The Rise of Politicized Shi'ite Religiosity and the Territorial State in Iraq and Lebanon

The historical development, which might be called the "crystallization" of politicized Shi'ite religiosity, constitutes one of the major reasons behind the current crisis of the territorial state in Iraq and Lebanon. Having dominated Shi'ite political life since the 1970s, this phenomenon derived from a combination of various processes, primarily related to the territorial state and its political and ideological mechanisms. These processes established primordial local attachments as the principal tool for political change and empowerment.