Political Islam

Disciplines History Middle Eastern History

About the Book

The essays and case studies collected here—featuring some of the best material from Middle East Report over the past decade as well as much original material—challenge the facile generalizations about what Western media and political establishments usually call "Islamic fundamentalism." The authors demonstrate the complexity of these movements and offer complementary and contrasting interpretations of their origins and significance. The material included covers a broad range of themes—including democracy and civil society, gender relations and popular culture—as they have emerged in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

About the Author

Joel Beinin is Professor of History and Director of the Program in Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford University. He is an editor of Middle East Report. Joe Stork is a founder of the Middle East Research and Information Project and was Editor of Middle East Report for the first twenty-five years of its existence.

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION
1. On the Modernity, Historical Specificity,
and International Context of Political Islam
joel Beinin and joe Stork

PART ONE • ISLAM, DEMOCRACY, AND CIVIL SOCIETY
2. Introduction to Part One
Sheila Carapico
3· The New Orientalism and the Democracy Debate
Yahya Sadowski
4· Religion, the State, and Democracy:
Contrasting Conceptions of Society in Egypt
Sami Zubaida
5· Gender and Civil Society
Suad joseph, interview with Joe Stork
6. Islamist Notions of Democracy
Gudrun Kramer
7· Secularism, Integralism, and Political Islam:
The Egyptian Debate
Alexander Flores

PART TWO • THE CONTEST FOR THE STATE
AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY
8. Introduction to Part Two
Robert Vitalis
9. Is Iran an Islamic State?
Sami Zubaida
10. Islamic Mobilization and Political Change:
The Islamist Trend in
Egypt's Professional Associations
Carrie Rosefsky Wickham.
11. Hizb Allah and the Lebanese State
Assaf Kfoury
12. The Resurgence of Islam and the Welfare Party
in Turkey
Ronnie Margulies and Ergin Yzldzzoglu
13. Is There an Islamic Economics?
Karen Pfeifer
14. Funding Fundamentalism: The Political Economy
of an Islamist State
Khalid Medani

PART THREE • POLITICAL ISLAM AND GENDER RELATIONS
15. Introduction to Part Three
Barbara Harlow
16. Women, Islam, and the State
Deniz Kandiyoti
17. From Immodesty to Collaboration:
Hamas, the Women's Movement,
and National Identity in the Intifada
Rema Hammami
18. "Hassiba Ben Bouali, IfYou Could See Our Algeria":
Women and Public Space in Algeria
Susan Slyomovics
19. Devices and Desires: Population Policy
and Gender Roles in the Islamic Republic
Homa Hoodfar
20. The Women of Sudan's National Islamic Front
Sondra Hale

PART FOUR • THE STRUGGLE OVER POPULAR CULTURE
21. Introduction to Part Four
Timothy Mitchell
22. Rai, Rap, and Ramadan Nights:
Franco-Maghribi Cultural Identities
Joan Gross, David McMurray, and Ted Swedenburg
23. Dramatic Reversals: Political Islam
and Egyptian Television
Lila Abu-Lughod
24. Taking up Space in Tlemcen:
The Islamist Occupation of Urban Algeria
Rabia Bekkar, interview with Hannah Davis Taieb
25. Genesis of a Mobilization:
The Young Activists of Algeria's Islamic Salvation Front
Meriem Verges

PART FIVE • MOVEMENTS AND PERSONALITIES
26. Introduction to Part Five
Joost Hiltermann
27. What Does the Gama'a Islamiyya Want?
Tal'at Fu 'ad Qasim, interview with Hisham Mubarak
28. "Silencing Is at the Heart of My Case"
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, interview with Elliott Colla and Ayman Bakr
29. The Islamist Movement and the Palestinian Authority
Bassam farrar, interview with Graham Usher
30. What Kind of Nation?
The Rise of Hamas in the Occupied Territories
Graham Usher
31. Roots of the Shi'i Movement in Lebanon
Salim Nasr
32. "How Can a Muslim Live in This Era?"
Shaikh Hamid al-Nayfar, interview with Francois Burgat

List of Contributors
Index