Globalization, Political Islam, and Moderation: The Case of Muslim Democratic Parties

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 76-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kadir Yildirim
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Original Field ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Competitive Liberalization

In this article, I examine the rising significance of a moderate kind of Islamist party emerging in the Middle East in recent years—Muslim democratic parties—and, the factors underlying their electoral success. In this, the manuscript takes a closer look at an important constituency of Islamist parties, the small and medium business owners (smes). Briefly, I argue that smes’ support underlies the success of moderate Muslim democratic parties as opposed to more conservative Islamist parties, and what determines smes’ support for a moderate party is the change in their political preferences. The change in sme preferences, I show, is due to the form that economic liberalization takes, whether economic liberalization is more inclusive (what I call competitive liberalization) or exclusive/selective (what I call crony liberalization). Empirically, I rely on original field interviews I conducted with party officials and business owners in Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey. I also integrate primary sources such as party publications into the analysis.

Studying Political Islam

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian Schwedler
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Tangible Object ◽  
The Many ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Diverse Groups

Over the past two decades, scholars of the Middle East have produced an impressive body of scholarship that seeks to understand diverse groups and practices that are together called political Islam. Much of our work has drawn little attention outside of academia despite the obsession with Islam shared by policymakers and the general public. The many careful studies produced by academics and some journalists—typically based on extensive field research and use of primary sources in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian—have to contend with bestselling books that trade in fears about the irrational, West-hating Muslim fanatic. Unfortunately, serious scholarship on political Islam cannot ignore this terrain of stereotypes and fearmongering, as it dominates mainstream debates about Islam and the Middle East. But in responding to these discourses, we often allow them to dictate our analytic starting point, resulting in less theoretical innovation and empirical insight than might emerge if we moved beyond the focus on Islamist groups and whether most are moderate or radical. Indeed, we might do well to abandon altogether the idea that “political Islam” represents a tangible object of study.

Ballot Cues, Business Candidates, and Voter Choices in Local Elections

2020 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2094355
Author(s):  
Brian E. Adams ◽  
Edward L. Lascher ◽  
Danielle Joesten Martin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Political Experience ◽  
Occupational Information ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Occupational Background

American voters commonly express abstract support for candidates with a business background, yet there is minimal systematic evidence about whether it advantages candidates in actual electoral contests. We examine this question using observational data, drawing on a California law allowing candidates to designate their occupational background on the ballot, and experimental data. Candidates with a business background are prevalent in California. However, neither of our studies indicate that business candidates enjoy atypical overall electoral success (although Republican leaning constituencies have a notably more favorable view of such candidates). A political background predicts electoral success far more effectively. Further, “small business owners” have more success than other business candidates, suggesting that voters consider the specifics of a candidate’s business experience. These results advance our knowledge of decision making in low-information elections, how voters weigh private-sector versus political experience, and how they filter occupational information through a partisan lens.

Making History to/as the Main Pillar of Identity: The Assyrian Paradigm

Belleten ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (276) ◽  
pp. 631-646
Author(s):  
Bülent Özdemi̇r
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
National Consciousness ◽  
World War ◽  
Large Segment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Conditions

In the 20th century Assyrians living in Diaspora have increased their search of identity because of the social and political conditions of their present countries. In doing so, they utilize the history by picking up certain events which are still kept fresh in the collective memory of the Assyrian society. World War I, which caused a large segment of the Assyrians to emigrate from the Middle East, has been considered as the milestone event of their history. They preferred to use and evaluate the circumstances during WW I in terms of a genocidal attack of the Ottomans against their nation. This political definition dwarfs the promises which were not kept given by their Western allies during the war for an independent Assyrian state. The aspects of Assyrian civilization existed thousands of years ago as one of the real pillars of their identity suffer from the artificially developed political unification around the aspects of their doom in WWI presented as a genocidal case. Additionally, this plays an efficient role in removal of existing religious and sectarian differences for centuries among Assyrians. This paper aims at showing in the framework of primary sources how Assyrian genocidal claims are being used pragmatically in the formation of national consciousness in a very effective way. Not the Assyrian civilization but their constructed history in WWI is used for the formation of their nation definition.

scholarly journals ABOUT MEDIEVAL EGYPTIAN HISTORIANS

2020 ◽  
pp. 46-55
Author(s):  
ZUKHRA ARIPOVA
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extensive Information ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Mamluk Period ◽  
Historical Methods

