Overview

This book demonstrates the vitality of Arab political thought and its major controversies. It shows that the key players involved, far from being constrained by a theological-political straitjacket, have often demonstrated strong critical thinking when tackling religion and philosophy, anthropology and politics. Setting these thinkers and their works within two centuries of upheaval in the Arab world, Georges Corm demonstrates how Arab critical thought has been marginalised by powerful external forces: the military, the academy and the media. In its place has risen a hegemonic Islamist thought, used cannily by certain Arab regimes and their Western protectors. Closely tracing the successive transformations of modernist Arab nationalism, Arab Political Thought offers a blueprint for understanding the libertarian Arab Spring, as well as the counter-revolutions and external interventions that have followed. This invaluable guide comprehensively distills the complexity of Arab intellectualism. Any return to peace in the region will rely heavily upon recognition of the powerful dynamics underlying this school of thought, which is both critical and profane, and a far cry from the outdated politico-religious image it has acquired.

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9781849048163

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Reviews

'This excellent study is comprehensive, covering a variety of writers from diverse parts of the Arab region whose ideas range from pan-Arabism to more localized identities ...This is an important book for students of the modern Arab world and indeed for anyone concerned more broadly with nationalism and modernization.' -- CHOICE 'Corm has produced a magisterial compendium of the Arab intelligentsia and their contributions to Arab thought right up to the Arab Spring.' -- Asian Affairs 'Not since Albert Hourani's Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age has there been such a comprehensive and accessible monograph as Georges Corm's erudite account. Focussing on twentieth-century Arabic and French literature, this is a welcome update written by a leading Arab intellectual and economist.' -- Jens Hanssen, Associate Professor of Arab Civilization, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations, University of Toronto 'An invaluable account of the intellectual currents within the Arab world and beyond, bringing this rich and seminal scholarship closer to us here in the West. Indispensable for those interested in the politics of the region and its underlying fabric of ideas.' -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS, University of London, and author of 'On the Arab Revolts and the Iranian Revolution' and 'A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations' 'An overview of the richness and complexity of Arab thought, deconstructing the dominant narratives that reduce the Arab peoples to vacuous, religious and ahistorical binaries. A must-read.' -- Fawaz A. Gerges, a Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

'This excellent study is comprehensive, covering a variety of writers from diverse parts of the Arab region whose ideas range from pan-Arabism to more localized identities ...This is an important book for students of the modern Arab world and indeed for anyone concerned more broadly with nationalism and modernization.' -- CHOICE 'Corm has produced a magisterial compendium of the Arab intelligentsia and their contributions to Arab thought right up to the Arab Spring.' -- Asian Affairs 'Not since Albert Hourani's Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age has there been such a comprehensive and accessible monograph as Georges Corm's erudite account. Focussing on twentieth-century Arabic and French literature, this is a welcome update written by a leading Arab intellectual and economist.' -- Jens Hanssen, Associate Professor of Arab Civilization, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations, University of Toronto 'An invaluable account of the intellectual currents within the Arab world and beyond, bringing this rich and seminal scholarship closer to us here in the West. Indispensable for those interested in the politics of the region and its underlying fabric of ideas.' -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS, University of London, and author of 'On the Arab Revolts and the Iranian Revolution' and 'A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations' 'An overview of the richness and complexity of Arab thought, deconstructing the dominant narratives that reduce the Arab peoples to vacuous, religious and ahistorical binaries. A must-read.' -- Fawaz A. Gerges, a Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics 'Draws a comprehensive and detailed framework of Arab political thought... [Arab Political Thought] will help students of International Relations escape the 'Orientalist' trap that creates a stereotype regarding the shared wisdom of the Middle East.'

‘This excellent study is comprehensive, covering a variety of writers from diverse parts of the Arab region whose ideas range from pan-Arabism to more localized identities …This is an important book for students of the modern Arab world and indeed for anyone concerned more broadly with nationalism and modernization.’ -- CHOICE ‘Corm has produced a magisterial compendium of the Arab intelligentsia and their contributions to Arab thought right up to the Arab Spring.’ -- Asian Affairs 'Eloquent and... profoundly original.' -- The Muslim World Book Review ‘Not since Albert Hourani’s Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age has there been such a comprehensive and accessible monograph as Georges Corm’s erudite account. Focussing on twentieth-century Arabic and French literature, this is a welcome update written by a leading Arab intellectual and economist.’ -- Jens Hanssen, Associate Professor of Arab Civilization, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations, University of Toronto 'An invaluable account of the intellectual currents within the Arab world and beyond, bringing this rich and seminal scholarship closer to us here in the West. Indispensable for those interested in the politics of the region and its underlying fabric of ideas.' -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS, University of London, and author of 'On the Arab Revolts and the Iranian Revolution' and 'A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations' 'An overview of the richness and complexity of Arab thought, deconstructing the dominant narratives that reduce the Arab peoples to vacuous, religious and ahistorical binaries. A must-read.' -- Fawaz A. Gerges, a Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics 'Draws a comprehensive and detailed framework of Arab political thought... [Arab Political Thought] will help students of International Relations escape the 'Orientalist' trap that creates a stereotype regarding the shared wisdom of the Middle East.'

`Not since Albert Hourani's Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age has there been such a comprehensive and accessible monograph as Georges Corm's erudite account. Focussing on twentieth-century Arabic and French literature, this is a welcome update written by a leading Arab intellectual and economist.' -- Jens Hanssen, Associate Professor of Arab Civilisation, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations, University of Toronto 'An invaluable account of the intellectual currents within the Arab world and beyond, bringing this rich and seminal scholarship closer to us here in the West. Indispensable for those interested in the politics of the region and its underlying fabric of ideas.' -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS, University of London, and author of 'On the Arab Revolts and the Iranian Revolution' and 'A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilisations' 'An overview of the richness and complexity of Arab thought, deconstructing the dominant narratives that reduce the Arab peoples to vacuous, religious and ahistorical binaries. A must-read.' -- Fawaz A. Gerges, a Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

Author Information

Georges Corm is Professor at the Institute of Political Sciences at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. He was formerly a public-sector economist and an international economic consultant. Between 1998 and 2000 he was Lebanese Minister of Finance. He has published extensively on the contemporary history of the Middle East and relations between the Arab world and the West.

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