Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment - A Global and Historical Comparison

Analyzes Muslim countries' contemporary problems, particularly violence, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment, comparing their historical levels of development with Western Europe.

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. Present: 1. Violence and peace; 2. Authoritarianism and democracy; 3. Socio-economic underdevelopment and development; Part II. History: 4. Progress: scholars and merchants (seventh to eleventh centuries); 5. Crisis: the invaders (twelfth to fourteenth centuries); 6. Power: three Muslim empires (fifteenth to seventeenth centuries); 7. Collapse: Western colonialism and Muslim reformists (eighteenth to nineteenth centuries); Conclusion.

About the author

Ahmet T. Kuru is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies at San Diego State University. He is the author of the award-winning Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (Cambridge, 2009) and co-editor (with Alfred Stepan) of Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey (2012). His works have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, and Turkish.

Summary

Why do contemporary Muslim societies have problems of authoritarianism and socio-economic underdevelopment, despite their early history of intellectual creativity and economic progress? Kuru provides a comparative analysis of Muslim and Western European countries, focusing on the roles of religious, political, intellectual, and economic classes.

Product details

• Authors: Ahmet T. Kuru, Ahmet T. (San Diego State University) Kuru, Kuru Ahmet T.
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2019
• EAN: 9781108419093
• ISBN: 978-1-108-41909-3
• No. of pages: 316
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Other religions; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Islam, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, Islamic Studies, Comparative Politics, Middle Eastern history, Islamic countries, Development economics & emerging economies, Development economics and emerging economies, Relating to Islamic / Muslim people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities