Between Dissent and Power

For much of the 20th century, Islamic politics appeared to lie beyond the pale of legitimate politics in many Muslim-majority states. This book brings about a more a serious understanding of Islamic politics by critically tracing the pathways by which Islamic politics has been transformed in the Middle East and Asia. Through the exploration of dissent and power it argues that Islamic politics had not been encased in ineffectual dissent even before the 'Arab Spring' took the Middle-East closer to historical trends of democratization elsewhere in the world. The findings from country-specific studies of Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia and Turkey demonstrate that Islamic politics has developed a large and resilient capacity for adaptation and reinvention not only in the Middle-East but in Asia as well. Moreover, the international spectrum of Islamic politics stretches from marginalized dissent to established government with political parties and movements competing to different degrees of success for power, frequently by electoral means. This study traces and explains the collective progression of Islamic politics between points of dissent and positions of power, a subject that has not been directly or systematically covered by the extensive literature on Islam and politics.