Jonathan Nitzan, Shimshon Bichler: The Global Political Economy of Israel (2002)
Filed under book | Tags: · capital, capitalism, economics, israel, labour, market economy, middle east, political economy, politics, power
Over the past century, Israel has been transformed from an agricultural colony, to a welfare-warfare state, to a globally integrated “market economy” characterised by great income disparities. What lies behind this transformation? In order to understand capitalist development, argue Bichler and Nitzan, we need to break the artificial separation between “economics” and “politics”, and think of accumulation itself as “capitalisation of power”. Applying this concept to Israel, they reveal the big picture that never makes it to the news. Diverse processes – such as regional conflicts and energy crises, ruling class formation and dominant ideology, militarism and dependency, inflation and recession, the politics of high-technology and the transnationalisation of ownership – are all woven into a single story. The result is a fascinating account of one of the world’s most volatile regions.
Publisher Pluto Press, 2002
ISBN 0745316751, 9780745316758
407 pages
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Asef Bayat: Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East (2010)
Filed under book | Tags: · democracy, everyday, islam, life, middle east, politics, religion, resistance, social movements, women
The popular view in the West deems the Muslim Middle East as socially and politically stagnant. The Art of Presence challenges this view. It shows how, under often authoritarian rule, the ordinary people discover or create new spaces within which they can voice their concerns and assert their presence. The major venues for social and political change are not simply mass protest or revolutions, even though these do happen; they are rather embodied in what Bayat calls ‘non-movements’, the millions of dispersed poor, women, the young, and other grassroots who act in common.
Publisher Amsterdam University Press, 2010
ISIM Series on Contemporary Muslim Societies
ISBN 978 90 5356 911 5
320 pages
Gary R. Bunt: iMuslims: Rewiring the House of Islam (2009)
Filed under book | Tags: · al-qaeda, blogging, blogosphere, cyberspace, internet, islam, jihad, middle east, technology, youtube
Exploring the increasing impact of the Internet on Muslims around the world, this book sheds new light on the nature of contemporary Islamic discourse, identity, and community.
The Internet has profoundly shaped how both Muslims and non-Muslims perceive Islam and how Islamic societies and networks are evolving and shifting in the twenty-first century, says Gary Bunt. While Islamic society has deep historical patterns of global exchange, the Internet has transformed how many Muslims practice the duties and rituals of Islam. A place of religious instruction may exist solely in the virtual world, for example, or a community may gather only online. Drawing on more than a decade of online research, Bunt shows how social-networking sites, blogs, and other “cyber-Islamic environments” have exposed Muslims to new influences outside the traditional spheres of Islamic knowledge and authority. Furthermore, the Internet has dramatically influenced forms of Islamic activism and radicalization, including jihad-oriented campaigns by networks such as al-Qaeda.
By surveying the broad spectrum of approaches used to present dimensions of Islamic social, spiritual, and political life on the Internet, iMuslims encourages diverse understandings of online Islam and of Islam generally.
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks series
ISBN 978-0-8078-3258-5
376 pages
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