Search

This book explores the political trajectories of various countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, tracing the shifts in party systems and regime transitions along a model-like trajectory that spans from revolutionism to authoritarianism and electoral Islamism. Adopting a comparative perspective, this book places patterns of party formation and developments in authoritarian and semi-authoritarian systems within a historical and regional context. It argues that during distinct periods, such as the prevalence of nationalism in the 1920s pre-independence era, the flourishing of pan-Arabism in the 1950s, and the rise of Islamism in the 1970s, ideologies have played a pivotal role in shaping the political landscape. While secular nationalism initially wielded a significant influence on political, social, and cultural change in the MENA region, the author argues that political Islam emerged as its primary rival. Even as secular leaders in MENA guided their republics through top-down reforms to establish a unified national ideology, many (though not all) eventually incorporated Islam to address popular demands. This book's key contribution lies in conceptualizing Islamism as a form of dialectical ideology.This book offers an in-depth analysis of politics, party systems, and regime transitions in the MENA region. It is poised to resonate with students and researchers in political science, history, and Middle East studies.

Contesting Pluralism(s) challenges a widespread tendency to limit studies of Turkish – and Muslim – politics to'Islamist vs. secularist'or'Islam vs. democracy'debates. Instead, Nora Fisher-Onar's innovative argument centers on coalitions for and against pluralism. Retelling Turkey's story from the late Ottoman Empire to the present as a tale of pluralizing vs. anti-pluralist coalitions, this book offers an alternative explanation for major outcomes from elections and coup d'etats to revolutions. Here, cross-camp alliances pit those who are willing to coexist with'Other(s)'against those who champion a unitary, national project in which everyone speaks, believes, looks, and loves as they do. Drawing on a rich array of primary and secondary data, Fisher-Onar introduces an analytical framework for capturing causal complexity in political contestation. This study rejects Orientalist exceptionalism, rereading the relationship between political religion, pluralism, and populism via a framework that travels across and beyond the Muslim-majority world.

Europe and the Islamic world have shared a long and conflicted history. From the Middle Ages to the global War on Terror, the image of two civilizations perpetually at war has endured. However, a closer look at the past suggests this was not always the case. Muslim Europe follows the lives of imperialists, journalists, and Muslim activists who attempted to challenge the idea of two opposing civilizations locked in eternal conflict. Rich in detail, it tells the stories of English officials who once declared Britain the greatest “Muslim power” on the face of the earth and recounts the extraordinary political campaign that saw a French Muslim elected to the National Assembly against all odds. The “age of empire” brought Islam into European public life like never-before, inspiring Muslims on the continent to take to the press and mount political movements guided by desires for greater social recognition. In chronicling the forgotten history of Europe's early Muslim communities across empires, Muslim Europe proposes a new history for Europe, highlighting the contributions made by Muslim subjects and citizens in search of a more just and tolerant society.