ISLAM AND POLITICS (IR205)

Course duration: 54 hours lecture and class time (Over three weeks)
LSE Teaching Department: Department of International Relations
Lead Faculty: Professor John Sidel
Pre-requisites: At least one introductory course in either a social science (e.g. political science, international
relations, sociology, economics), or history or law. No prior specialist knowledge of Islam is required.

Course Description:
Since the turn of the 21st century, we have come to take for granted that Islam is a major force in world
politics. But this state of affairs is of recent vintage and its origins and prospects for the future remain in
question. Today there is still much more oversimplification and exaggeration than serious understanding and
systematic analysis of when, where, how, and with what consequences Islam has become politicized and
politics has become Islamicized across different parts of the world.
Against this backdrop, this course covers key questions, arguments, and debates concerning the intersection
of Islam and politics today. Overall, the goal of the course is to help students to strengthen their knowledge
and analytical tools to understand and explain the diverse ways in which Islam has operated as a force in
politics in different parts of the world. The course focuses on a number of key questions: How can we explain 1
the emergence of Islam as a major force in world politics in the late 20th century? How can we explain the
trajectory of Islam in world politics since the turn of the 21st century? How can we explain the varying political
strength and significance of Islam in different parts of the world?
The course begins by raising questions about the distinctiveness of Islam as a world religion in the public
sphere and the political realm, and then briefly uses the Hajj as an example and source of insight for
understanding important continuities and changes within the faith in recent history. Subsequent lectures then
chronicle the shifting position of Islam in world politics from the late 19th century through the end of the Cold
War era. Thereafter, the course focuses on the contemporary era stretching from the end of the Cold War to
the present day.
A series of lectures provide a broad context and examine alternative perspectives on and explanations for
the rise of Islam in world politics at the end of the 20th century. The impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran,
Saudi Arabias support for salafi Islam, and Sunni-Shia conflict and tensions are considered, as are the
consequences of the end of the Cold War, globalization, and democratization. The remainder of the course
focuses on the diverse intersections of Islam and politics in different parts of the world, ranging from
Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, and Western Europe.
Successive classes will treat the trajectories of Al Qaida, the US-led Global War on Terrorism, the Taliban,
and the Islamic State and examine the role of Islam in the context of failed state and in struggles for new
Muslim nation-states. The final classes will treat Islamist parties and local experiments with Islamic law in
democratic contexts, as well as developments and trends among Muslim immigrant communities in Europe.

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Overall, the course is designed to give students a solid and sophisticated understanding of major
developments and trends in the role of Islam in world politics today, grounded in historical and sociological
context, comparative analysis, and specialist scholarly literature.

Key Readings:
There is no core textbook for the course. But the following books provide useful background knowledge
and/or analytical frameworks of relevance for the study of Islam and Politics:
Reinhard Schulze, A Modern History of the Islamic World (New York: New York University Press, 2002).
Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori, Muslim Politics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
Olivier Roy, Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah (London: C. Hurst, 2004).
Akbar Ahmed, The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam
(Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2013).
Fawaz A. Gerges, ISIS: A History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016).

Course Structure: 2
- Lectures: 36 hours
- Classes: 18 hours

Formative course work:

- An essay of 1500 words, submitted to the class teacher.

Assessment:
Course assessment consists of:

1) An essay of 1500 words, submitted as an email attachment to be sent to the class teacher by 10am on
Monday, 14 August. The essay will count for 1/3 of the final mark. Students must choose a question
from among those provided for class discussion.

2) A two-hour written exam at the end of the programme. Students will be asked to answer two out of
eight questions. The exam will count for 2/3 of the final mark.

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Lecture Schedule:

1. Monday, 31 July: Islam in Comparative Historical and Sociological Perspective

2. Tuesday, 1 August: The Rise and Decline of Islam in World Politics (1875-1945)
3. Wednesday, 2 August: New Nation States, the Cold War, and Rise of Islam (1945-90)
4. Thursday, 3 August: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sunni-Shia Conflict
5. Friday, 4 August: The End of the Cold War, Globalization, and Democratization
6. Monday, 7 August: The Rise, Transformation, and Decline of Al Qaida
7. Tuesday, 8 August: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan
8. Wednesday, 9 August: Islam, the US, and the Global War On Terrorism
9. Thursday, 10 August: The Rise and Fall of Islamic State?
10. Friday, 11 August: No lecture
11. Monday, 14 August: Islam in Failed States and Struggles for New Nation-States 3
12. Tuesday, 15 August: Islamist Parties, Democracy, and Decentralization
13. Wednesday, 16 August: Islam, Immigration, Gender, and Multiculturalism in Europe
14. Thursday, 17 August: No lecture
15. Friday, 18 August: EXAM

Seminar Schedule:
1. Monday, 31 July: Islam in Comparative Historical and Sociological Perspective
What specific features of the global context within which the Muslim world has been situated help to explain
the distinctive trajectory which politics in the name of Islam has assumed in the modern world? What are the
limitations of a profane contextual approach? How have the distinctive features of Islam as a faith and as a
set of practices shaped the fate of Islam as a community of believers in the modern world?
Required readings:
Wael B. Hallaq, Muslim Rage and Islamic Law, Hastings Law Journal, Volume 54 (August 2003), pp. 1705-
1719.

