Frederic Volpi compares academic disciplines that observe contemporary political Islam with the individuals and communities being observed. Focusing on different approaches in the social sciences and their consideration of Islamic subject matter, Volpi shows how each discipline analyzes political Islam according to its own dominant paradigms, and even with the incorporation of specialist viewpoints, the interdisciplinary drive often results in nothing more than educated guesses geared toward political and public consumption ...
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Frederic Volpi compares academic disciplines that observe contemporary political Islam with the individuals and communities being observed. Focusing on different approaches in the social sciences and their consideration of Islamic subject matter, Volpi shows how each discipline analyzes political Islam according to its own dominant paradigms, and even with the incorporation of specialist viewpoints, the interdisciplinary drive often results in nothing more than educated guesses geared toward political and public consumption. While these paradigms compete with each other for dominance, Volpi argues that the actual dynamics and cohesiveness of political Islam are underserved. His book identifies the strengths and weaknesses of disciplinary approaches toward the Islamist phenomenon and takes the first step in developing an account based on post-orientalism, international relations, the sociology of religion, and studies in democratization, multiculturalism, security analysis, and globalization.
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