Olivier Roy is Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and the author of Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan.
Is theocracy really the future of the world’s one billion Muslims?
Or should it be? …Never has the question been as brilliantly argued
as in Olivier Roy’s L’echec de l’Islam politique, now available in
a superb English translation as The Failure of Political Islam. His
closely reasoned, original and unsentimental conclusion is that
political Islam has already failed—that ‘Islamism’ has already
atrophied into a sterile, hypocritical—and very
Western—neofundamentalism… The Failure of Political Islam addresses
the history, sociology, economy and ‘geostrategy’ of political
Islam, with excellent case studies of Iran and Afghanistan… [A]
daring exploration… This book is a corrective of stunning
power.
*Boston Book Review*
If you read only one book on political Islam, this should be it.
Olivier Roy…has turned his attention to the phenomenon of Islamic
radicalism with remarkable results. On practically every page one
finds an interpretation or observation that is provocative and
insightful.
*Foreign Affairs*
The Failure of Political Islam acts as both a keystone and a
launchpad to understanding the political ferment in the Arab world
today. In the same way we learned that our perception of Communism
as a monolithic force was in error, Olivier Roy exposes the
political implications of diversity and weakness within Islam.
*The Times [UK]*
A view of Islam as a religion of political extremism, containing
the seeds of its own politicization in a manner inherently
incompatible with much of the Western world, has gradually become
well entrenched in Western policy circles… In this erudite and
powerful book, Olivier Roy persuasively challenges such
ahistoricism. Roy…uses his wide-ranging and detailed knowledge of
the Muslim world to present a reading of contemporary Islamic
movements that provides an important corrective to such gross
simplifications. The argument is all the more pertinent at a time
when well-known American political scientists see global politics
reduced to a ‘clash of civilizations.’ …[This] is a forceful
work—an eloquent contribution to an important current debate by a
scholar with long experience in the world of political Islam.
*American Political Science Review*
Olivier Roy’s examination of ‘political Islam’ has already had an
important impact on the study of Islamism. His analysis is
carefully defined and clearly presented… Roy’s conclusions
are…sophisticated and nuanced. He argues that a particular type of
Islamist program has failed and been replaced, not by a non-Islamic
mode of thought, but by a different Islamic approach… This book is
essential reading for all interested in the late 20th century
evolution of movements of religious activism and revival… The
issues that [Roy] raises—regarding the nature of Islamist movements
and their relationships with modern institutions and concepts—must
be dealt with.
*Middle East Journal*
Roy perceptively argues that the attempt to create a universal
Islamist state is doomed to failure because of the conflicts
between Sunni and Shia forms and other ethnic differences in the
Islamic world. His is a keen, timely study; highly recommended.
*Library Journal*
Is theocracy really the future of the world's one billion Muslims?
Or should it be? ...Never has the question been as brilliantly
argued as in Olivier Roy's L'echec de l'Islam politique, now
available in a superb English translation as The Failure of
Political Islam. His closely reasoned, original and
unsentimental conclusion is that political Islam has already
failed-that 'Islamism' has already atrophied into a sterile,
hypocritical-and very Western-neofundamentalism... The Failure of
Political Islam addresses the history, sociology, economy and
'geostrategy' of political Islam, with excellent case studies of
Iran and Afghanistan... [A] daring exploration... This book is a
corrective of stunning power. -- Peter Theroux * Boston Book Review
*
If you read only one book on political Islam, this should be it.
Olivier Roy...has turned his attention to the phenomenon of Islamic
radicalism with remarkable results. On practically every page one
finds an interpretation or observation that is provocative and
insightful. -- William B. Quandt * Foreign Affairs *
The Failure of Political Islam acts as both a keystone and a
launchpad to understanding the political ferment in the Arab world
today. In the same way we learned that our perception of Communism
as a monolithic force was in error, Olivier Roy exposes the
political implications of diversity and weakness within Islam. --
Princeton Borough * The Times [UK] *
A view of Islam as a religion of political extremism, containing
the seeds of its own politicization in a manner inherently
incompatible with much of the Western world, has gradually become
well entrenched in Western policy circles... In this erudite and
powerful book, Olivier Roy persuasively challenges such
ahistoricism. Roy...uses his wide-ranging and detailed knowledge of
the Muslim world to present a reading of contemporary Islamic
movements that provides an important corrective to such gross
simplifications. The argument is all the more pertinent at a time
when well-known American political scientists see global politics
reduced to a 'clash of civilizations.' ...[This] is a forceful
work-an eloquent contribution to an important current debate by a
scholar with long experience in the world of political Islam. --
Leonardo A. Villalon * American Political Science Review *
Olivier Roy's examination of 'political Islam' has already had an
important impact on the study of Islamism. His analysis is
carefully defined and clearly presented... Roy's conclusions
are...sophisticated and nuanced. He argues that a particular type
of Islamist program has failed and been replaced, not by a
non-Islamic mode of thought, but by a different Islamic approach...
This book is essential reading for all interested in the late 20th
century evolution of movements of religious activism and revival...
The issues that [Roy] raises-regarding the nature of Islamist
movements and their relationships with modern institutions and
concepts-must be dealt with. -- John O. Voll * Middle East Journal
*
Roy perceptively argues that the attempt to create a universal
Islamist state is doomed to failure because of the conflicts
between Sunni and Shia forms and other ethnic differences in the
Islamic world. His is a keen, timely study; highly recommended. *
Library Journal *
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