Muslims in Global Politics: Identities, Interests, and Human Rights

Preface: Muslims’ Struggles for Identities, Interests, and Human Rights

Preface Muslims’ Struggles for Identities, Interests, and Human Rights The concerns that led to this book were both academic and personal . My academic interests and involvement in trying to understand the ways in which human rights can be enhanced in the Muslim world date back to the 1980s, when a wave of Islamic revivalism throughout the Muslim world resulted in a profound transformation in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of many Muslims, living in both the homeland and the diaspora . My earlier research involved aspects of continuity and change, modernity and tradition, the emergence of civil society, and the discourse surrounding secular versus Islamic movements. In my subsequent research, I became interested in the impacts of globalization on Muslims’ attempt to accommodate shifting identities and their search for new interests and sources of power while raising dissenting voices against their inept and abusive governments. Not surprisingly, resistance to both national governments and external powers in the Muslim world has found deep resonance with human rights campaigns. My personal curiosity about and deep commitment to the study of human rights and democratization in the Muslim world are both emotional and rational. As globalization permeates different societies, the debate intensifies over how to develop self-assertion, recognition, and new meanings in life. Integral to the definition of culture in a globalizing world is the desire for recognition and determining how to coexist with those of different cultures. Arguably, recognition rather than self-assertion constitutes the culture’s most hopeful posture. The quest for authenticity in the pursuit of solutions to socioeconomic, political, and cultural problems (in this volume, most often referred to as cultural politics) has become inseparable from power politics. Muslims’ cultures, identities, and interests are dynamic and evolving . Reform-minded Islamists have proven capable of creating hybrids potent enough to challenge existing regimes. viii Preface Militant Islamists, in contrast, have either rejected or confronted any intermingling with and exposure to outside cultures. U.S. policies in pursuing the war on terrorism since 2001 have played a key role in elevating resistance and defiance. The rise of Shiism, with its emphasis on the power of beliefs, jihad, and sacrifice, has created a pan-Islamic identity of resistance that is fast spreading throughout the Middle East. Cultural dialogues and exchanges, as well as transnational ties and interests, are likely to empower Muslims and change the way they construct images of the self and the other. When combined with the absorption of new ideas and norms, such exchanges could change domestic structures within which identities, interests , and capabilities are formed. Globalization has created both limitations and opportunities for cultural politics. A new transnational identity in the form of religiosity—with no attachment to a particular culture—has emerged in the Muslim diaspora in the West and elsewhere. Gender issues, by contrast, have renewed the debate over cultural politics in many Muslim countries. Both reformists and militants have used international law and internationally recognized human rights to promote their ideological and strategic goals. The upshot has been a world of multiple identities, each staking out a claim to authenticity and legitimacy. This book argues that the task of winning the ‘‘hearts and minds’’ of Muslims throughout the world must be based on certain corrective measures . To offer an alternative to the agenda of Islamic militants (jihadis), who are in fact a tiny minority of the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims, the United States and Europe must recognize several realities. The corrective to militant Islamism is to integrate mainstream (moderate) Islamists into the political process of their respective countries. In the cases of Jordan, Turkey, and Yemen, political integration has been the key to reducing violence caused by militant Islamic groups. Islamists themselves are increasingly outspoken about the need for democracy and human rights. The opening of previously closed societies to freedom of the press, civic activism, and electoral competition has served to moderate Islamist political movements —as the 2003 elections in Turkey demonstrated. Without inclusionary politics, the radicals in Islamist movements can often prevail in rationalizing their own exclusionary version of politics. Finally, effective democratic reforms and state building—that is, establishing strong, legitimate, and successful states—in the Muslim world are likely to diminish the possibilities of growth for the radical Islamic groups. The Western world can help in this endeavor by not imposing its vision. Preface ix Pushing for its preferences is likely to lead to a nationalist backlash, which...