This book identifies a new Islamic form in Turkey: Muslimism. Neither fundamentalism nor liberal religion, Muslimism engages modernity through Islamic categories and practices. This new form has implications for discussions of democracy and Islam in the region, similar movements across religious traditions, and social theory on religion.

Nationalism was a defining characteristic of Turkey in the twentieth century and was a central driving force in Kemal Ataturk's foundation of the Republic in 1923. How did the prominence of Kemalist ways of political thinking affect its people and policies? Is Turkey making progress towards post-nationalism or post-Kemalism in the twenty-first century? To what extent has Turkey's EU candidature been a vehicle of transformation since 1999 and what would EU membership mean for modern Turkey? This book explores the historical impact of Turkish nationalism, anti- liberalism and Westernization and examines the conditions that have contributed to the country's evolution from a quasi-religious Kemalism. Tracing the development of nationalism from its founding period before the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 to Kemalism and the present AKP government- and analysing key factors such as the position of minorities in the Turkification process and the influence of religious politics-this strong and significant contribution casts a new light on a vivid international debate.

This book presents an in-depth analysis of the role played by the EU accession process in Turkey’s democratic evolution and in the empowerment of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the early 2000s. Often moving against the grain of consolidated analytical positions, the author finds that the accession process can have a critical impact on the political evolution and institutional setting of an aspiring member state that goes well beyond the simple Europeanization process (or EU accession conditionality). In the case of Turkey, that process created the essential conditions and environment for the country’s political modernization by helping the emergence of a “periphery” (including Kurds, “conservative” Muslims and non-Muslims) that secularism had pushed into a marginal, secondary status in Turkish society. Turkey’s gradual evolution in an authoritarian direction, following the stalling of the EU accession process, offers further proof of the decisive role that the EU accession can play in a country’s democratic advancement. The book additionally indicates how Turkey’s EU-driven democratic evolution for a number of years had important implications in terms of regional and global order.

Turkey is often cited as a model for Muslim countries; its pro-western democracy an example that the clash of civilizations is not inevitable. Yet the process of political and economic liberalization has increased the appeal of political Islam. Jenkins analyses the re-emergence of Islam as a political force in Turkey and examines the repercussions.

Nineteenth-century Istanbul was an intellectual hub of rich discussions about Islam, in which leading reformists had a significant role. Turkey today appears to be an intellectual vacuum to anyone searching for ongoing critical engagement with Islam. The main purpose of this book is to adjust this view of Turkey by showcasing the modern Turkish theologians who challenge mainstream Sunni interpretations of Islam. Labelling these theologians as 'rationalist' rather than 'reformist', the author reveals that their theology is inherently anti-establishment and thus a religiously-oriented challenge to the hegemony of the state-sanctioned Islam: for the rationalists, Turkey's problems have their origins in the Sunni interpretation of Islam. Contemporary Rationalist Islam in Turkey analyses nine prominent scholars of Islam who provide a religious opposition to the Sunni revival in Turkey: Hüseyin Atay, Yasar Nuri Öztürk, M. Hayri Kirbasoglu, Ilhami Güler, R. Ihsan Eliaçik, Ömer Özsoy, Mustafa Öztürk, Israfil Balci, and Mehmet Azimli. These scholars' writings are almost exclusively published in Turkish, so this book makes their ideas available in English for the first time. It also examines the scope, methodology and argumentation of the scholars' theology, categorizing their theological interpretations from 'historicist' to 'universalist' and from 'empiricist' to 'rationalist'. In identifying a new 'rationalist' school of Turkish theology and outlining its different manifestations, the book breaks new ground. It fills a significant gap in the literature on Islamic studies and reveals an understudied dimension of Turkey and Turkish Islam beyond the well-known ideas of the AKP and the Gulenists.

