Jocelyne Cesari Launches 'The Awakening of Muslim Democracy'

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs announces the launch a new book by its Global Ethics Fellow Jocelyne Cesari: "The Awakening of Muslim Democracy."

Why and how did Islam become such a political force in so many Muslim-majority countries?

In "The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity, and the State," Global Ethics Fellow Jocelyne Cesari investigates the relationship between modernization, politics, and Islam in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Tunisia, and Turkey-countries that were founded by secular rulers and have since undergone secularized politics.

Cesari argues that nation-building processes in these states have not created liberal democracies in the Western mold, but have instead spurred the politicization of Islam by turning it into a modern national ideology.

Looking closely at examples of Islamic dominance in political modernization-for example, nationalization of Islamic institutions and personnel under state ministries; reliance on Islamic references in political discourse, religiously motivated social unrest, or violence; and internationalization of Islam-aligned political movements or conflicts-this study provides a unique overview of the historical and political developments from the end of World War II to the Arab Spring that have made Islam the dominant force in the construction of the modern states, and discusses Islam's impact on emerging democracies in the contemporary Middle East.

Published by Cambridge University Press, April 2014.

Jocelyne Cesari is a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center and visiting associate professor in the Government Department. A renowned scholar of Islam and Middle Eastern politics, she also directs the Islam in the West program at Harvard University and the Berkley Center's Islam in World Politics program.

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1914, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an educational, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that produces lectures, publications, and multimedia materials on the ethical challenges of living in a globalized world. For more information, go to http://www.carnegiecouncil.org.