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Do political parties merely represent divisions in society? Until
now, scholars and other observers have generally agreed that they
do. But Building Blocs argues the reverse: that some political
parties in fact shape divisions as they struggle to remake the
social order. Drawing on the contributors' expertise in Indonesia,
India, the United States, Canada, Egypt, and Turkey, this volume
demonstrates further that the success and failure of parties to
politicize social differences has dramatic consequences for
democratic change, economic development, and other large-scale
transformations. This politicization of divisions, or "political
articulation," is neither the product of a single charismatic
leader nor the machinations of state power, but is instead a
constant call and response between parties and would-be
constituents. When articulation becomes inconsistent, as it has in
Indonesia, partisan calls grow faint and the resulting vacuum
creates the possibility for other forms of political expression.
However, when political parties exercise their power of
interpellation efficiently, they are able to silence certain
interests such as those of secular constituents in Turkey. Building
Blocs exposes political parties as the most influential agencies
that structure social cleavages and invites further critical
investigation of the related consequences.
Based on several years of fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey, Caring for
the Poor tells the stories of charity providers and volunteers. The
book also places their stories within the overall development of
Islamic ethics. Muslim charity, Tugal argues, has interacted with
Christian and secular Western ethics over the centuries, which
themselves have a conflict-ridden and still evolving history. The
overall arch that connects all of these distinct elements is (a
combined and uneven) liberalization. Liberalization tends to
transform care into a cold, calculating, and individualizing set of
practices. Caring for the Poor meticulously documents this
insidious process in Egypt and Turkey, while also drawing attention
to its limits and contradictions (by using the American case to
highlight the contested nature of liberalization even in its world
leader). However, as historians have shown, charitable actors have
intervened in decisive ways in the rise and demise of social
formations. Tugal raises the possibility, especially through his
study of two controversial Turkish organizations, that Islamic
charity might appropriate elements of liberalism to shift the world
in a post-liberal direction.
Over the last decade, pious Muslims all over the world have gone
through contradictory transformations. Though public attention
commonly rests on the turn toward violence, this book's stories of
transformation to "moderate Islam" in a previously radical district
in Istanbul exemplify another experience.
In a shift away from distrust of the state to partial
secularization, Islamists in Turkey transitioned through a process
of absorption into existing power structures. With rich
descriptions of life in the district of Sultanbeyli, this unique
work investigates how religious activists organized, how
authorities defeated them, and how the emergent pro-state Justice
and Development Party incorporated them.
As Tugal reveals, the absorption of a radical movement was not
simply the foregone conclusion of an inevitable world-historical
trend but an outcome of contingent struggles. With a closing
comparative look at Egypt and Iran, the book situates the Turkish
case in a broad historical context and discusses why Islamic
politics have not been similarly integrated into secular capitalism
elsewhere.
Based on several years of fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey, Caring for
the Poor tells the stories of charity providers and volunteers. The
book also places their stories within the overall development of
Islamic ethics. Muslim charity, Tugal argues, has interacted with
Christian and secular Western ethics over the centuries, which
themselves have a conflict-ridden and still evolving history. The
overall arch that connects all of these distinct elements is (a
combined and uneven) liberalization. Liberalization tends to
transform care into a cold, calculating, and individualizing set of
practices. Caring for the Poor meticulously documents this
insidious process in Egypt and Turkey, while also drawing attention
to its limits and contradictions (by using the American case to
highlight the contested nature of liberalization even in its world
leader). However, as historians have shown, charitable actors have
intervened in decisive ways in the rise and demise of social
formations. Tugal raises the possibility, especially through his
study of two controversial Turkish organizations, that Islamic
charity might appropriate elements of liberalism to shift the world
in a post-liberal direction.
Just a few short years ago, the Turkish Model was being hailed
across the world. The New York Times gushed that Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP)
had "effectively integrated Islam, democracy, and vibrant
economics," making Turkey, according to the International Crisis
Group, "the envy of the Arab world." And yet, a more recent CNN
headline wondered if Erdogan had become a dictator. In this
incisive analysis, Cihan Tugal argues that this development runs
broader and deeper than Erdogan's increasing personal
authoritarianism. The problems are inherent in the very model of
Islamic liberalism, once lauded in the Western press, that formed
the basis of the AKP's ascendancy and rule since 2002-an intended
marriage of neoliberalism and democracy. And this model can also
only be understood as a response to regional politics-especially to
the "Iranian Model", a marriage of corporatism and Islamic
revolution. The Turkish model was a failure in its home country,
and the dynamics of the Arab world made it a tough commodity to
export. Tugal's masterful explication of the demise of Islamic
liberalism brings in Egypt and Tunisia, once seen as the most
likely followers of the Turkish model, and provides a path-breaking
examination of their regimes and Islamist movements, as well as
paradigm-shifting accounts of Turkey and Iran.
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