Modern but not secular: Religion, identity and the ordre public in the Arab Middle East

Irrespective of long-ongoing processes of secularization in all fields of public and private life, the principle of secularity continues to be highly contested in the Arab Middle East. The reasons are both cultural and political. In the age of colonialism followed by authoritarianism and accelerated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International sociology 2013-11, Vol.28 (6), p.629-644
Main Author: Kramer, Gudrun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authoritarianism
Colonialism
Culture
Dominance
Globalization
Identity
Islam
Islamic law
Middle East
Modernity
Muslims
Religion
Religions
Rights
Secularism
Secularization
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Summary:Irrespective of long-ongoing processes of secularization in all fields of public and private life, the principle of secularity continues to be highly contested in the Arab Middle East. The reasons are both cultural and political. In the age of colonialism followed by authoritarianism and accelerated globalization, Islamists were able to project themselves as defenders of popular rights against foreign domination and despotic rule, and to mobilize broad sections of the populace in the name of religion (i.e. Islam). In the Arab Middle East as in other parts of the Muslim world, it is not so much the relation between ‘state’ and ‘church’ that shapes the configuration of secularity, but rather the relation between the ordre public and Sharia, or ‘Islamic references’ more generally. By putting the debate into a broader historical framework this article also contributes to the debates on multiple modernities and multiple secularities.
ISSN:0268-5809
1461-7242
DOI:10.1177/0268580913503875