Postgraduate Course: Political Islam in the Middle East (PGSP11298)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Social and Political Science |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None
|
Taught in Gaelic? |
No |
| Course description |
Political Islam has been at the forefront of Middle East politics for over three decades. Ever since Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed Iran an 'Islamic Republic' in 1979, from Casablanca to Kandahar, political Islam has seemed an unstoppable force. In the 1980s Osama bin Laden's mujahideen battled the USSR, and won, in Afghanistan. In 2000 Hizbullah celebrated its expulsion of Israel from southern Lebanon. In 2006 Islamist Hamas routed secular Fatah in Palestinian elections. In Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen and elsewhere, Islamists have thrived as opposition forces under authoritarian rule. Yet in early 2011 it was a largely secular wave of mass protest that toppled dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt. So what is political Islam? What are the goals of Islamists? And how have Islamist movements varied over time and in different contexts? This course addresses such questions by examining the roots of political Islam and some of its recent manifestations in the Middle East. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites |
|
| Prohibited Combinations |
|
Other requirements |
None
|
| Additional Costs |
None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? |
No |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| No Classes have been defined for this Course |
| First Class |
Week 18, Monday, 11:10 - 13:00, Zone: Central. 2.14, Appleton Tower |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Detailed knowledge of the main trends of political Islam in the Middle East
2. Ability to relate the ideological aspects of political Islam to political context
3. Critical understanding of different scholarly approaches and perspectives on political Islam
4. Ability to discuss and debate political Islam with reference to broad academic literature on the topic. |
Assessment Information
| One midterm 1500 word 'literature review' essay (35 %). One final 3000 research essay (65%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
1. Introduction: Islam, Islamic politics, political Islam
This introductory lecture will cover the emergence of political Islam as an object of study in the social sciences. It will compare approaches from the Orientalist tradition with those within political science, sociology and anthropology. The lecture and seminar will explore some of the difficulties in defining and explaining political Islam as a phenomenon.
2. The emergence of Islamic nationalism in Egypt
Lecture and seminar will discuss the 'salafiyya' movement in Egypt of the late 19th and early 20th century and the pre-revolutionary activities of the Muslim Brotherhood. The lecture will outline the intellectual and practical components of Islamic nationalism in Egypt up to the early 1950s.
3. Sayyid Qutb and the emergence of jihadism
This lecture will discuss the life and ideas of Sayyid Qutb and the radicalisation of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1960s. It will also cover the emergence of violent Islamism in 1970s Egypt, up to the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981.
4. The Iranian Revolution: its character and its influence.
The lecture will explore the roots and causes of the Iranian Revolution, as well as the nature and workings of the Islamic Republic as established by Khomeini. We will also explore the broader influence the Iranian Revolution had on the rise of political Islam as a salient political force through the 1980s.
5. Hizbullah
The lecture will cover the emergence of Hizbullah in the context of the Lebanese civil war, and in the wake of the revolution in Iran. It will explore the political trajectory of the group up to the present day both as a resistance movement and a player on the Lebanese political scene.
6. Palestine and Hamas
This lecture will discuss the trajectory of Hamas from its birth during the Palestinian intifada in the 1980s until the present day. It will examine its political ideology, organisation and tactics within the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict and Palestinian domestic politics. We will also reflect on the resonance and significance of Palestine to the Islamist phenomenon in general.
7. Islamist insurrections: the case of Algeria
The lecture will examine the role of Islamism in the Algerian civil war of the 1990s, including the formation, strategy and political programme of the FIS and the emergence of the more 'jihadist' GIA. It will discuss these groups in relation to the political and economic situation in Algeria.
8. Islamic politics in Egypt
This session provides an overview of the Islamic movement in Egypt during the Mubarak and early post-Mubarak periods. It discusses the changing fortunes of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups, particularly their relations with the regime, social programmes and ideological shifts.
9. al-Qa'ida: roots, myths, realities
Here we inquire into the nature and history of al-Qa'ida and the phenomenon of global jihadism linked to, or inspired by, this organisation. We will discuss al-Qa'ida's ideology as well as its methods, structure and goals.
10. Western Approaches to Political Islam in the Middle East
The final sessions will explore the attitudes of the West, particularly the United States, toward political Islam, from encouragement and support during the 1970s and 1980s to hostility and fear in the post-Cold War period. We will seek to unravel some of the sources of US policy toward Islamist movements and governments around the world. |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Ayubi, Nazih N. M. Political Islam: religion and politics in the Arab world. Routledge, 1991.
Brown, Nathan J., and Amr Hamzawy. Between Religion and Politics. Carnegie Endowment, 2010.
Burke, Jason. Al-Qaeda: the true story of radical Islam. I.B.Tauris, 2004.
Calvert, John. Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism. C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2010.
Gerges, Fawaz A. America and political Islam: clash of cultures or clash of interests? Cambridge University Press, 1999.
The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Ismail, Salwa. Rethinking Islamist Politics: Culture, the State and Islamism. I.B.Tauris, 2006.
Keddie, Nikki R., and Yann Richard. Modern Iran: roots and results of revolution. Yale University Press, 2006.
Kepel, Gilles. The Prophet and Pharaoh: Muslim Extremism in Contemporary Egypt. London: Al Saqi Books, 1985.
Lewis, B. The crisis of Islam : holy war and unholy terror. Vol. 1. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2004.
Martinez, Luis. The Algerian Civil War: 1990-1998. London: C. Hurst in association with the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Paris, 2000.
Mitchell, Richard P. The Society of the Muslim Brothers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Pinto, Maria do Céu. Political Islam and the United States: a study of U.S. policy towards Islamist movements in the Middle East. Ithaca Press, 1999.
Qutb, Sayyid. Milestones. American Trust, 1990.
Roy, O. Globalised Islam : the search for a new Ummah. London: Hurst, 2004.
Volpi, Frédéric. Political Islam Observed: Disciplinary Perspectives. Columbia University Press, 2010.
Zubaida, Sami. Beyond Islam: A New Understanding of the Middle East. I. B. Tauris, 2011. |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords |
Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Ewan Stein
Tel: (0131 6)50 4264
Email: ewan.stein@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Gillian Macdonald
Tel: (0131 6)51 3244
Email: gillian.macdonald@ed.ac.uk |
|
copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2011 6:40 am
|
University Homepage