Overview

This book offers a framework for understanding the interaction between the academic disciplines ""observing"" contemporary political Islam and the individuals and communities being ""observed"" practicing it. Volpi investigates how different disciplinary approaches in the social sciences explain and understand their ""Islamic"" subject matter, revealing how political Islam is a phenomenon that each academic discipline analyses using its own dominant paradigms. He offers a multidisciplinary account of political Islam based on the insights provided by post-orientalism, international studies, sociology of religion, democratization studies, multiculturalism studies, security studies, and globalization studies. His book outlines the areas of convergence and the synergies between these approaches and highlights the gaps and misunderstanding that still exist between parallel narratives on Islamism.

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9780199395057

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"""(A) must for anyone discussing and seeking to understand Islamic politics around the world.""--Midwest Book Review ""Political Islam Observed compares the various academic disciplinesthat observe political Islam to the communitiesand individuals actually being observed through the specialized lenses of social science.""--Middle East Journal""Engaging and illuminating, this book should be essential reading for any scholar concerned with recognizing the complex ways in which their own epistemological commitments shape the questions they ask and the conclusions they reach.""--Jillian Schwedler, Perspectives on Politics""An important contribution that provides a critical analysis of Islam and Muslim societies from an international studies perspective.""--Tugrul Keskin, Review of Middle East Studies""Has the potential of becoming a very significant contribution to the study of political Islam.""--Dr. Francesco Cavatorta, Dublin City University""Political Islam Observed turns the debate about Islam and politics on its head. By drawing our attention to the impact of disciplinary lenses on the production of knowledge about politics in Muslim societies, Frédéric Volpi teaches us to ask better questions about the nature and future of political Islam. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of contemporary Islam and social science methodologies.""--Peter Mandaville, director, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University, and author of Global Political Islam"

"""(A) must for anyone discussing and seeking to understand Islamic politics around the world.""--Midwest Book Review ""Political Islam Observed compares the various academic disciplinesthat observe political Islam to the communitiesand individuals actually being observed through the specialized lenses of social science.""--Middle East Journal ""Engaging and illuminating, this book should be essential reading for any scholar concerned with recognizing the complex ways in which their own epistemological commitments shape the questions they ask and the conclusions they reach.""--Jillian Schwedler, Perspectives on Politics ""An important contribution that provides a critical analysis of Islam and Muslim societies from an international studies perspective.""--Tugrul Keskin, Review of Middle East Studies ""Has the potential of becoming a very significant contribution to the study of political Islam.""--Dr. Francesco Cavatorta, Dublin City University ""Political Islam Observed turns the debate about Islam and politics on its head. By drawing our attention to the impact of disciplinary lenses on the production of knowledge about politics in Muslim societies, Fr�d�ric Volpi teaches us to ask better questions about the nature and future of political Islam. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of contemporary Islam and social science methodologies.""--Peter Mandaville, director, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University, and author of Global Political Islam"

(A) must for anyone discussing and seeking to understand Islamic politics around the world.--Midwest Book Review Political Islam Observed compares the various academic disciplinesthat observe political Islam to the communitiesand individuals actually being observed through the specialized lenses of social science.--Middle East Journal Engaging and illuminating, this book should be essential reading for any scholar concerned with recognizing the complex ways in which their own epistemological commitments shape the questions they ask and the conclusions they reach.--Jillian Schwedler, Perspectives on Politics An important contribution that provides a critical analysis of Islam and Muslim societies from an international studies perspective.--Tugrul Keskin, Review of Middle East Studies Has the potential of becoming a very significant contribution to the study of political Islam.--Dr. Francesco Cavatorta, Dublin City University Political Islam Observed turns the debate about Islam and politics on its head. By drawing our attention to the impact of disciplinary lenses on the production of knowledge about politics in Muslim societies, Frederic Volpi teaches us to ask better questions about the nature and future of political Islam. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of contemporary Islam and social science methodologies.--Peter Mandaville, director, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University, and author of Global Political Islam

Author Information

Frédéric Volpi is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews and the author of Islam and Democracy.

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