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Immanuel Wallerstein, Islam, the West, and the World, Journal of Islamic Studies, Volume 10, Number 2
(1999), pp. 109-125.

Additional readings:
John R. Bowen, A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori, Muslim Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996).

2. Tuesday, 1 August: Islam in World Politics from the Age of Empire to World War II
How did developments in world politics in the late 19th century transform the possibilities for imagining and
organizing Islam? How can we explain the trajectory of Islam as a force in world politics in the interwar era?
How should we understand the activities and impact of Sayyid Jaml ad-Dn al-Afghn?
Required reading:
Pankaj Mishra, Chapter Two: The Strange Odyssey of Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, in From the Ruins of Empire:
The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia (London: Allen Lane, 2012), pp. 46-126.

Additional readings: 4
Cemil Aydin, The Politics of Anti-Westernism in Asia: Visions of World Order in Pan-Islamic and Pan-Asian
Thought (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007).
James L. Gelvin and Nile Green (eds.), Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2014).
Kemal H. Karpat, The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late
Ottoman State (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
David Motadel (ed.), Islam and the European Empires (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

3. Wednesday, 2 August: New Nation States, the Cold War, and the Rise of Islam, 1945-90
What was the impact of the Cold War on Islam and on those forces working to mobilize under its banner? How
did the rise and decline of anti-imperialist Third Worldism reshape Islam and the possibilities for Islamist
politics in the Muslim world?
Required reading:
Robert Malley, The Call from Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution, and the Turn to Islam (Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1996), selections.

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Additional readings:
Rashid Khalidi, Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and Americas Perilous Path in the Middle East
(London: I.B.Tauris, 2004).
Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror (New York:
Random House, 2005).

4. Thursday, 3 August: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Sunni-Shia Conflict

What has been the impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and Saudi sponsorship of salafi Islam and anti-Shii
sectarianism? What implications can we draw from Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s?
Required reading:
Vali Nasr, International Politics, Domestic Imperatives, and Identity Mobilization: Sectarianism in Pakistan,
1979-1998, Comparative Politics, Volume 32, Number 2 (January 2000), pp. 171-190.

Additional readings:
Said Amir Arjomand, After Khomeini: Iran Under His Successors (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
David Commins, Islam in Saudi Arabia (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015).
Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003). 5
Roel Meijer (ed.), Global Salafism: Islams New Religious Movement (New York: Columbia University Press,
2009).
Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2006).
Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

5. Friday, 4 August: The End of the Cold War, Globalization, and Democratization
What were the consequences of the end of the Cold War for Islam? What has been the impact of globalization
and democratization on Islam?
Required reading:
Olivier Roy, Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah (London: C. Hurst, 2004), selections.

Additional readings:
Asef Bayat, Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 2007).

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Linda Herrera and Asef Bayat (ed.), Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and
North (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
Vali Nasr, Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What it Will Mean for Our World
(New York: Free Press, 2009).

6. Monday, 7 August: The Rise, Transformation, and Decline of Al-Qaida

How can we explain the trajectory and transformations of Al Qaida?
Required readings:
Audrey Kurth Cronin, How al-Qaida Ends: The Decline and Demise of Terrorist Groups, International Security,
Volume 31, Number 1 (Summer 2006), pp. 7-48.
Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni and Calvert Jones, Assessing the Dangers of Illicit Networks: Why al-Qaida May Be
Less Dangerous Than Many Think, International Security, Volume 33, Number 2 (Fall 2008), pp. 7-44.

Additional readings:
Fawaz A. Gerges, The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Marc Sageman, Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2008).
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7. Tuesday, 8 August: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan
How can we explain the rise, fall, and resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan?
Required readings:
Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason, No Sign until the Burst of Fire: Understanding the Pakistan-
Afghanistan Frontier, International Security, Volume 32, Number 4 (Spring 2008), pp. 41-77.
Seth G. Jones, The Rise of Afghanistans Insurgency: State Failure and Jihad, International Security, Volume
32, Number 4 (Spring 2008), pp. 7-40.

