Political Islam Observed - Hardcover

Volpi, Frederic

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849040605 ISBN 13: 9781849040600

Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

This book offers a framework for understanding the interaction between the academic disciplines 'observing' contemporary political Islam and the individuals and communities being 'observed' practising it. Volpi investigates how different disciplinary approaches in the social sciences explain and understand their 'Islamic' subject matter, revealing how political Islam is a phenomenon that each academic discipline analyses using its own dominant paradigms. He offers a multidisciplinary account of political Islam based on the insights provided by postorientalism, international studies, sociology of religion, democratisation studies, multiculturalism studies, security studies, and globalisation studies. His book outlines the areas of convergence and the synergies between these approaches and highlights the gaps and misunderstanding that still exist between parallel narratives on Islamism.

About this title

About the Author:

Frederic Volpi is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews and the author of Islam and Democracy.

Review:

Has the potential of becoming a very significant contribution to the study of political Islam.' - Dr Francesco Cavatorta, Dublin City University 'Going beyond the subtle irony of the title, Volpi digs deeper than any other work to date into the myriad latent issues-theoretical, historical, contemporary-buried behind the reassuring category of 'political Islam' and offers us nothing less than the best available map to navigate the political tensions and conceptual ambiguities evoked by the idea of Islam gone 'political.' Patiently guided up the impervious interdisciplinary slope from which 'political Islam' can be 'observed,' we also receive, on the way down, a precious transdisciplinary knowledge bonus: an articulate understanding of the fine synapses of a complex phenomenon-a sometimes culturally oriented, sometimes resentment-driven call for justice and quest for participation.' -- Armando Salvatore, author of 'The Public Sphere: Liberal Modernity, Catholicism, Islam', New York: Palgrave Macmillan 'If the maturity of a discipline is determined by the quality of its secondary literature, then Volpi's book signals the coming of age of Islamism studies. He provides a multidisciplinary critique that is epistemologically rich and fruitful. By bringing together in one volume the major attempts to comprehend political Islam, this book demonstrates how complex a phenomenon it is and how radical is its challenge to conventional Eurocentric social sciences. His book is a must-read for all interested in political Islam and its place in the world.' -- S.Sayyid, author of 'A Fundamental Fear.'

About this edition

• Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1849040605
• ISBN 13: 9781849040600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 226