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OverviewDuring the late 20th century, many authoritarian Islamic states underwent a dramatic transition to democracy. This book examines the process of democratic reform in Islamic countries, the problems it throws up and the cultural ideas and practices that prevail. Concentrating in particular on Algeria, and based on on-the-ground research, Volpi offers an insight into the political history of the Algerian conflict and raises serious questions about the relationship between Islam and democracy on an international level. Addressing the problem of the radicalization of political Islam in the region, he suggests possible solutions to the security and foreign policy dilemmas linked to international terrorism. A bitter battle has been fought between the civil state and Islamic fundamentalists in Algeria since the 1980s. Its a paradigmatic ""clash of civilizations"" for some, whilst for others it's a distorted and local crisis in which ""democratization"" was introduced in a deeply authoritarian context. Looking in particular at the role of oil resources, which give Algeria great international geo-strategic and economic importance, Volpi explores Algeria's political transition - a story which continues to have immense political significance for other non-democratic Muslim countries. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Frederic VolpiPublisher: Pluto Press Imprint: Pluto Press Dimensions: Width: 13.50cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 21.50cm Weight: 0.370kg ISBN: 9780745319773ISBN 10: 0745319777 Pages: 184 Publication Date: 20 December 2002 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely Availability: Out of stock  Table of ContentsI. Understanding political democratisation at the beginning of the 21st century 1. Algeria and the ‘third wave’ of democratic transitions 2. Islam and the ‘West’: a clash of ideologies in Algeria 3. New political actors for a new international order II. Political ideas and practices in historical perspective 1. Genealogies of state power: colonial experiences post colonial dilemmas 2. Historical perspectives on Islamic fundamentalist ideology: a pragmatic account III. The Algerian political opening: democratic symbols and authoritarian practices (1988-1991) 1. The 1988 October riots: the symbol of a new era 2. The Algerian democratic opening: successes and failures IV. The 1992 coup d’état and beyond: war as politics through other means (1992-1994) 1. The 1992 coup d’état 2. The military in control: the repressive option 3. The Islamic movement: from political opposition to ‘holy’ war V. A new authoritarianism: guided democracy versus radical Islam (1995-2000) 1. The re-composition of the political field 2. Electoral marketing: formal representation and informal authoritarianism 3. On the margins of politics: The military and the Islamic guerrillas VI. A civil society in transition: survivalist strategies and social protest 1. Coping with violence and deprivation: survivalist strategies 2. The articulation of social protest: defying the regime VII. The international arena: strengths and weaknesses of the New World Order 1. The political economy of the conflict: the role of international actors 2. Algeria as the future of democratisation in the Muslim world 3. Exporting the Jihad: the internationalisation of radical Islamic actors VIII. Conclusion: learning and unlearning to be democratic References IndexReviewsThere could hardly be a more inflammatory political topic at present ... Volpi [has produced] a really valuable work on the subject. -- Professor John Dunn, Cambridge University Frederic Volpi's account of Algerian politics masterfully situates the obstacles to democratisation in the local negative understandings of elite responsibilities and citizen rights. Military hardliners and Islamic radicals emerge as both the products and agents of an autocratic civic culture, with pragmatic Islamists like FIS caught in between ... this work takes us well beyond the case of Algeria and persuasively highlights the no less uncertain predicament of Muslim societies elsewhere. -- James Piscatori, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies There could hardly be a more inflammatory political topic at present. Volpi [has produced] a really valuable work on the subject. -- Professor John Dunn, Cambridge University Fridiric Volpi s account of Algerian politics masterfully situates the obstacles to democratization in the local negative understandings of elite responsibilities and citizen rights. Military hardliners and Islamic radicals emerge as both the products and agents of an autocratic civic culture, with pragmatic Islamists like FIS caught in between...This work takes us well beyond the case of Algeria and persuasively highlights the no less uncertain predicament of Muslim societies elsewhere. -- James Piscatori, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Volpi helps readers to understand the real mechanisms of the failur of the dialogue between the military elite and athe Islamists, while not ignoring the development of civil society in Algeria and its role in the interaction between Islam and Democracy. -- MultiCultural Review Volpi (Univ. of Bristol, UK) has published his doctoral dissertation (Univ. of Cambridge) on democratic transition problems in Algeria since 1988. His unit of analysis is agency (Algerian decision makers, elites, and groups), his independent variable is culture and ideology, and his dependent variable is regime type (authoritarianism/pluralism). Volpi posits that the transition to democracy, if successful, will be achieved not by the mere elimination of foreign dependency and domestic structural obstacles, but by learning 'on the job, ' as it were--or, citing O'Donnell and Schmitter's comments about this transition in Latin America, 'part of the process of transition was precisely the [agent-centered]collective learning of an appropriately democratic way of solving the polities' predicaments.' Everything depends on knowledge of how to make consociational bargains work. Algeria's failure, so far, in its experiment with democratic transition results from institutional weaknesses in relation to the development of political consciousness by the citizenry. This is a welcome contribution to the debate on democratic transitions among developing countries, specifically, in the Muslim world. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. -- S. Akhavi, University of South Carolina in CHOICE 'Masterfully situates the obstacles to democratisation in the local negative understandings of elite responsibilities and citizen rights' -- James Piscatori, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies 'There could hardly be a more inflammatory political topic at present ... Volpi [has produced] a really valuable work on the subject' -- Professor John Dunn, Cambridge University Author InformationFrederic Volpi is currently Lecturer in International Politics, Department of Politics, University of Bristol. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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