Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn (Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and I) (Paperback)

~ Asef Bayat (Author)
Key Phrases: republican theology, conservative religiosity, passive revolution, Muslim Brotherhood, United States, Islamic Republic (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent political and sociological comparison between Egypt and Iran based on direct personal observation of both countries, which gives this work a subtlety and authority lacking in many academic accounts of the region... Bayat skillfully interweaves social, economic and political change with intellectual debate in both countries. He pays close attention to the idiom of debate on religion and politics, yet he shows successfully that Muslim politics is better understood by how Muslims practice politics than by how they define it."—Muslim World Book Review

"Asef Bayat is a privileged observer of two crucial arenas of Muslim politics and society. Iranian by birth and education, he lived through the 1979 Revolution and studied its politics closely. Subsequently he lived and worked in Egypt, and got to know that country intimately. Switching his focus between the two, Bayat provides a powerful contrast between different kinds of Islamic society."—New Humanist

"Relying mostly on experiences in Iran and Egypt and using a variety of Persian, Arabic, and Western sources, Bayat has written a masterly and intellectually challenging comparative analysis of social movements, including post-Islamic ones, and their impact on the ongoing debate over democratization in the Muslim Middle East."—Library Journal
"Making Islam Democratic is a key acquisition for any college-level collection strong in Middle East studies. It offers... a fine analysis of the contemporary Iranian revolution and its evolution."—California Bookwatch

Product Description

"In a commanding and detailed overview of the contemporary Middle East, Asef Bayat provides a unique account of the region today, in terms of ideologies, social movements and state power. Almost alone amongst scholars of the region in having expertise on both Iran and the Arab world, and with a deep commitment to combining regional knowledge with social theory, Bayat has produced a work of originality and quality. His exploration of the category 'post-Islamism.' when so many in the Middle East and the West stress the impact of Islamism itself, sets this work apart from so many prevailing, repetitive and introverted, discussions of the region."
--Professor Fred Halliday, London School of Economics, Fellow of the British Academy

"Unquestionably the best book I have read on Islamic trends in Iran and Egypt. Bayat, combining sociological sophistication with sharply detailed observation, offers hearty fare for those who are tired of the thin gruel served up elsewhere."
--Richard W. Bulliet, Columbia University, author of The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization

"Asef Bayat's lucid and authoritative study sheds much-needed light on the vexed topic of Islam and democracy. Though Bayat sees no necessary hostility between the two, Muslims in the Middle East are in practice caught between authoritarian regimes, authoritarian Islamist oppositions, and foreign military occupation. Nonetheless, focusing on Iran and Egypt, he sees grounds for hope, mainly in post-Islamist social movements which may establish a presence in civil society sufficient to force concessions from the regimes. Since their problems have recently become our problems too, this excellent book should be very widely read."
--Michael Mann, University of California, Los Angeles, author of Sources of Social Power

Whether Islam is compatible with democracy is an increasingly asked question, but ultimately a misguided one. In this book, Asef Bayat proposes that democratic ideals have less to do with the essence of any religion than with how it is practiced. He offers a new approach to Islam and democracy, outlining how the social struggles of student organizations, youth and women's groups, the intelligentsia, and other social movements can make Islam democratic.

Making Islam Democratic examines in detail those social movements that have used religion to unleash social and political change, either to legitimize authoritarian rule or, in contrast, to construct an inclusive faith that embraces a democratic polity. It provides a fresh analysis of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution--how it has evolved into the pervasive, post-Islamist reform movement of the early twenty-first century, and how it differed from Egypt's religious "passive revolution."

Focusing on events from the Iranian Revolution to the current day, with a comparative focus on Islamism, post-Islamism, and active religious expression across the region, Bayat explores the highly contested relationship between religion, politics, and the quotidian in the Middle East. His book provides an important understanding of the great anxiety of our time--the global march of "Muslim rage"--and offers a hopeful picture of a democratic Middle East.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804755957
• ISBN-13: 978-0804755955
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #357,700 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A key acquisition for any college-level collection, December 4, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

MAKING ISLAM DEMOCRATIC: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND THE POST-ISLAMIC TURN is a key acquisition for any college-level collection strong in Middle East studies. It offers a focus on events from Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution to modern times, considering religion, politics and everyday life in the Middle East and providing a fine analysis of the contemporary Iranian revolution and its evolution. Asef Bayat is Academic Director of the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, and lends authority and insight to his review of the modern Middle East world.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch