Questioning the classical secularization thesis, this article addresses the use of Islam as political ideology in Turkey and attempts to identify the historical conditions under which this role has varied. More generally, assessing the internal tensions of post-colonial nationalism, the article places the recent popularity of religious politics within the context of challenges raised against the global project of modernization. The article argues that while 19th-century Islamism in Turkey was a prelude to the project of westernization, present- day Islamism is a manifestation of the predicament of this project.

https://kanak-attak.de/ka/down/pdf/amr/21guelalp_islam_as_pol_ideology.pdf

Marx and the End of Orientalism@@@Marxism and Other Western Fallacies

USING ISLAM AS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Turkey in Historical Perspective

The cambridge history o f twentieth-century

This paper explores the responses of Western governments to the politicisation of their Muslim citizens. The immediate aim of current policies is to pre-empt the growth of „Islamic extremism‟, but they also build on developments in the incorporation of faith groups into new forms of partnership governance. While I share governmental concern about the risks of young Muslims being attracted by those who advocate violent interpretations of Islam, I argue that current policies will only make this more likely. I argue that the increasing role for faith groups within Western political structures encourages division along faith lines, and that government attempts to promote a „moderate‟ Islam from above are more likely to alienate those they seek to reach. And I argue that the rise of political religion of all kinds has to be understood as a consequence of the decline of an effective Left movement through which to channel frustrations with local and international inequalities. With socialism, even of the social democratic variety, off and deliberately removed from the agenda, some of those who once looked to socio-economic solutions, are now turning to other ideologies. I argue that the only way for western nations to prevent this, and open up real spaces of hope, is to return to addressing those basic socio-economic issues and concentrate on increasing equality both within their own borders and in their foreign policy.

Marx and the End of Orientalism@@@Marxism and Other Western Fallacies

Citations

USING ISLAM AS POLITICAL IDEOLOGY Turkey in Historical Perspective

The cambridge history o f twentieth-century

Liberalising Islam: Creating Brits of the Islamic Persuasion

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