Secularism and its Enemies

The following is intended to suggest a fairly simple contention concerning a number of interconnected propositions made in connection with the debates on modernity and secularism. None of these propositions is particularly novel, nor is this the first time that they have been put forward. Yet the issues raised have remained with us and become all the more pressing; I can see that points that were made, against the flow, more than two decades ago, now stand out more cogently than ever, and are being revisited, rediscovered or simply discovered by many. The simple contention I wish to start with concerns Islamism, often brought out emblematically when secularism and modernity are discussed. Like other self-consciously retrogressive identitarian motifs, ideas, sensibilities, moods and inflections of politics that sustain differentialist culturalism and are sustained by it conceptually, Islamism has come to gain very considerable political and social traction over the past quarter of a century

Secularism in the Arab World: Contexts, Ideas and Consequences

Explores secularism and secularisation in Arab societies since the mid-19th century. This book is a translation of Aziz al-Azmeh’s seminal work Al-\u27Ilmaniya min mandhur mukhtalif that was first published in Beirut in 1992. Both celebrated and criticised for its reflections on Arab secularisation and secularism in the modern history of the Arab World, it is the only study to date to approach its subject as a set of historical changes which affected the regulation of the social, political and cultural order, and which permeated the concrete workings of society, rather than as an ideological discussion framed from the outset by the assumed opposition between Islam and secularism. The author takes a comprehensive analytical perspective to show that an almost imperceptible yet real, multi-faceted and objective secularising process has been underway in the Arab world since the 1850s. Traces the concrete secular transformations in Muslim societies which occurred at particular times and by specific social agencies Explores how secular changes influenced the functioning of different strata and groups, and the central attitudes of their members Devotes considerable attention to religious reform in the broader context of the developments studied, and of the ideological, political and institutional religious reactions to both Includes a new Preface by the author to introduce the English translationhttps://ecommons.aku.edu/uk_ismc_series_intranslation/1003/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Financial Liberalization through the General Agreement on Trade and Services on Economic Growth in Developing Countries

This study investigates the influence of financial liberalization on economic growth in developing countries indirectly through their effect on financial development. It selects the size and activity of the financial system as indicators of financial development. The General agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) is a very useful option for developing countries to consolidate their financial sector reform to give foreign investors more certainty about financial investment opportunities in the economies of developing countries. This study chooses the level of commitments taking by developing countries in the GATS in banking sector as a measure of financial liberalization. The main objective is to examine the effect of developing countries financial liberalization commitments at the GATS on economic growth through their effect on the size and activity of the financial sector. According to the analysis conducted, the results show no real effect of the level of commitments taking by developing countries in the GATS on Economic Growth through their effect on the size and activity of financial development. Even though the effect of financial development on economic growth is positive, the effect of financial liberalization through the GATS on financial development is almost zero.   Keywords: Financial Liberalization, Economic Growth, Developing Countries, GATS, Financial Development. JEL Classifications: F65, O1

Testimonies of Syrian Academics Displaced Post 2011: Time, place and the agentic self

This article explores the experiences of protracted displacement in a group of 19 displaced Syrian academics now living in Turkey who are often referred to as the precariat that is, a group or collective of people who are living in conditions of high unpredictability, insecurity and uncertainty. As part of a small-scale collaborative professional enquiry , semi-structured interviews with these academics were conducted to understand the social, affective and professional experiences, needs and concerns of the academics during and after their forced displacement. The key concepts of precarity and crises of selfhood, alongside memory and testimony, inform the analysis. This article seeks to provide an account of this collective experience and its complex character and concludes with observations on how one might understand the constraints on professional agency and how might one support displaced academics in such contexts. Solidarity in exile and the development of political friendships are argued for as a principle to inform all work.CARA and Soros Foundatio

Islamism and Secularism: Between State Instrumentalisation and Opposition Islamic Movements

In Palestine, a reassertion of the ‘secularist’ identity of the ‘Palestinian national project’ is taking place against a deeply divided political society characterised by a Palestinian authority in conflict with Hamas. This article argues that the instrumentalisation of religion by the state has backfired leaving secular feminist activists in an unenviable position – without a constituency or a socially legitimate framework through which to address gender and social justice issues. At the same time, a reassertion of the ‘secularist’ identity is taking place against a deeply divided political society characterised by a Palestinian authority in conflict with Hamas. This conflict accompanying the ‘secularisation process’ resulted in crushing the very structure of the notion of citizenship and the figure of the secular citizen subject itself

