Islamist Politics in the Middle East：Movements and Change

With al-Qaeda's 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the subsequent "war on terror," much ink has been spilt on Islamism, or political Islam, but unfortunately much of the commentary has treated the phenomenon as monolithic and universally violently threatening, thus obscuring any nuanced understanding of the diverse manifestations of political Islam across the Middle East. This interdisciplinary collection edited by Shehata (Arab politics, Georgetown U.) aims to redress that problem, offering some conceptual considerations on the rise of Islamist politics and nine case studies of Islamist groups across the region. The conceptual chapters offer consideration of Islamist politics as a product of repressive politics, injustice, and marginalization at the national, regional, and international levels and a form of resistance analogous to nationalist resistance to colonialism, as well as discussion of misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Islamist discourses in the service of American imperialism. The case studies examine Islamist social networks and social welfare services in Turkey, the political role of the Islamic Center Charity Society within the Muslim Brotherhood, the religious dimension of Islamism in Morocco, the Muslim Brotherhood's engagement with political and electoral processes, the role of Islam in the mobilization and ideology in the Iraqi insurgency, Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas as a "ruling party" in Palestine, and the dynamics of reform and Islamism in Iran between 1997 and 2007. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Samer Shehata is an Assistant Professor of Arab Politics at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. He is the author of Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt.