stereotypical view of debates surrounding women's rights in the Arab world where two distinct camps are in conflict with each other. On the one hand there are 'globalised' liberal and secular actors that strive for women's rights and therefore democracy, while on the other are obscurantist movements that are anchored in religious tradition, resist globalisation and are therefore autocratic by assumption. This article challenges this view and through an empirical study of the changes to the Code of Personal Status in Tunisia and Morocco it demonstrates that the issue of women's rights is far more complex and, in particular, it finds that there is a very significant decoupling between women's rights and democracy in the region, despite a progressive liberal shift in the gender equality agenda

Westernization and Muslims in Western Europe

Many scholars argue that as a whole, Muslims in Europe are not successfully integrating into European society. The reasons why are debated and still far from understood. It is clear, however, that many Muslim communities are negatively affected by many socioeconomic factors, leaving them poor and viewed as outcasts. Given these circumstances, scholars have suggested that some individuals join radical Islamist groups to give meaning to their lives and secure a sense of inclusion because they do not feel a part of the country in which they live. However, this fails to explain the numerous cases of highly educated, middle class Muslim individuals who appear to be successfully integrated into society, yet are converting to radical Islam. There is perhaps an underlying force at work that may explain why some individuals from both ends of the spectrum are turning to radical Islam: globalization

The Globality of Islam: Sharia as a Nigerian 'Self-Determination' Movement

This paper was produced as part of a project at the University of California, Santa Cruz titled Globalization, State Capacity and Islamic Movements. The objective of this paper to assess how globalization and Islam impact the capacity of national states to manage Muslim demands for self-determination expressed either as a call for establishing an Islamic state, an alternative Islamic project or greater regional autonomy. After discussing our general arguments, we turn to an analysis of the Sharia movement for self determination in twelve states located in northern Nigeria, a movement that challenged national identities, provoked inter-communal conflict and threatened the existence of the Nigerian federation.

Failure of Multiculturalism? Immigration, Radical Islamism, and Identity Politics in Europe

This paper addresses the issue of how Europe’s ethnic and cultural mix is changing drastically by the large numbers of culturally diverse, especially Muslim immigrants, as well as problems that Western European governments face today as they try to deal with unintended consequences of their liberal policies of multiculturalism. In light of this discussion, radical Islamism and identity politics are seen as long-term challenges for all liberal democracies. We argue that extremist voices among the right-wing populist parties in many Western European countries opposed to immigration and increasingly mobilized around the issue of Muslim minorities, may spur resentment and political activism among Muslim immigrant communities, which can turn very violent. We conclude that for the time being, the best realistic scenario is that Islamic radicalism in Europe will continue on a lower level of intensity, but it will not disappear and it may aggravate existing tensions in the future

Moderation through exclusion? The journey of the Tunisian Ennahda from fundamentalist to conservative party

The success of processes of democratic change is often predicated on the moderation of anti-systemic and extremist parties. The literature on such parties argues that such moderation, namely the acceptance of democratic procedures, human rights, and a market economy, comes about through inclusion. This seems to be borne out when one analyses a number of Islamist parties having contributed to the progressive democratization of their respective countries. The Tunisian case, however, offers a different perspective on moderation. This article argues that it has been exclusion through repression and social marginalization that has led the Islamist party Ennahda to move from its extreme anti-systemic position of the 1970s to become the mainstream conservative party it is today

Is Islam Compatible With Democracy? Islamist Movement’s Trajectory on Democratization in Indonesia

The democratization process in Indonesia is in line with the emergence several Islamic mass organizations which accept or rejected the concept of democracy. Since the pre-independence era, Indonesia has been facing some Islamist groups that opposed to state’s ideology of democracy. This article presents the discussion among scholars about the compatibility between Islamic norms and democratic values, and in what position Indonesia is. The dealing question with the discussion is; does the proliferation of radical Islamist movement signify the incompatibility of Islam and democracy? By using sociological and historical approach, this paper analyzes in order to what extent the values of democracy and Islamism adapt in the frame of a democratic country. The analysis of this research results that the existing radical Islamist movement is not a failure of Indonesia’s effort to harmonize Islam with democracy. Thus, neither the presence of pro-democracy Islamic mass organizations nor the radical Islamist movement cannot be used as the final argument to answer whether Islam compatible with democracy or not. The results of this study reveal that democratization in Indonesia has been accompanied by the proliferation of Islamist movements. The proliferation of Islamist movements nowadays precisely indicates that democracy in Indonesia has a special experience regarding new formula of peacefully religion-state relations.Proses demokratisasi di Indonesia berjalan seiring lahirnya berbagai organisasi masyarakat Islam yang mendukung maupun menolak demokrasi. Sejak era pra-kemerdekaan hingga era reformasi, Indonesia terus dihadapkan dengan fenomena gerakan Isalmisme yang bersebrangan dengan ideologi Negara. Artikel ini menghadirkan diskusi yang selama ini masih banyak didiskusikan mengenai kesesuaian Islam dan demokrasi, dan di mana posisi Indonesia dalam hal kesesuaian dan ketidaksesuaian Islam dan demokrasi tersebut. Pertanyaan kunci dari artikel ini apakah proliferasi gerakan Islamis radikal menandakan ketidaksesuaian Islam dan demokrasi? Dengan menggunakan pendekatan sosiologi dan historis, artikel ini menganalisis sejauh mana nilai-nilai demokrasi dan Islamisme beradaptasi dalam bingkai Negara yang demokratis. Hasil analisis dari kajian ini menemukan bahwa eksistensi gerakan Islamis radikal bukan sebuah pertanda akan kegagalan usaha keras Indonesia dalam mengharmonisasikan Islam dan demokrasi. Sehingga, kehadiran ormas Islam, baik pendukung maupun penolak demokrasi, keduanya tidak dapat dijadikan jawaban final bahwa Islam sesuai atau tidak dengan demokrasi. Hasil dari kajian ini menekankan bahwa demokratisasi di Indonesia selalu diwarnai dengan proliferasi gerakan Islamis. Proliferasi gerakan Islamis akhir-akhir ini justru membuktikan bahwa demokrasi di Indonesia memiliki pengalaman khusus terkait formula hubungan agama-negara dalam masyarakat yang demokratis