Re: Islamic Militancy: It is their problem (fwd)

[KS]

All too often I am confronted, no barraged, daily with extremely orientalist
like explanations when Islam is at issue, and not just with the
Huntingtonites (Clash of Civilization) of the world but by self proclaimed
progressives as well.

But to insist that Islam is not at all the issue (which is essentially
Bush's position) is equally orientalist.  Bush (despite his singular lack of
qualification) imposes his own meaning on Islam:  he says that Islam means
peace, and hence is perfectly compatible with a world centered on the US as
superpower.  He adds that the US war is aimed at "terrorism" and not Islam,
and that "real" Muslims have nothing to fear from him.  This has the quite
intended effect of silencing opposition to the war from Muslims both at home
and abroad, a point often missed by people left-of-center who praise the
administration for not turning this into a religious war.    


>  Now for Sherman's response:
>  <<implied in Samman's analyses is that when "the modern world system
arrives", previous local dynamics become irrelevant>>
Both Sherman and Hussain are, admittadely, better social scientists than
Bernard Lewis, and there hearts are in the right place.  But their
arguments, while more convincing, would be something appreciated by people
they despise.

Why should adding theoretical depth automatically be politically suspect? 
Conservatives may appreciate perspectives critical of reified totalities
(e.g. the MWS), but they did not invent (or hold a monopoly) on such
critiques.  The difference between the Huntingtonian perspective and the
points being made here is that for the former, civilizations are ALWAYS the
issue.  Conversely, Steve, Sid and Elson seem to be saying that what is
local and what is global differs according to the context (which is not
exactly the same thing as saying that the local, in this case, Islam,
matters).  If Islam is seen as a spatiotemporal totality, the impact of
capitalism on the religion is of decidely local (temporally) significance.  


That's it for me - I'm off to the FBC conference - hope to see you all
there.





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