Suchergebnisse

Islamic perspectives on the new millennium -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Contributors -- 1. Islamic Perspectives on the New Millennium -- The New World Order -- 2. Islam and the West: Challenges and Opportunities -- 3. Indonesian Responses -- The New Age -- 4. Islam and Globalization: Arab World Perspectives -- 5. Indonesian Muslims Enter a New Age -- The Economy -- 6. Financial Activism among Indonesian Muslims -- 7. Islamic Banking and Finance: In Search of a Pragmatic Model -- The Nation-State -- 8. Political Islam in Post-Soeharto Indonesia -- 9. The Experience of the Islamic Republic of Iran -- Muslim Women -- 10. Muslim Women and Human Rights in the Middle East and South Asia: Occupying Different Spaces -- 11. Islam, Gender, and Politics in Indonesia -- Law and Knowledge -- 12. Perspectives on the Shari'a and the State: The Indonesian Debates -- 13. The Role of Muslims in the New Millennium -- Conclusion -- 14. Developing Islamic Arguments for Change through -- Glossary -- Index of Names -- Index of Subjects.

The enduring debate on institutional pillars of contemporary political economies has gathered a noticeable momentum in terms of the change, path-dependence, and varieties of capitalism. By taking a methodological standpoint claiming that 'the current structure and the future of contemporary societies can only be understood by using an evolutionary and macro institutional approach that would explain the trajectories of social structures from a systemic perspective', this book first aims at formulating a novel analytical framework thus, Institutional System Analysis in Political Economy. This framework comprises, inter alia, a model of path-dependent changes, and then attempts to apply it to the case of the Ottoman-Turkish social system. In sum, the book develops an 'interaction-theoretic and evolutionarily-structured approach' with an aim to better capture the path-dependence and change of political, economic, and cultural action in terms of their intersectional dynamics.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, the political processes in the Islamic world showed beyond the shadow of a doubt that religion is still a viable part of public life in the Muslim countries. Moreover, certain states, such as Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, have restored religion to its rightful place in their policy. The comment by American political scientist John Esposito to the effect that Islamic ideology, symbols, slogans, and actors became prominent fixtures in Muslim politics suits these countries well. The stable influence of Islam on sociopolitical life is largely explained by the particular features of Muslim teaching. Islam is usually considered a system that regulates many aspects of people's lives. In this interpretation, Islam is not only a religious system, but also offers a model for organizing society. Moreover, some Muslim scientists believe that sociopolitical activity is a religious duty in Islam, and that it is a religious obligation for a Muslim to remain aware of the political realities around him. The "ideological meaning" of Islam, in the opinion of Shaukat Ali, a representative of Islamic thought, is also increased by the fact that every Muslim is under religious obligation to understand and respect the past. The "past" implies the "unique period" of the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the four righteous caliphs. In this way, the "ideal past" serves as a model for a perfect human society, to which believers should strive. As Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949), an Egyptian ideologist of Islamism, claimed that the conflict characteristic of Europe between spiritual and secular principles, between religion and the state, has no place in Islam …The Christian idea of "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" is missing here, since everything belongs to Almighty Allah. From this point of view, Islam is not only a religion, but also a "way of life," it contains the solution to social, political, and other secular issues. According to Muslim fundamentalists, reform in Islam does not mean modification or changes in the way of thinking and practice established by the Prophet and his companions, rather "purifying Islam" of "alien" elements which supposedly deprive it of its original clarity, simplicity, and power.

Informal power structures in Russia and ethno-political conflict in the northern Caucasus / Maxim U. Barbashin -- Islam and the legal system in the northwestern Caucasus / Irina L. Babich -- 'Re-Islamisation' and ethno-nationalism : the Circassians (Adyghe) of the northwestern Caucasus and their diaspora / Chen Bram -- The Republic of Adygheia : perceptions of rights, freedoms and life chances of ordinary people / Cemre Erciyes -- The events of November 1996 in Kabardino-Balkaria and their prehistory / Julietta Meskhidze -- Russian policies towards Islamic extremism in the northern Caucasus and destabilization in Kabardino-Balkaria / Walter Richmond -- Ideology and conflict : Chechen political nationalism prior to, and during, ten years of war / Ekaterina Sokirianskaia -- The Orstkhoy revival : identity and border dispute in the northern Caucasus / Victor A. Shnirelman -- 'I can fight, army against army' : the 1994-1996 Russo-Chechen War, strategies and misconceptions / Yagil Henkin -- Allah's foot soldiers : an assessment of the role of foreign fighters and Al-Qaʻida in the Chechen insurgency / Brian Glyn Williams -- From the challenge of nationalism to the challenge of Islam : the case of Daghestan / Moshe Gammer -- 'Wahhabis, ' Democrats and everything in between : the development of Islamic activism in post-Soviet Azerbaijan / Sofie Bedford -- Demography of north Caucasian Jewry : a note on population dynamics and shifting identity / Mark Tolts

In the post-Soviet era, democracy has made little progress in Central Asia. In Chaos, Violence, Dynasty, Eric McGlinchey presents a compelling comparative study of the divergent political courses taken by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan in the wake of Soviet rule. McGlinchey examines economics, religion, political legacies, foreign investment, and the ethnicity of these countries to evaluate the relative success of political structures in each nation. McGlinchey explains the impact of Soviet policy on the region, from Lenin to Gorbachev. Ruling from a distance, a minimally invasive system of patronage proved the most successful over time, but planted the seeds for current "neo-patrimonial" governments. The level of direct Soviet involvement during perestroika was the major determinant in the stability of ensuing governments. Soviet manipulations of the politics of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the late 1980s solidified the role of elites, while in Kyrgyzstan the Soviets looked away as leadership crumbled during the ethnic riots of 1990. Today, Kyrgyzstan is the poorest and most politically unstable country in the region, thanks to a small, corrupt, and fractured political elite. In Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov maintains power through the brutal suppression of disaffected Muslims, who are nevertheless rising in numbers and influence. In Kazakhstan, a political machine fueled by oil wealth and patronage underlies the greatest economic equity in the region, and far less political violence. McGlinchey's timely study calls for a more realistic and flexible view of the successful aspects of authoritarian systems in the region that will be needed if there is to be any potential benefit from foreign engagement with the nations of Central Asia, and similar political systems globally