Muslim Brotherhood
Sunday, September 29, 2013, 3:37 PM
Even after extensive research, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham hasn’t quite cracked Egypt’s secretive Muslim Brotherhood. But the TLS reviewer gives enough to leave us worried.
The Brotherhood’s emphasis on the status and dignity of Muslims alone was a break with Egyptian nationalism’s pluralist tradition: other parties had prominent Christian and Jewish members. The Brotherhood was also different because it sought not Egyptian independence but the restoration of the Islamic caliphate over all land historically ruled by Muslims, including parts of Italy and Spain; Egypt would be only a province of this great empire.”
Coptic Christians are a particular.
For the rest, see:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2013/09/29/muslim-brotherhood/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
The volume under review:
Wickham, Carrie Rosefsky. The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement. Princeton University Press, 2013.
It is available at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691149402/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0691149402&linkCode=as2&tag=leithartcom-20
The website gives this description:
The Muslim Brotherhood has achieved a level of influence nearly unimaginable before the Arab Spring. The Brotherhood was the resounding victor in Egypt's 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, and six months later, a leader of the group was elected president. Yet the implications of the Brotherhood's rising power for the future of democratic governance, peace, and stability in the region is open to dispute. Drawing on more than one hundred in-depth interviews as well as Arabic language sources not previously accessed by Western researchers, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham traces the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from its founding in 1928 to the fall of Mubarak and the watershed elections of 2011-2012. Further, she compares the Brotherhood's trajectory with those of mainstream Islamist groups in Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, revealing a wider pattern of change. Wickham highlights the internal divisions of such groups and explores the shifting balance of power among them. She shows that they are not proceeding along a linear path toward greater moderation. Rather, their course has been marked by profound tensions and contradictions, yielding hybrid agendas in which newly embraced themes of freedom and democracy coexist uneasily with illiberal concepts of Shari'a carried over from the past. Highlighting elements of movement continuity and change, and demonstrating that shifts in Islamist worldviews, goals, and strategies are not the result of a single strand of cause and effect, Wickham provides a systematic, fine-grained account of Islamist group evolution in Egypt and the wider Arab world.
Editorial Reviews:
The Brotherhood’s emphasis on the status and dignity of Muslims alone was a break with Egyptian nationalism’s pluralist tradition: other parties had prominent Christian and Jewish members. The Brotherhood was also different because it sought not Egyptian independence but the restoration of the Islamic caliphate over all land historically ruled by Muslims, including parts of Italy and Spain; Egypt would be only a province of this great empire.”
Coptic Christians are a particular.
For the rest, see:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2013/09/29/muslim-brotherhood/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
The volume under review:
Wickham, Carrie Rosefsky. The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement. Princeton University Press, 2013.
It is available at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691149402/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0691149402&linkCode=as2&tag=leithartcom-20
The website gives this description:
The Muslim Brotherhood has achieved a level of influence nearly unimaginable before the Arab Spring. The Brotherhood was the resounding victor in Egypt's 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, and six months later, a leader of the group was elected president. Yet the implications of the Brotherhood's rising power for the future of democratic governance, peace, and stability in the region is open to dispute. Drawing on more than one hundred in-depth interviews as well as Arabic language sources not previously accessed by Western researchers, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham traces the evolution of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from its founding in 1928 to the fall of Mubarak and the watershed elections of 2011-2012. Further, she compares the Brotherhood's trajectory with those of mainstream Islamist groups in Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco, revealing a wider pattern of change. Wickham highlights the internal divisions of such groups and explores the shifting balance of power among them. She shows that they are not proceeding along a linear path toward greater moderation. Rather, their course has been marked by profound tensions and contradictions, yielding hybrid agendas in which newly embraced themes of freedom and democracy coexist uneasily with illiberal concepts of Shari'a carried over from the past. Highlighting elements of movement continuity and change, and demonstrating that shifts in Islamist worldviews, goals, and strategies are not the result of a single strand of cause and effect, Wickham provides a systematic, fine-grained account of Islamist group evolution in Egypt and the wider Arab world.
