This book explains the aspirations and concerns of Islamist actors in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings by looking at two sets of relationships between Turkey's ruling AKP and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and the AKP and Tunisia's Ennahda. It presents a unique analysis of the interplay between the AKP, Ennahda and the Muslim Brotherhood, characterizing the actors, the structure and the main features of the relationship and thereby illuminating a political confluence among these three critical Islamist entities in the aftermath of the Arab Uprisings.
Existing scholarship has assumed that this relationship revolves primarily around an ideological Islamist agenda, however, this research demonstrates a more complex and nuanced situation. Ezgi Basaran puts forward that the interplay was not based on an aspiration of building an ideological Islamist bloc in the MENA region, but rather revolved around the concept of political success and had a strong neoliberal ethos. Basaran draws on data collected from over 60 interviews with high-level members of the AKP, Ennahda and Muslim Brotherhood to demonstrate how, in the hope of achieving success and legitimization, Ennahda and the Muslim Brotherhood have relied on the managerial prescriptions provided by the AKP. The contents of this success formula were derived from the AKP's experience as an Islamist party in power since 2002 and includes tactics on crisis evasion, legitimization, winning elections and maintaining power.
Recenzijas
The New Spirit of Islamism usefully contributes to our understanding of Islamist politics by demonstrating how influence among different movements occurs and how local dynamics evolve the movements. The need to prove you can govern and the realisation that society is diverse and made up of different actors, forced the AKP, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ennahda to undergo a transformation with differing results and outcome. The New Spirit of Islamism is an intriguing text to think through, and with, in making sense of the dynamics of Islamist politics in the MENA region. * Middle East Monitor * By Examining the interplay among the Turkish AKP, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and Tunisian al-Nahda in the wake of the Arab uprisings, Ezgi Basaran offers an innovative perspective to examine the evolution of Islamism in the current times. The book is particularly instructive in showing what happens when the oppositional Islamic movements transition into governing bodies. A very valuable contribution to our understanding of political Islam today. * Asef Bayat, Professor, University of Illinois, USA * In this meticulously researched examination of the interplay between Islamist political parties, Ezgi Basaran offers invigorating insights into how the transnational diffusion of influence is more tactical than ideological. She robustly challenges reductionist assumptions that simply equate Islamism with Islamisation of state and society, and exceptionalist assumptions that underplay the conventional political calculus even Islamists must make. This works impressive detail and analytical sharpness compel us to recognise the pragmatic interests at work in Islamists interactions with each other and to see the pursuit of power and success as the normal stuff of Islamist political agendas. * James Piscatori, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University, Australia * A wholly original account of the way in which Islamism has been reshaped globally by market forces. Basaran tells a fascinating story about the initiative to make Islamism in the Arab world more responsive to a variety of constituencies. -- Faisal Devji, Professor, University of Oxford, UK
Papildus informācija
An investigation into the interplay between three key Islamist political organizations - Turkey's AKP, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Tunisia's Ennahda - and their pursuit of political power in the years following the Arab Uprisings.
Introduction: The crisis of the crises
Chapter 2: The sink, the cooker, and Islamism
2.1 The evolution of Islamism
2.1.1 The evolution of the MB
2.1.2 The evolution of Ennahda
2.1.3 The evolution from Erbakan to Erdogan
2.2 Moderation, Wasatiyya, and Postislamism
Chapter 3: The history of the interaction
1.1 Erbakan, Ghannouchi and the MB
1.2 The spread of two frames for legitimacy
1.2.1 The origins of conservative/Muslim democracy
1.2.2 The origins of the Turkish model
1.2.3 The EU and the Turkish model
Chapter 4: The context, milestones, and the actors of the interplay
4.1 The AKP in Cairo, the MB in Istanbul and Ankara
4.2 The AKP in Tunis, Ennahda in Istanbul and Ankara
4.3 The actors and interlocutors
4.3.1 The elite actors
4.3.2 The interlocutors and structure
4.3.3 The brokers: Al-Jazeera and Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Chapter 5: The tactics of success for Islamists
5.1 Winning the system
5.2 Service to people is like a prayer
5.3 Building protective alliances
Chapter 6: Brothers in search of their bourgeoisie
6.1 Road to neoliberalism
6.2 The economic vision of Ennahda and the MB
6.3 Cultivating an Islamic bourgeoisie
Chapter 7: The new spirit of Islamism
7.1 Islamist longing for success
7.2 Postislamism and managerialism
7.2.1 What does Muslim youth want?
7.2.2 Managerial awakening
7.2.3 Cheap Islamisation
Chapter 8: Changing dynamics of the interplay
8.1 Broadcasting the MB message from Istanbul
8.2 A sharp U-turn of events
8.3 The current crisis, democracy, and Islamism
Conclusion: The CEOs of Islamism
Ezgi Basaran is a journalist and academic, currently based at St.Anthonys College, University of Oxford, UK as a Research Associate. She previously reported from conflict zones in Iraq, Iran, and Israel and was the youngest ever editor of Radikal, which prior to its closure was the biggest centre-left news outlet in Turkey. Her first book in English, Frontline Turkey, was published by I.B. Tauris in 2017. She writes for major publications, including the BBC, the Financial Times, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
