Olivier Roy, world-renowned authority on Islam and politics, finds in the modern disconnection between faith communities and socio-cultural identities a fertile space for fundamentalism to grow. Instead of freeing the world from religion, secularization has encouraged a kind of holy ignorance to take root, an anti-intellectualism that promises immediate, emotional access to the sacred and positions itself in direct opposition to contemporary pagan culture. The secularization of society was supposed to free people from religion, yet individuals are converting en masse to fundamentalist faiths, such as Protestant evangelicalism, Islamic Salafism, and Haredi Judaism. These religions either reconnect adherents to their culture through casual referents, like halal fast food, or maintain their momentum through purification rituals, such as speaking in tongues, a practice that allows believers to utter a language that is entirely their own. Instead of a return to traditional religious worship, we are now witnessing the individualisation of faith and the disassociation of faith communities from ethnic and national identities. Roy explores the options now available to powers that hope to integrate or control these groups; and whether marginalisation or homogenisation will further divide believers from their culture.

Holy Ignorance: When Religion and Culture Part Ways

History

OLIVIER ROY

World

Oxford University Press

The Islamists are Coming A wide range of experts from three continents cover the major countries where Islamist parties are redefining politics and the regional balance of power. They cover the origins, evolution, positions on key issues and the future in key countries. Full description

The Islamists are Coming

Religion & Spirituality

Christopher Alexander

Nathan Brown

Robin Wright

Khalil al-Anani

Manal Omar

David Ottaway

Thomas Pierret

Abdeslam Maghraoui

Jillian Schwedler

Nicholas Blanford

Les Campbell

Omer Taspinar

Annika Folkeson

Islam

United States Institute of Peace

Olivier Roy demonstrates that the Islamic Fundamentalism of today is still the Third Worldism of the 1960s: populist politics and mixed economies of laissez-faire for the rich and subsidies for the poor. In Roy's striking formulation, those marching today beneath Islam's green banners are the same as the "reds" of yesterday, with similarly dim prospects of success. Richly informed, powerfully argued, and clearly written, this is a book that no one trying to understand Islam can afford to overlook.

The Failure of Political Islam

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd

Olivier Roy argues that the unintended and unforeseen consequences of the 'war on terror' have artificially conflated conflicts in the Middle East such that they appear to be the expression of a widespread 'Muslim anger' against the West. In this new book he seeks to restore the individual logic and dynamics of each of these conflicts, the better to understand the widespread political discontent that sustains them. Instead of two opposed sides, an 'us' and a 'them', he warns that the West faces an array of 'reverse alliances': in Pakistan the West backs General Musharraf, whose military intelligence services support the Taliban; in Iraq the United States shores up a government that has close links to its arch-enemy, Iran; the Iraqi Kurds, allies of the Americans, give sanctuary to an adversary (the PKK) of a fellow NATO member, Turkey; while the Saudis support the Iraqi Sunnis who are fighting Coalition forces.If these issues were not enough to contend with, the Shia-Sunni divide has emerged as one of the leading strategic factors in the Middle East. But the 'war on terror' is not merely the geopolitical blunder of a lunatic neo-conservative fringe in Washington; it is also deeply rooted in Western perceptions of the Middle East. Chief among these is the belief that Islam, rather than politics, is the overarching factor in all such conflicts, which in turn explains the West's support for either would be secular democrats or more or less benign dictators. Roy concludes by arguing that the West has no alternative but to engage in a dialogue with the political forces that count, namely the Islamo-nationalists of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East

Middle East

C. Hurst & Co. Publishers Ltd.

The New Central Asia : Creation of Nations

I.B.Tauris

Le croissant et le chaos (French Edition)

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

Hachette Littérature

البحث عن الشرق المفقود

Genealogía del islamismo

Miguel Peyró García

Bellaterra

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Books by OLIVIER ROY