Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

ئه‌م لێكۆڵینه‌وه‌یه‌ باس له‌ هه‌وڵى سه‌له‌فیه‌كانى میصر ده‌كات بۆ به‌ ئه‌منیكردنى شیعه‌گه‌رایی له‌ ساته‌وه‌ختى شۆڕشى 2011وه‌ له‌میصر. به‌له‌به‌رچاوگرتنى گۆڕاوه‌ مه‌زهه‌بیه‌كانى رۆژهه‌ڵاتى ناوه‌ڕاست، سه‌له‌فیه‌كانى میصر به‌شێوه‌یه‌كى ئامڕازیانه‌ (بۆ به‌رژه‌وه‌ندییه‌كانى خۆیان) ترسیان له‌ شیعه‌گه‌رایی به‌كارهێناوه‌ له‌ گوتاره‌ ئاینیه‌ سیاسیه‌كانیاندا بۆ زیادكرنى ئامانجه‌ سیاسیه‌كانى خۆیان. ئه‌م لێكۆڵینه‌وه‌یه‌ باس له‌ پاڵنه‌ره‌كانى پشت گوتاره‌ ئاینیه‌ سیاسیه‌كانى سه‌له‌فیه‌كان ده‌كات له‌رێگه‌ى هه‌ڵسه‌نگاندنى گۆڕاوه‌ ناوخۆیی و ده‌ره‌كییه‌ په‌یوه‌ست به‌یه‌كه‌كان له‌چوارچێوه‌ى ململانێ ناسنامه‌یه‌كاندا له‌ ڕۆژهه‌ڵاتى ناوه‌ڕاستدا ، كه‌له‌به‌رئه‌نجامدا كاریگه‌رییان له‌سه‌ر  میصر هه‌بووه‌.

What role does political Islam play in the genealogy of protests as an instrument to resist neo-liberalism and authoritarian rule? How can we account for the internal conflicts among Islamist players after the 2011/2012 Arab uprisings? How can we assess the performance of Islamist parties in power? What geopolitical reconfigurations have the uprisings created, and what opportunities have arisen for Islamists to claim a stronger political role in domestic and regional politics? These questions are addressed in this book, which looks at the dynamics in place during the aftermath of the Arab uprisings in a wide range of countries across the Middle East and North Africa.

This book emerges from the observation that much has changed in the field of political Islam following the popular uprisings that rocked the authoritarian status quo in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in 2010-11, nowadays widely referred to as the Arab uprisings or 'Arab Spring'. Prominent instances of such change include the dramatic rise to (and fall from) power of moderate Islamist political parties/groupings in Egypt and Tunisia-forces that had been violently repressed and/or dismantled by pre-uprisings authoritarian regimes-, the pluralisation of the field of Islamist political players, including most notably the formation of Salafi parties and their ascent to political prominence in electoral and institutional politics, the escalation of sectarian conflict between the region's Sunni and Shi'a communities, exacerbated by war in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, as well as the emergence of the jihadi-Salafi organisation al-Dawla al-Islamiyya (Islamic State, IS) which advances formal ruling pretentions over territories in Syria and Iraq, a new quality to such groups. All of these developments suggest that a renewed analysis and approach to the study of Islamist political and social actors are needed. While extant pre-uprisings scholarship had already noted part of these dynamics and devoted efforts to their analysis-such as for instance the case of Salafi participation in electoral politics, or the growing relevance of the sectarian variable in MENA politics-it can hardly account for their development in the new environment that the 'Arab Spring' has brought about. A cursory look at the scholarship available on the subject of political Islam post-2011 seems to suggest, in fact, that the uprisings constitute just one phase in the long history of Islamist political and social forces present in the MENA, a history characterised by periods of political opposition, inclusion and co-option by authoritarian leaders.