In Radical Arab Nationalism and Political Islam, Lahouari Addi attempts to assess the history and political legacy of radical Arab nationalism to show that it contained the seeds of its own destruction. While the revolutionary regimes promised economic and social development and sought the unity of Arab nations, they did not account for social transformations, such as freedom of speech, that would eventually lead to their decline. But while radical Arab nationalism fell apart, authoritarian populism did not disappear. Today it is expressed by political Islam that aims to achieve the kind of social justice radical Arab nationalism once promised.

Addi creatively links the past and present while also raising questions about the future of Arab countries. Is political Islam the heir of radical Arab nationalism? If political Islam succeeds, will it face the same challenges faced by radical Arab nationalism? Will it be able to implement modernity? The future of Arab countries, Addi writes, depends on this crucial issue.

Published in collaboration with Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University.

Lahouari Addi is a professor at the Institut d’Études Politiques at the University of Lyon, and research fellow at the Centre de Recherche en Anthropologie Sociale et Culturelle in Oran, Algeria. He is the author of numerous books and articles on North Africa and political Islam, including Deux anthropologues au Maghreb: Ernest Gellner et Clifford Geertz and L’Algérie et la Democratie.

PrefaceIntroduction

Part I. Origins and Perspectives of Arab Nationalism1. The Emergence and Development of Arab NationalismWahhabism as a Proto-NationalismLiberal Nationalism in EgyptFrom Liberal Arabism to Radical Arab Nationalism

2. The Ideological Limitations of Radical Arab NationalismRadical Arab Nationalism against the Market EconomyPopulism against SocietyEconomism as a Response to Cultural Crisis

3. Nationalism and NationThe Militarization of PoliticsThe Aggressive Nature of NationalismWhat Is a Nation if Its People Are Not Sovereign?

Part II. The Ideological and Political Dynamics of Islamism4. Islamism as Cultural Representation and Ideological WillThe Cultural Roots of IslamismThe Making of Islamist Ideology: Sayyid Qutb and Abul A’la MawdudiToward Post-Islamism?

5. Islamism and Democracy Democracy and Political Participation Th e Al hakimiyya li Allah SloganTh e Question of Sharia

6. The Ideological and Political Perspectives of Islamism The Cultural Heterogeneity of Contemporary Arab Society Al-Nahda, Sufi sm, and Islamism Eventful Regression

ConclusionIndexAbout the Author