Book Reviews

97 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XL, No.1, Fall 2016 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa THE RESISTANCE, REVOLT & GENDER JUSTICE IN EGYPT, by Mariz Tadrros. Syracuse New York: Syracuse University Press 2016. 338 pages. This book is a case study of collective action around the gender of relevance beyond the Egyptian context. It shows ways in which citizens defy or comply with, circumvent, resist and sometimes internalize red lines that are constantly changing. The story of women and men collectively mobilizing behind shifting red lines is of relevance to scholars of gender studies, sociology, politics, and development studies. In this book the author aspire to combine an inductive approach to theorization with a practical discussion of policy and development practice. TWELVE INFALLIBLE MEN: The Imams and the Making of Shi’ism by Mattew Pierce. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press 2016. 254 pages. Twlve Infallible Men focuses on the role of narratives of the imams in the development of a distinct Shi’a identity. During the tenth century, at a critical juncture in Islamic history, a group of scholars began assembling definitive works containing accounts of the twelve imams’ lives. These collective biographies constructed a sacred history, portraying the imams as strong, beautiful, learned, and pious. Miracles surrounded their birth, and they became miracle workers in turn, but were nevertheless betrayed and martyred by enemies. These biographies inspired and entertained, but more importantly they offered a meaningful narrative of history for Muslims who revered the imams. The accounts invoked shared memories and shaped communal responses and ritual practices of grieving. Mourning the imams’ tragic fates helped nascent Shi’a communities resist the pressure to forget their story. The biographies of the imams became a focal point of cultural memory, inspiring Shi’a religious imagination for centuries to come 98 WHY MUSLIM INTEGRATION FAILS IN CRISTIAN-HERITAGE SOCIETIES by Claire L. Adida, David D. Laitin, Marie-Anne Valfort. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press 2016. 264 pages. The authors found that in France, Muslims are widely perceived as threatening, based in large part on cultural differences between Muslim and rooted French that feed both rational and irrational Islamophobia. Relying on a unique methodology to isolate the religious component of discrimination, the authors identify a discriminatory equilibrium in which both Muslim immigrants and native French act negatively toward one another in a self-perpetuating , vicious circle. The authors outline public policy solutions aimed at promoting religious diversity in fair-minded host societies. TODAY WE DROP BOMBS TOMORROW WE BUILD BRIDGES: How Foreign Aid became a casualty of War by Peter Gill. London, UK: Zed Books 2016. 310 pages. The war on terror has politicized foreign aid as never before. Aid workers are being killed at an alarming fate. From the ravaged streets of Mogadishu to the unending struggle in Helmand, Gill travels to some of the most conflict-stricken places to reveal the true relationship between the aid business and Western security. While some agencies have clung to their neutrality against ever stiffer odds, others have compromised their impartiality to secure the flow of official funds. BRITISH MISCALCULATION: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism, 19181925 by Isaiah Friedman. New Jersey, USA: Transactions Publishers, New Brunswick 2016. 378 pages. Friedman examines the period of the aftermath of World War I. He describes the furious agitation throughout Islam against the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. Coupled with the powerful effect of the principle of self-determination, this detailed and convincing account describes British indecisiveness, policy contradictions, and how militant nationalism was aggravated by the Greek invasion of Smyrna and its ambition to create a Hellenic Empire in Anatolia with Britain’s connivance. As Friedman shows, the British administration of Palestine bears a considerable share of responsibility for the Arab-Zionist conflict in Palestine. Against this diplomatic background Arab-Jewish hostilities thrived, with consequences that endure today. TOTALITARIANISM, GLOBALIZATION, COLONIALISM: The Destruction of Civilization since 1914 by Harry Redner. New Jersey, USA: Transactions Publishers, New Brunswick 2016. 331 pages. Redner describes the impact of modernization on China, India, and Islam as they underwent Europeanization, Sovietization, and Americanization. He confronts us with a paradox: in the...