Islam, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment: a global and historical comparison

Why do Muslim-majority countries exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet T. Kuru criticizes explanations which point to Islam as the cause of this disparity, because Muslims were philosophically and socio-economicall...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kuru, Ahmet T. (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, United Kingdom New York, NY Port Melbourne, VIC New Delhi Singapore Cambridge University Press 2019
In:Year: 2019
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Islam
Islamisches Wirtschaftssystem
Entwicklung
Islamische Staaten
Islamic civilization > Economic aspects
East and West
Islamic civilization ; Economic aspects
Islamic countries ; Civilization
Islamic countries ; Economic conditions
Islamic countries > Civilization
Islamic countries > Economic conditions
Islam > Rückständigkeit > Entwicklung > Autoritärer Staat > Elite
eBook-Cambridge-Gesamt-EBA-2024
Description
Summary:Why do Muslim-majority countries exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet T. Kuru criticizes explanations which point to Islam as the cause of this disparity, because Muslims were philosophically and socio-economically more developed than Western Europeans between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Nor was Western colonialism the cause: Muslims had already suffered political and socio-economic problems when colonization began. Kuru argues that Muslims had influential thinkers and merchants in their early history, when religious orthodoxy and military rule were prevalent in Europe. However, in the eleventh century, an alliance between orthodox Islamic scholars (the ulema) and military states began to emerge. This alliance gradually hindered intellectual and economic creativity by marginalizing intellectual and bourgeois classes in the Muslim world. This important study links its historical explanation to contemporary politics by showing that, to this day, ulema-state alliance still prevents creativity and competition in Muslim countries.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 237-291. - Index: Seite 293-303
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 19 Jun 2019)
Physical Description:1 Online-Ressource (xvii, 303 Seiten) Karten
ISBN:9781108296892
DOI:10.1017/9781108296892