Islamism and Globalisation in Jordan: The Muslim Brotherhood's Quest for Hegemony (Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World Series)

This book explores the activities of the local Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. It examines how the Brotherhood, working to establish an alternative social, political and moral order through a network of Islamic institutions, made a huge contribution to the transformation of Jordanian society. It reveals, however, that the Brotherhood’s involvement in the economic realm, in Islamic financial activities, led it to engage with the neo-liberal approach to the economy, with the result that the Islamic social institutions created by the Brotherhood, such as charities, lost their importance in favour of profit-oriented activities owned by leading Islamist individuals. The book thereby demonstrates the "hybridisation" of Islamism, and argues that Islamism is not an abstract set of beliefs, but rather a collection of historically constructed practices. The book also illustrates how globalisation is profoundly influencing culture and society in the Arab world, though modified by the adoption of an Islamic framework. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgement Introduction 1. Political economy perspectives on Islamism Introduction The crisis of the Arab state and the rise of Islamism The Islamist middle class and the Islamic private sector Conclusion 2. Understanding Islamism: theoretical and conceptual framework Introduction Hegemony as a category of political analysis Social constructivism and social movement theory Conclusion 3. Articulations of Islamism in Jordan Introduction The elusive issue of Jordanian identity The Muslim Brotherhood between hegemony and counter-hegemony Islamic social institutions Islamic banking as the articulation of Islamism in Jordan Conclusion 4. Trajectories of political identity development in Jordan Introduction Islam as a system of life Processes of re-Islamisation: constructing the homo islamicus The emergence of multiple modernities through the cross-fertilisation between the homo economicus and homo islamicus paradigms Conclusion Note 5. The social construction of contemporary Islamic identities: the case of Jordan Introduction The articulation of Islamism in Jordanian society Cross-fertilisation between the paradigms of homo islamicus and homo economicus The emergence of Islamic modernities Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography Index Daniel Atzori. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.