Globalization and Islamism
Nevzat Soguk


Tensions between the West and the Islamic world have reached an all-time high, fuelled by caricatures and misunderstandings on both sides. In contrast, Nevzat Soguk shows, actual histories reveal profound connections across Islamic and Western civilizations. Moving beyond the usual focus on Wahabi fundamentalism, Soguk highlights the often-overlooked non-Arab forms of Islam in Turkey and Indonesia, which holds the world's largest population of Muslims. He argues that Westerners tend to see only an extremist form of Islam while Muslims, especially in the Arab world, remain impassive about rich Islamic histories. Together, these attitudes obscure the political and cultural pluralism supported within majority-Islamic countries around the world. This book taps into the nexus of tension born of the fear and terror engendered by Wahabi movements on one hand and the promise of a tolerant, pluralist Islamic religiosity in Turkey and Indonesia on the other. It examines the multiple historical political and religious legacies in Turkey and Indonesia in light of the rapid globalization they are experiencing. By focusing on these two countries, the author fills a significant void on the diverse role Islam is poised to play in shaping regional and global political futures. Original, timely, and empathetic this book will be essential reading for all those concerned about repairing Western-Islamic relations.

Special Features:

-Focuses on Turkey and Indonesia as two non-Arab Islamic societies

-Takes a new inventory of Islamic classical age and relates it to modern day Islam

-Theorizes Islamic history along a series of earlier globalizations

-Re-asserts Islamic pluralism as being integral to historical Islamic traditions

-Demonstrates how Islamic and Western civilizations overlapped and developed together

-Includes original translations and exclusive interviews with Islamic leaders

-Highlights the Alevis of Turkey as key actors in pluralist Islam in Turkey and beyond