Cultural trauma and the politics of access to higher education in Syria

This paper examines the relationship between the politics of Higher Education access pertaining to longstanding practices of patrimonial authoritarian politics and the narration of collective trauma. Building on an empirical study of Syrian HE during war, we suggest that a narrative disjuncture within HEIs has a damaging impact not only upon the educational process, HE reconstruction and reform, but also upon the possibility of social reconciliation. This is especially true when access to education and post-graduation opportunities are directly linked to patrimonial favouritism; widespread social inequalities in access and retention; a violent turn in the purging of oppositional academics; a severely exacerbated brain drain linked to political views; and significantly sparser employment opportunities. Building on the study findings, we show how these challenges are linked to ethico-political positioning vis-à-vis the mass movement of 2011 and related cultural trauma narratives. In closing, we suggest that understanding the relationship between HE access and cultural trauma can inform decision-making on HE reconstruction and future reform. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Thermotolerant isolates of Beauveria bassiana as potential control agent of insect pest in subtropical climates

The use of Beauveria bassiana in biological control of agricultural pests is mainly hampered by environmental factors, such as elevated temperatures and low humidity. These limitations, further amplified in a global warming scenario, could nullify biological control strategies based on this fungus. The identification of thermotolerant B. bassiana isolates represents a possible strategy to overcome this problem. In this study, in order to maximize the probability in the isolation of thermotolerant B. bassiana, soil samples and infected insects were collected in warm areas of Syria. The obtained fungal isolates were tested for different biological parameters (i.e., growth rate, sporulation and spore germination) at growing temperatures ranging from 20\u2daC to 35\u2daC. Among these isolates (eight from insects and 11 from soil samples), the five with the highest growth rate, spore production and germination at 30\u2daC were tested for their entomopathogenicity through in vivo assays on Ephestia kuehniella larvae. Insect mortality induced by the five isolates ranged from 31% to 100%. Two isolates, one from Phyllognathus excavatus and one from soil, caused 50% of the larval mortality in less than four days, reaching values exceeding 92% in ten days. These two isolates were molecularly identified as B. bassiana sensu stricto by using three markers (i.e., ITS, Bloc and EF1-\u3b1). Considering these promising results, further studies are ongoing, testing their efficiency in field conditions as control agents for agricultural insect pests in Mediterranean and Subtropical regions

Sharīʻa, Islamism and Arab support for democracy

The Arab Spring and its aftermath reignited the debate over the relationship between Islamism and democracy. This analysis improves upon previous research by demonstrating the crucial contribution which a more precise understanding of the multiple meanings of the concept of Sharīʻa can have on our assessment of the future of democracy in the Arab world. While support for the Sharīʻa-conformity of laws has a positive impact on the preference for democracy, the insistence that Sharīʻa represents the word of God as opposed to the human attempt to interpret it reduces support for democracy. These findings are of considerable significance for academics and policy-makers interested in the future of democracy in the Arab world as it suggests that generic expressions of support for Sharīʻa are less relevant in explaining support for democracy than what Arab women and men consider to be its essence

The Senility of Group Solidarity and Contemporary Multiculturalism: a Word of Warning from a Medieval Arabic Thinker

This paper discusses the thought of the medieval Maghrebin thinker Ibn Khaldun through the prism of the philosophy and sociology of law and politics. I will first try to illustrate how, even if Ibn Khaldun wrote in the fourteenth century, he anticipated many core concepts that are characteristic of modern Western sociological and philosophical thought. The argument is thus made that his thought can, and indeed must, be rescued from the wide neglect that, outside the specialized field of Khaldunian studies, it has so far suffered in our treatment and teaching of the history of politico\u2010legal sociological thought. I will then claim that the scheme he devised to explain the rise and fall of civilizations can also, with due care, be used to frame and understand the political and cultural landscape in which the West and the Islamic world are presently engaged in a difficult dialogue. The discussion is in this sense offered in the hope of making a contribution to the current politico\u2010legal philosophical and sociological debate on multiculturalism, and on the limits of its scope