This article is dedicated to the life and work of historians of the Mamluk period (1250-1517) in Egypt and the rich heritage left by them. In the XIII-XV centuries, Egypt had a special place among the countries of the Middle East due to the activities of the Mamluks. The prestige of the Mamluk sultans increased due to their victories in the fght against the Crusaders and the Mongols in the Middle East. The establishment of Mamluk rule in the history of Egypt, the growth of the superiority of military Mamluks in the country, the rise of the Bakhrit Mamluk sultans (1250-1382) and the political processes of the Burjit (Circassian) Mamluk period (1282-1517) are of particular interest for s this study. This article provides extensive information on the activities and works of medieval historians such as Abu alMahasin, Ibn Daud Al-Sayraf, Abd Ar-Rahman As-Sahawi, Jalal ad-Din As-Suyuti, Ibn Iyas Muhammad ibn Ahmad and Ibn Zanbal Ar-Rummal, Ali ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Asir, Abd Ar-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, al-Umari, Shahab ad-din alKalkashandi, Taki ad-din Al-Makrizi, Az-Zahiri, Khalil ibn Shahin. Relevance: After Uzbekistan gained independence, orientalists have new opportunities to search, study and disseminate information about Islam and the history of Islam among the general public. When studying the period of the history of the Mamluks in Egypt, many aspects of the history of Mavaraunnahr of that time are also revealed. Studying the primary sources containing information on this topic makes it possible to objectively evaluate the political, social and economic processes of this period. Methods. The article uses generally accepted historical methods based on the principles of historicity, structurality and objectivity. Conclusions: Also, it must be pointed out that objective coverage of the history of this period, in addition to the historical works of the above authors of the 13th-15th centuries, is facilitated by the study of various scientifc treatises, commentaries, shortened versions of works (almukhtasar), dictionaries, prose and poetic works.

scholarly journals Political and ideological normalization: quality of government, mainstream-right ideological positions and extreme-right support

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Christos Vrakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Right ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Radical Right Parties ◽  
Post War ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
Party Family ◽  
Extreme Right Parties

Abstract This article aims to explain the variation in the electoral support for extreme-right parties (ERPs) in Europe. The extant literature on the far-right party family does not answer this question specifically with regard to the extreme-right variants for two main reasons. Firstly, theories did not expect the electoral success of these parties in post-war Europe due to their anti-democratic profiles and association with fascism. Secondly, despite the fact that they acknowledge the differences between the parties under the far-right umbrella – namely, the extreme and the radical – they normally do not take these differences into account, and if so, they focus on the radical-right parties. This article shows that electoral support for ERPs is associated with low quality of government and highly conservative mainstream-right parties. The former creates political legitimization for anti-democratic parties and the latter ideological normalization of extreme right.

Nicholas Said

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Bashir Salau
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Middle East ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
North Africa ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Sahara Desert ◽  
Insight Into

The two versions of the autobiography that Nicholas Said published offer insight into 19th-century conditions in five continents as well as insight into life as a child, slave, manservant, and teacher. As a child in the 1830s, Said was enslaved in Borno, marched across the Sahara Desert, and passed from hand to hand in North Africa and the Middle East. After serving as a slave in various societies, Said was freed by a Russian aristocrat in the late 1850s after accompanying the aristocrat in question to various parts of Europe. In the 1850s, Said also traveled as a manservant for a European traveler to South and North America. Ultimately he settled in the United States, where he authored two versions of his autobiography, served as a teacher and soldier, got married, and disappeared from sight. This article compares the two versions of the autobiography that Said published, provides an overview of Said’s life, charts the development of scholarly works on Said, and draws attention to the primary sources related to the study of Said and his autobiography.

scholarly journals Crusaders in Reverse? The Emergence of Political Islam in the Middle East and the Reactions of British Foreign Policy, 1978–1990

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Ihab Shabana
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
International Relations ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
British Foreign Policy

British foreign policy in the Middle East has been well researched. However, there are still aspects of Britain’s approach towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that have yet to be researched. One such aspect is Britain’s encounter with the rise of political Islam in MENA and the way(s) in which this phenomenon was deciphered. Even though political Islam dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century, our study focuses on the period between the turbulent years of the outburst of the Iranian Revolution in 1978–1979 and its widely-felt influence until 1990. Our methodological tools include Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) archival material that addresses the phenomenon of political Islam and its implications for British interests and international relations in general. We choose the concept of political Islam and its adherents that are widely acknowledged as political, comparatively to those of da’wa and Jihadi Islamism. We argue that British officials were widely influenced by the intellectual debates of the period under consideration and that they mainly adopted four analytical schemas which focused firstly on the rise of sectarian politics in MENA, secondly on the gradual accommodation of non-state actors and organizations in political analysis, thirdly on the worrisome prospect of an alliance between Islamist and communist forces, and lastly on the prevalence of the idea of Islamic solidarity and Islamic exceptionalism in exerting international politics. Our findings suggest that, at times, the FCO approaches the issue of political Islam with a reassuring mindset, focusing on its divisions and weaknesses, while at other times it analyzes it with a grave concern over stability and Britain’s critical interests.

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