Editorial Reviews:
Review
"[F]ine-grained, historically rich analysis . . ."--Charles Tripp, London Review of Books
"This timely publication emerges from Emory University political scientist Wickham's (Mobilizing Islam) long-term research into the institutional and ideological nuances of 'movement changes' within the Muslim Brotherhood--the Sunni revivalist organization that was the leading opponent of the Mubarak regime in Egypt before the popular uprising of January 2011. . . . This admirable study (based on hundreds of interviews) is a judicious, well-grounded plea for complexity in the depiction and analysis of Islamist movements."--Publishers Weekly
"[F]ascinating and marvelously detailed. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood offers one of the best and most detailed presentations of a robust school of thought among students of Islamism. . . . [I]t is likely to become a standard text and will be received as a major summary statement of decades of research and analysis."--Marc Lynch, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"In this richly researched book, Wickham provides the most in-depth analysis of the genesis and development of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood available in English. . . . This valuable contribution to the literature on mainstream Islamist movements will be useful to scholars and policymakers alike."--Library Journal
"[A] clearly written and balanced account of the Brotherhood from its modest beginnings to its coming to power."--Michael Burleigh, Literary Review
"[A] commanding study of the Brotherhood's long history . . ."--Frederick Deknatel, National
"[An] excellent new history of the Muslim Brotherhood."--Christopher de Bellaigue, Guardian
"[O]utstanding. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood is an essential guide to understanding the historical background of the political crisis in Egypt today."--Joseph Richard Preville, Muscat Daily
"[The Muslim Brotherhood is] an accessible and informative analysis of one of the most important and perhaps most misunderstood political organizations in the Middle East."--Matthew Feeney, American Conservative
"This timely publication emerges from Emory University political scientist Wickham's (Mobilizing Islam) long-term research into the institutional and ideological nuances of 'movement changes' within the Muslim Brotherhood--the Sunni revivalist organization that was the leading opponent of the Mubarak regime in Egypt before the popular uprising of January 2011. . . . This admirable study (based on hundreds of interviews) is a judicious, well-grounded plea for complexity in the depiction and analysis of Islamist movements."--Publishers Weekly
"[F]ascinating and marvelously detailed. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood offers one of the best and most detailed presentations of a robust school of thought among students of Islamism. . . . [I]t is likely to become a standard text and will be received as a major summary statement of decades of research and analysis."--Marc Lynch, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
"In this richly researched book, Wickham provides the most in-depth analysis of the genesis and development of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood available in English. . . . This valuable contribution to the literature on mainstream Islamist movements will be useful to scholars and policymakers alike."--Library Journal
"[A] clearly written and balanced account of the Brotherhood from its modest beginnings to its coming to power."--Michael Burleigh, Literary Review
"[A] commanding study of the Brotherhood's long history . . ."--Frederick Deknatel, National
"[An] excellent new history of the Muslim Brotherhood."--Christopher de Bellaigue, Guardian
"[O]utstanding. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood is an essential guide to understanding the historical background of the political crisis in Egypt today."--Joseph Richard Preville, Muscat Daily
"[The Muslim Brotherhood is] an accessible and informative analysis of one of the most important and perhaps most misunderstood political organizations in the Middle East."--Matthew Feeney, American Conservative
From the Inside Flap
"A timely and incisive look into the history, politics, and future of the Muslim Brotherhood by the foremost expert on Islamism in Egypt. Carrie Rosefsky Wickham has constructed a detailed account of how the Brotherhood confronts the challenges before it, and why and when it embraces change. Everyone concerned with the future of Egypt should read this book."--Vali Nasr, author of The Shia Revival and The Dispensable Nation
"Meticulously researched and powerfully argued, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham's The Muslim Brotherhood is the most significant book about the Egyptian brotherhood since the publication in 1969 of Richard P. Mitchell's The Society of the Muslim Brothers. Essential for understanding the Egyptian uprising of 2011 and its aftermath."--James L. Gelvin, author of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know
"Given the profound political changes taking place in Egypt today, Wickham's in-depth, richly composed, and intimate analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood has never been so relevant or timely. This is a first-rate book on an important topic, written by a distinguished scholar, and utilizing an impressive array of sources."--John P. Entelis, Fordham University
"Until now, there was no study that provides a portrait of the Muslim Brotherhood from its founding in the 1920s to today, and Wickham's comparative analysis of Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco is unique in the literature. What is also distinctive about this book is that it does not concentrate on the extremism of Islamist movements, but rather on how they may become more active participants in regular political processes."--John O. Voll, Georgetown University
"Meticulously researched and powerfully argued, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham's The Muslim Brotherhood is the most significant book about the Egyptian brotherhood since the publication in 1969 of Richard P. Mitchell's The Society of the Muslim Brothers. Essential for understanding the Egyptian uprising of 2011 and its aftermath."--James L. Gelvin, author of The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know
"Given the profound political changes taking place in Egypt today, Wickham's in-depth, richly composed, and intimate analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood has never been so relevant or timely. This is a first-rate book on an important topic, written by a distinguished scholar, and utilizing an impressive array of sources."--John P. Entelis, Fordham University
"Until now, there was no study that provides a portrait of the Muslim Brotherhood from its founding in the 1920s to today, and Wickham's comparative analysis of Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco is unique in the literature. What is also distinctive about this book is that it does not concentrate on the extremism of Islamist movements, but rather on how they may become more active participants in regular political processes."--John O. Voll, Georgetown University
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