Political in : The History of Ennahda

By Anne Wolf London: C. Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd., 2017, 256 Pages, $38.09, ISBN: 9781849048262

Reviewed by Yusuf Evirgen, Işık University

The Middle East is a region of far- (iii) current and former politicians reaching importance due to past of more secular trends, including and current events in global politics. many adversaries of the Islamist Of the many different dynamics and movement. Wolf also conducted factors that affect the situation of the archival research in the Tunisian Middle East, Islam is especially cru- National Archives and Zaytouna cial. Many scholars have recently fo- University, and studied the British cused on Islamist movements such Foreign Office files available at the as the Muslim Brotherhood, and National Archives and the Confi- how they affect the Middle East and beyond. dential Print at the Library of the University Other movements, arguably of equal impor- of Cambridge. Secondary academic materi- tance, have received less academic attention. als, Tunisian and international media sources, In Political , Anne Wolf, a as well as Wikileaks documents from March doctoral student at Oxford University, brings 1973 to February 2010 were also used. timely critical attention to the history of Tu- nisia’s primary Islamist movement, al-Nahda. Political Islam in Tunisia offers some helpful explanatory tools as appendixes, such as the Political Islam in Tunisia: The History of En- al-Nahda Electoral Programme of 2011; the nahda is a valuable asset to anyone studying Statute of the al-Nahda Movement, July 2012; political Islam, North Africa and Islamist the Final Declaration of the Eight Congress movements in the Middle East and North Af- of al-Nahda, May 2007; the Final Declaration rica (MENA). In this ambitious study, Anne of the Seventh Congress of al-Nahda, April 3, Wolf shows the fluctuations of the al-Nahda 2001; an Account of an al-Nahda Campaign movement, which has played a significant po- Event in the Electoral District of Tunis 1; litical and socio-cultural role in Tunisia and and Selected Interviews. All of these appen- in the regional leadership of the Middle East. dixes provide deep information about how al-Nahda works, and what their purpose is in One strength of this study is its use of multi- elections. method data collection. Wolf conducted around 400 interviews and informal meet- The section entitled, “Who’s Who? in al-Nah- ings with three different groups of people: da” brings ease to understanding the al-Nahda (i) current and former members of al-Nahda movement by highlighting its key leaders and and other religious groups, with whom about the Salafi landscape in which al-Nahda func- half of the interviews took place; (ii) civil so- tions. Wolf provides biographies for these key ciety activists, bloggers, and journalists; and leaders and explains their role in the al-Nahda

