I am pleased to announce a new book: “The Struggle to Define a Nation: Rethinking Religious Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World”, edited by Marco Demichelis and Paolo Maggiolini.

Overview:

In the present edited volume, a serious of internationally recognised scholars adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of ‘religious nationalism’ and the ‘nationalization’ of religion, through focusing on case studies and the religious affiliations and denominations of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The aim of this book is to reconsider the ongoing debate between different communities of the so-called Islamic World regarding the nature of the nation and state, and the role of religion in a nation-state’s institutional ground, both as a viable integrative or segregating factor. It is through focusing on the state dimension, as the subject of collective action or socio- cultural and political representation, that the book proposes to reconsider the relationship between religion, politics and identity in the perspective of ‘religious nationalism’ and the ‘nationalization’ of religion in the contemporary Islamic World.

 Contents: 

Introduction. The Struggle to Define a Nation: Rethinking Religious Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World BY MARCO DEMICHELIS AND PAOLO MAGGIOLINI (1)
1. Religious Nationalism in the Official Culture of Multi-Confessional Lebanon BY ALEXANDER D. M. HENLEY (17)
2. Syria’s Lebanonization: An Historical Excursus within the ‘Non-Existence’ of Syrian National Identity BY MARCO DEMICHELIS (45)
3. Nation-Narrating Monarchies: The Religious ‘Soft Power’ of the Moroccan and Jordan Kings BY MENNO PREUSCHAFT (75)
4. Saudi National Identity: Historical and Ideational Dimensions BY ELENA MAESTRI (95)
5. Religion and Nationalism: Palestinian Christians and Religious Leadership in the Midst of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict BY PAOLO MAGGIOLINI (123)
6. ‘Under the Same Flag’: The Copts of Egypt and the challenges of Nasserist Nationalism BY ALESSIA MELCANGI (161)
7. The Loner Desperado: Oppression, Nationalism and Islam in Occupied Palestine BY ILAN PAPPE (195)
8. Self-Sacrifice and Forgiveness: Religion and Nationalism in the New Israeli and Palestinian Cinema BY YAEL BEN-ZVI MORAD (221)
9. Religion and Nation Building in Turkey: The Role of Institutionalized Religion in the Case of Diyanet BY GÜL ŞEN (251)
10. Jundallah and Radical Religious Nationalism BY FATEMEH SHAYAN (277)
11. Nationalism and Islamism as Opposing Determinants of Iranian National Identity BY ALAM SALEH (311)
12. Evolving Face of Pakistan’s Religious Nationalism BY RAJA MUHAMMAD ALI SALEEM (341)
13. The Limits of Secular Nationalism: Revisiting the Politics of Islam and National Identity in Bangladesh BY HUMAYUN KABIR (373)
14. The Broken Mirror: How the Contemporary Jihadist Narrative is Re-Shaping the Classical Doctrine of Jihad BY RICCARDO REDAELLI (409)
15. Emerging Trends in the Broader Jihadi Galaxy: Between Radicalization and New Models of Jihadism BY ANDREA PLEBANI (439)
16. Conclusion 1: From the Nahda to Nowhere? BY PAOLO BRANCA (469)
17. Conclusion 2: Democracy, Nationalism and Religion in the Arab World BY YOUSSEF M. CHOUEIRI (497)