Overview

Although regarded as a single community of Islamists, Islamic political movements utilise vastly different means to pursue their goals. This book examines why some Islamic movements facing the same socio-political structures pursue different political paths, while their counterparts in diverse contexts make similar political choices. Based on qualitative fieldwork involving personal interviews with Islamic politicians, journalists, and ideologues - conducted both before and after the Arab Spring - author Esen Kirdis draws close comparisons between six Islamic movements in Jordan, Morocco and Turkey. She analyses how some Islamic movements decide to form a political party to run in elections, while their counterparts in the same country reject doing so and instead engage in political activism as a social movement through informal channels. More broadly, the study demonstrates the role of internal factors, ideological priorities and organisational needs in explaining differentiation within Islamic political movements, and discusses its effects on democratisation.

Full Product Details

9781474450676

Table of Contents

Reviews

"Kirdiş's volume is a most welcome contribution to the growing literature on Arab political parties. In this insightful study, Kirdiş provides a compelling analysis of how islamist organizations decide to either form a political party or continue their activism through more informal channels. This book is a fascinating empirical study focusing on the internal workings and debates of Islamist movements.-- ""Francesco Cavatorta, Professor of Political Science, Laval University"" The obvious strengths of the book include its comparative analysis of six cases in three countries by making important conceptual and empirical contributions. It is also impressive that the author conducted in-depth fieldwork in Morocco, Turkey, and Jordan with interviews and bibliographical sources in Arabic, English, French, and Turkish. [...] Overall, The Rise of Islamic Political Movements and Parties is an important contribution to the literature on religion and politics in general, and Islam and politics in particular. It is particularly a must read for those who want to learn about the diversity of Islamic groups in the Middle East.--Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University ""Journal of Church and State Vol. 62, No. 2"""

Author Information

Esen Kirdis is Associate Professor in International Studies at Rhodes College. Her current research explores Islamic political parties, Islamic movements, religion and politics and cross-religious comparative politics with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Esen's previous work was published in Political Research Quarterly, Democratization, Politics, Religion & Ideology and Turkish Studies.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available