Additional readings:
Peter Bergen (ed.), Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013).
Carlotta Gall, The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan 2001-2014 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2014).
Antonio Giustozzi, Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan (New York:
Columbia University Press, 2008).

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

8. Wednesday, 9 August: Islam, the US, and the Global War On Terrorism
What have been the consequences of the US-led Global War On Terrorism (GWOT)?
Required reading:
Akbar Ahmed, The Thistle and the Drone: How Americas War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam
(Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2013), selections.

Additional readings:
Peter L. Bergen, The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda (New York: Free
Press, 2011).
John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart, The Terrorism Delusion: Americas Overwrought Response to September
11, International Security, Volume 37, Number 1 (Summer 2012), pp. 81-110.

9. Thursday, 10 August: The Rise and Fall of Islamic State?

How can we explain the emergence and entrenchment of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere?
What are the prospects for its defeat and disappearance in the years ahead?
Required reading: 7
Patrick Cockburn, The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the Sunni Revolution (London: Verso, 2015), selections.

Additional readings:
Jean-Pierre Filiu, From Deep State to Islamic State: The Arab Counter-Revolution and its Jihadi Legacy (London:
C. Hurst, 2015).
Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger, ISIS: The State of Terror (New York: Harper Collins, 2015).
Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (New York: Regan Arts, 2015).

10. Friday, 11 August: No lecture.

11. Monday, 14 August: Islam in Failed States and Struggles for New Muslim Nation-States
How do failed states and struggles for new Muslim nation-states enable and impel mobilization in the name of
Islam?

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Required reading:
Monica Duffy Toft, Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War, International Security, Volume
31, Number 4 (Spring 2007), pp. 97-131.

Additional readings:
Stig Jarle Hansen, Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group, 2005-2012
(London: C. Hurst & Company, 2013).
Gregory D. Johnsen, The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and the Battle for Arabia (New York: W. W. Norton,
2012).
Beverley Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrell, Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement (Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2010).
Mohammed M. Hafez, Why Muslims Rebel: Repression and Resistance in the Islamic World (Boulder: Lynne
Rienner, 2003).
James Hughes, Chechnya: From Nationalism to Jihad (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007).

12. Tuesday, 17 August: Islamist Parties, Democracy, and Decentralization

What are the consequences of democratization and decentralization for Islam and politics? How should we
understand patterns of Islamist politics under conditions of democracy? 8

Required readings:
Michael Buehler, Subnational Islamization Through Secular Parties: Comparing Sharia Politics in Two
Indonesian Provinces, Comparative Politics, Volume 46, Number 1 (October 2013), pp. 63-82.
Brandon Kendhammer, The Sharia Controversy in Northern Nigeria and the Politics of Islamic Law in New and
Uncertain Democracies, Comparative Politics, Volume 45, Number 3 (April 2013), pp. 291-311.

Additional readings:
Jason Brownlee, Tarek Masoud, and Andrew Reynolds, The Arab Spring: Pathways of Repression and Reform
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).
Johannes Harnischfeger, Democratization and Islamic Law: The Sharia Conflict in Nigeria (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2008).
Jillian Schwedler, Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2006).
Jenny B. White, Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics (Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 2002).

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2013).

13. Wednesday, 16 August: Islam, Immigration, Multiculturalism, and Gender in Europe

What have been the consequences of large-scale Muslim immigration and settlement in Europe for Islam and
politics?
Required readings:
John R. Bowen, Beyond Migration: Islam as a Transnational Public Space, Journal of Ethnic and Migration
Studies, Volume 30, Number 5 (September 2004), pp. 879-894.
John R. Bowen, Does French Islam Have Borders? Dilemmas of Domestication in a Global Religious Field,
American Anthropologist, Volume 106, Number 1 (March 2004), pp. 43-55.

Additional readings:
Innes Bowen, Media in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent: Inside British Islam (London: C. Hurst, 2014).
John R. Bowen, Can Islam Be French? Pluralism and Pragmatism in a Secularist State (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2009).
John R. Bowen, Why the French Dont Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2006). 9

Frazer Egerton, Jihad in the West: The Rise of Militant Salafism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

14. Thursday, 17 August: No seminar.

15. Friday, 18 August: Exam.

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016

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Credit Transfer: If you are hoping to earn credit by taking this course, please ensure that you
confirm it is eligible for credit transfer well in advance of the start date. Please discuss this directly
with your home institution or Study Abroad Advisor.
As a guide, our LSE Summer School courses are typically eligible for three or four credits within the
US system and 7.5ECTS in Europe. Different institutions and countries can, and will, vary. You will
receive a digital transcript and a printed certificate following your successful completion of the
course in order to make arrangements for transfer of credit.
If you have any queries, please direct them to summer.school@lse.ac.uk

Course content is subject to change. Last updated: December 2016