The Failure of Political Islam
by Olivier Roy
On This Page
Description
For many Westerners, ours seems to be the era of the "Islamic threat," with radical Muslims everywhere on the rise and on the march, remaking societies and altering the landscape of contemporary politics. In a powerful corrective to this view, the French political philosopher Olivier Roy presents an entirely different verdict: political Islam is a failure. Even if Islamic fundamentalists take power in countries like Algeria, they will be unable to reshape economics and politics and, in the show more name of "Islamic universalism," will express no more than nationalism or an even narrower agenda. Despite all the rhetoric about an "Islamic way," an "Islamic economy," and an "Islamic state," the realities of the Muslim world remain essentially unchanged. Roy demonstrates that the Islamism of today is still the Third Worldism of the 1960s: populist politics and mixed economies of laissez-faire for the rich and subsidies for the poor. In Roy's striking formulation, those marching today beneath Islam's green banners are the same as the "reds" of yesterday, with similarly dim prospects of success. Roy has much to say about the sociology of radical Islam, about the set of ideas and assumptions at its core. He explains lucidly why Iran, for all the sound and fury of its revolution, has been unable to launch "sister republics" beyond its borders, and why the dream of establishing Islam as a "third force" in international relations remains a futile one. Richly informed, powerfully argued, and clearly written, this is a book that no one trying to understand Islamic fundamentalism can afford to overlook. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
These book wil help you to understand the political ferment in the Arab world today. In the same way will learn that our perception of Communism as a monolithic force was in error.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
LtGen James Mattis' Reading List
58 works; 2 members
Shaykh Hamza's Book Recommendations
439 works; 3 members
Author Information
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Failure of Political Islam
- Original publication date
- 1992 (original French, Paris, Seuil) (original French, Paris, Seuil); 1994 (English translation, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press) (English translation, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press)
- Important places
- Islamic countries; Middle East; North Africa
- Disambiguation notice
- Original French edition (1992): L'eĢchec de l'islam politique / Olivier Roy; English translation (1994): ... (show all)ollow" target="_new">The failure of political Islam / Olivier Roy ; translated by Carol Volk
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 322.1 — Society, government, & culture Political science Relation of the state to organized groups and their members Religious organizations and groups
- LCC
- BP63 .A4 .M537313 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc. Islam. Bahai Faith. Theosophy, etc. General History
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 102
- Popularity
- 313,153
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, French, Turkish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
