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Self-fulfilling prophecies: Dogmatic secularism and political Islam in international conflict

Posted on:2003-07-09Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:The Johns Hopkins UniversityCandidate:Hurd, Elizabeth ShakmanFull Text:PDF
GTID:1466390011478266Subject:religion
Abstract/Summary:
The opposition between dogmatic secular and radical political Islamic traditions, and the possibility that this opposition might be transcended, form the subject matter of this dissertation. The study sits at the intersection of two swathes of Euro-Islamic cultural history: relations between the West and the Islamic world, and discourses on religion and politics.; It is commonly assumed that religion and politics have been separate under secularism and united under political Islam. This assumption fuels antagonism between the two communities associated with these traditions. Each perceives the other as threatening its way of life, public/private divide, and concept of religious freedom. Drawing on the paradox of identity/difference as articulated by William Connolly and others, I argue that each tradition actually creates its own theopolitical identity through opposition to its counterpart. This situation renders both modes of authority blind to their shared presupposition that the relation between religion and politics must assume a singular and static form under central legislation and administration. This presupposition, in turn, stifles processes of political pluralization by delegitimizing alternative modes of governance.; Through a series of historical and philosophical arguments, this study presents these traditions' common debts and outlines the contingencies against which they stake their clashing claims to political hegemony and moral superiority. Examinations of both historical and contemporary politics of Iran, Turkey and the United States lend context and content to the argument. I challenge the assumption that religion and politics have been separate in the secular West and united in the Islamic Middle East, and delve into the origins of their shared belief in the need for centralized legislation authorizing a single and authoritative public relation between religion and politics. I argue that it is necessary to reconsider all attempts---both Western and Islamic in origin---to commandeer universal theological, moral and political settlements. Finally, I sketch the outlines of a nonhegemonic and nondogmatic approach to religion and global politics. This 'postsecular' alternative transcends militant versions of secularism and political Islam and the ethical constraints that often accompany them.
Keywords/Search Tags:Political, Secularism, Politics
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