The New Spirit of Islamism

Rezensionen / Stimmen

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 work's 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.