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movement. This section prevents ambiguity Nahda movement’s traditional ties. Moreover, in other chapters, as the al-Nahda movement we know that the Arab Spring affected the al- is driven by certain key leaders who shape the Nahda movement’s structure in different ways. movement in ideological and political ways. However, the book does not give adequate in- formation about how the Arab Spring affected One shortcoming of Political Islam in Tunisia al-Nahda’s structure and its political vision for is its lack of depth in discussing the al-Nahda shaping Tunisia. The Arab Spring pervasively movement in Tunisia. However, it is the first affected Islamist movements in the MENA study to delve into the history of the al-Nahda with radicalization as ISIS or other organiza- movement; therefore, it is a significant con- tions; however, al-Nahda did not and does not tribution to the literature on Islamist move- choose radicalization in Tunisia. Rather, the ments and Tunisian politics. It gives introduc- movement supports democratization in Tu- tory-level information about al-Nahda, and it nisia. In other words, the Arab Spring and its also draws attention to general information effects need more analysis, as the Arab Spring about the history of Tunisia, such as the role was arguably a key turn for shaping al-Nahda’s of secularism. Political Islam in Tunisia of- unique Islamist ideology. fers insights about how secularism affects Islamist movements in Tunisia, how secular Another drawback is that Political Islam in Tu- leaders shape Islamist movements in Tunisia, nisia is unable to exceed history telling; there and how the al-Nahda movement responds to are a few significant political and sociological these secular leaders in Tunisia. analyses, but not enough to provide new in- formation. A historical account is not enough The book can be read easily; the explanations to understand the al-Nahda movement com- and language are very clear. At the beginning, pletely. Also, some eras are not explained by Wolf offers some explanations about trans- Wolf very well. Although the author does literation, because of the fact that there are provide some information at the beginning of some difficulties transliterating Arabic into the book about al-Nahda’s key leaders, there is English. However, the author addresses this no deep information about how these leaders situation perfectly and brings clear English to have affected the al-Nahda movement, and understand the al-Nahda movement easily. some leaders are given inadequate attention. Rachid Ghannouchi, for example, has made a On the negative side, the book does not go into significant impact on al-Nahda’s political ac- great depth, so it is not adequate for advanced tions. However, Wolf does not adequately de- research. Rather, it provides introductory in- scribe how Ghannouchi’s actions have shaped formation about al-Nahda and its background. al-Nahda’s politics. This is a serious omission, For instance, although Wolf calls attention to as Ghannouchi’s political views have deeply Tunisia’s secular history and its relation to al- influenced Tunisia’s democratization pro- Nahda movement and other Islamist move- cess, and it is his ideas about Islam that have ments, the relationship is not explained in prevented the radicalization of the al-Nahda detail, despite this being a crucial factor with movement in Tunisia. many different implications for Tunisia. The author searches for historical ties between al- Understanding how Islamist movements are Nahda and the Muslim Brotherhood, but this structured is crucial, because each movement’s focus causes her to overlook some of the al- structure reflects its political views or Islamic

236 Insight ideas. For instance, a consultation culture can All in all, Anne Wolf’s Political Islam in Tuni- lead to more democratic actions within an Is- sia: The History of Ennahda offers a very clear lamist movement. However, Political Islam in understanding of the al-Nahda movement’s Tunisia does not give information about the history at an introductory level. As the first structure of the al-Nahda movement, leaving comprehensive study of the al-Nahda move- a significant gap in understanding al-Nahda’s ment, it fills a gap in the literature. Its short- history and its structural evolution. This evo- comings can be forgiven, due to its being the lution is significant, as it reveals why the al- first attempt of its kind. Finally, Political Islam Nahda movement eschews radicalization, and in Tunisia offers a helpful introduction to helps to explain the dynamics driving this readers interested in political Islam, Islamism, movement to choose “moderate Islam.” Tunisia, and the al-Nahda movement.

The New Political Islam: Human Rights, Democracy and Justice

By Emmanuel Karagiannis Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018, 258 pages, $65.00, ISBN: 9780812249729

Reviewed by Fatma Sümer, Marmara University

After September 11, Islamophobic The book is composed of three approaches in society have become main parts, along with an Introduc- more widespread, and have been tion and Conclusion. In each part, observed to appear more regularly. Karagiannis addresses a concept However, Western intellectuals have adopted by the Political Islamists as worked to maintain objectivity in ‘glocalizers,’ along with the group their studies, which may contribute that supports the concept. to eradicating this unfair percep- tion. The New Political Islam, a study In the Introduction, Karagiannis that introduces and models such an approach describes the phenomenon of glocalization. to a certain extent, is predicated upon the ba- In Part I, he introduces and explains the mas- sic idea that Islamists have localized and trans- ter frame of the concept of human rights. In ferred certain global norms into their societies the first chapter, “The Activism of European today, and therefore function as ‘glocalizers:’ Converts,” he reveals that Islamist activists uti- the author considers that following such de- lize the master frame of human rights with a velopments as September 11, the social media view to receiving support and disseminating revolution and the Arab Spring, norms such their messages. Karagiannis analyses Hizb-ut- as human rights, democracy, and justice have Tahrir as an example of this process in chapter become ‘glocalized,’ which are thought to be two. adopted from the global lexicon and contin- gencies of the local environments where they Expounding upon the content and signifi- are being implemented. cance of democracy in Part two, the author

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