Islamism, 5 cr

Islamism is one of the most important political ideologies and social movements of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. Propagated as a “revival” by its proponents, and labeled as “fundamentalist” by its opponents, it is also often described as “political Islam” or “Islamism.” This course has three main objectives: (1) To understand the historical, socio-economic, political and cultural context in which the Islamicate world has gone through a significant change and has produced Islamist contention. (2) To understand why Islamism is a populist movement, its relationship with Western hegemony over the world, globalization and global political economy, especially its relationship with social classes and economic and political struggles. (3) To understand why and how a jihadist version emerged, that is to say, a version of Islamism which employs violence and terror as a political instrument; the role of globalization and technology in jihadism; the relationship between violence and politics in jihadist ideology.

Keep in mind that we will not approach Islamism as an isolated, self-contained object, some sort of evil worldview without any social context, or simply and exclusively rooted in the religion of Islam. On the contrary, we will see Islamism as an opportunity to unfold, analyse and discuss a number of social, economic and political problems we have on a global level, from social and economic inequalities to questions of secularism and religion, or the relationship between violence and politics. The main idea of the course is precisely that this is the healthiest way to understand Islamism.

Weekly Schedule:

Meeting 1: Introducing the Course

A short introduction to Islam; some history; secularism and religion.

Meeting 2: Islam and Colonialism

S.V.R. Nasr: “European Colonialism and the Emergence of Modern Muslim States”

F. Fanon: A Dying Colonialism, excerpts.

Meeting 3: Orientalism and Colonialism

Edward Said: Orientalism, Introduction.


Gayatri Spivak: “The Rani of Sirmur” pp. 253-254.

Meeting 4: Islam, Modernity and Secularism

Mahmut Mutman: “Under the Sign of Orientalism”

Jamal Elias: “Early Reformists”

Suggested further reading:

Sayyid Qutb: Milestones, excerpts.

Meeting 5: Islamism as a Political Movement

Sami Zubaida: “Trajectories of Political Islam: Egypt, Iran and Turkey”

Suggested further reading:

Deniz Kandiyoti: “The Travails of the Secular: Puzzle and Paradox in Turkey”

Sami Zubaida: “Islam and Nationalism: Continuities and Contradictions”

Meeting 6: The Political Economy of Islamism

Joel Beinin: “Political Islam and the New Global Economy”

Suggested further reading:


Evren Hosgör: “Islamic Capital/Anatolian Tigers”

Evren Hosgör: “The Question of AKP Hegemony”

Meeting 7: Jihadism, Globalisation and Network Theory

Faisal Devji: Landscapes of Jihad, excerpts.

Olivier Roy: “Lure of the Death Cult”


Faisal Devji: “ISIS: Haunted by Sovereignty”

Mahmut Mutman: “Islamophobia”

Suggested further reading:


Antoine Bosquet: “Complexity Theory and the War on Terror”

Nafeez Ahmed: “Follow the Oil, Follow the Money”

Meeting 8: Jihadism, Media and Technology

Handout: Religion and Technology

Film: The Clanging of Swords


Jihadist Press. Dabıq

Meeting 9: Jihadism, Politics and Violence

Thomas Keenan: “A language that needs no translation”

Suggested Further Reading:


Nasser Hussain: “The Sound of Terror”

Week 10: Review and Discussion

Requirements:

1. Attendance is required and constitutes the 10% of the overall grade.

2. Verbal participation in class discussion is essential and it is 15% of the grade.

3. Three response papers to be submitted in weeks 4, 7 and 11. A response paper is double-spaced, minimum 7-8 pages response to the reading material. Each is 25% of the overall grade. A couple of simple explanations about “response paper”:

(a) Your response to the material is not simply stating your opinion (“good” or “bad”) about the reading, nor is it a summary of it, but a discussion of a certain aspect of it (a concept, an article, an issue). Your response paper may include not only the required reading but also the suggested further reading (indeed I strongly encourage you to do so). Example: for your first response paper, you may choose to discuss Edward Said’s idea of “an epistemological and ontological distinction between the West and East, made by Orientalism” (its meaning, its implications, or its criticism!). Or, you may like to discuss the relationship between Islam and colonialism (how colonialism influenced Islam, how Islam responded to colonialism, the long-run implications, etc.)

(b) Although this is not required, you are also encouraged to bring your own resources to discuss the readings and topics we have covered in class. Keeping with the example of the first response, you may find a criticism of Said and introduce it in order to discuss Said’s argument.

4. Calculation of grades: Attendance: %10

Participation: %15

Response papers: 3x%25

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Total: %100