Politics in Muslim societies : what's religion got to do with it? / Melani Cammett and Pauline Jones -- Islam and political structure in historical perspective / Eric Chaney -- State-formation, statist Islam, and regime instability : evidence from Turkey / Kristin E. Fabbe -- States, religion, and democracy in Southeast Asia : comparative religious regime formation / Kikue Hamayotsu -- Repression of Islamists and authoritarian survival in the Arab world : a case study of Egypt / Jean Lachapelle -- Regime types, regime transitions, and religion in Pakistan / Matthew J. Nelson -- Regime change under the Party of Justice and Development (AKP) in Turkey / Feryaz Ocaklı -- Islam, nationalism, and democracy in Asia : nations under gods or gods under nations? / Maya Tudor -- Military politics in Muslim societies / Nicholas J. Lotito -- Voting for Islamists : mapping the role of religion / Ellen Lust, Kristen Kao, and Gibran Okar -- Party systems in Muslim societies / Elizabeth R. Nugent -- Ideologies, brands, and demographics in Muslim Southeast Asia : "voting for Islam" / Thomas Pepinsky -- Religion and party politics in India and Pakistan / Steven I. Wilkinson -- Religion and electoral competition in Senegal / Dominika Koter -- Clientelism, constituency services, and elections in Muslim societies / Daniel Corstange and Erin York -- Religiosity and political attitudes in Turkey during the AKP era / S. Erdem Aytaç -- Religious practice and political attitudes among Shiites in Iran and Iraq / Fotini Christia, Elizabeth Dekeyser, and Dean Knox -- Repressive religious regulation and political mobilization in Central Asia : why Muslims (don't) rebel / Dustin Gamza and Pauline Jones -- How extraordinary was the Arab Spring? Examining "protest potential" in the Muslim world / Avital Livny -- Illicit economies and political violence in Central Asia / Lawrence P. Markowitz, and Mariya Y. Omelicheva -- Piety, devotion, and support for Shari'a : examining the link between religiosity and political attitudes in Pakistan / Niloufer A. Siddiqui -- Mapping and explaining Arab attitudes toward the Islamic State : findings from an Arab barometer survey and embedded experiment / Mark Tessler, Michael Robbins, and Amaney Jamal -- Social movements, parties, and political cleavages in Morocco : a religious divide? / Adria Lawrence -- The rise and impact of Muslim women preaching online / Richard A. Nielsen -- Religion and mobilization in the Syrian uprising and war / Wendy Pearlman -- Christian-Muslim relations in the shadow of conflict : insights from Kaduna, Nigeria / Alexandra Scacco and Shana S. Warren -- New media and Islamist mobilization in Egypt / Alexandra A. Siegel -- Islamically framed mobilization in Tunisia : Ansar al-Sharia in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings / Frédéric Volpi -- Islamist mobilization during the Arab uprisings / Chantal Berman -- Religious legitimacy and long run economic growth in the Middle East / Jared Rubin -- Islam and economic development : the case of non-Muslim minorities in the Middle East and North Africa / Mohamed Saleh -- State institutions and economic performance in 19th century Egypt / Lisa Blaydes and Safinaz El Tarouty -- Colonial legacies and welfare provision in the Middle East and North Africa / Melani Cammett, Allison Spencer Hartnett, and Gabriel Koehler-Derrick -- Islam and the politics of development : shrines and literacy in Pakistan / Adeel Malik and Rinchan Mirza -- Islam and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa / Melina R. Platas -- Islamic finance and development in Malaysia / Fulya Apaydin -- Welfare states in the Middle East / Ferdinand Eibl -- Islamist organizations and the provision of social services / Steven Thomas Brooke -- Exploring the role of Islam in Mali : service provision, citizenship, and governance / Jaimie Bleck and Alex Thurston -- Islamist parties and women's representation in Morocco : taking one for the team / Lindsay J. Benstead -- The Islamic State as a revolutionary rebel group : IS' governance and violence in historical context / Megan A. Stewart.

Focuses on moments in world history when cosmopolitan ideas and actions pervaded specific Muslim societies and cultures, exploring the tensions between regional cultures, isolated enclaves and modern nation-states.

This volume unfolds the ebbs and flows of Muslim thought in different regions of the world, as well as the struggles between the different intellectual discourses that have surfaced against this backdrop. With a focus on Turkey, Egypt, Iran and the Indian subcontinent – regions that, in spite of their particular histories and forms of thought, are uniquely placed as a mosaic that illustrates the intertwined nature of the development of Muslim socio-political thought – it sheds light on the swing between right and left in different regions, the debates surrounding nationalism, the influence of socialism and liberalism, the rise of Islamism and the conflict between state bureaucracy and social movements. Exploring themes of civil society and democracy, it also considers current trends in Muslim thought and possible future directions. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the fields of sociology, anthropology, political science, history and political economy, as well as those with interests in the study of religion, the development of Muslim thought, and the transformation of Muslim societies in recent decades.

How do ordinary men and women in Muslim-majority societies create religion-informed views of political topics such as democracy and economics? Beyond Piety and Politics provides a groundbreaking approach to understanding the depth and variety of political attitudes held by people who consider themselves to be pious Muslims. Using survey data on religious preferences and behavior, the authors argue for the relevance and importance of four outlook categories—religious individualist, social communitarian, religious communitarian, and post-Islamist—and use these to explore complex and nuanced attitudes of devout Muslims toward issues like democracy and economic distribution. They also reveal how intrafaith variation in political attitudes is not due simply to doctrinal differences but is also a product of the social aspects of religious association operating within political contexts. By highlighting the dynamic societal and political implications of religious devotion, Beyond Piety and Politics offers a fascinating new theoretical perspective on Islam and politics.

In the course of the 20th century, hardly a region in the world has escaped the triumph of global consumerism. Muslim societies are no exception. Globalized brands are pervasive, and the landscapes of consumption are changing at a breathtaking pace. Yet Muslim consumers are not passive victims of the homogenizing forces of globalization. They actively appropriate and adapt the new commodities and spaces of consumption to their own needs and integrate them into their culture. Simultaneously, this culture is reshaped and reinvented to comply with the mechanisms of conspicuous consumption. It is these processes that this volume seeks to address from an interdisciplinary perspective. The papers in this anthology present innovative approaches to a wide range of issues that have, so far, barely received scholarly attention. The topics range from the changing spaces of consumption to Islamic branding, from the marketing of religious music to the consumption patterns of Muslim minority groups. This anthology uses consumption as a prism through which to view, and better understand, the enormous transformations that Muslim societies—Middle Eastern, South-East Asian, as well as diasporic ones—have undergone in the past few decades.