Not since the Crusades of the Middle Ages has Islam evoked the degree of fear, hostility, and ethnic and religious stereotyping that is evident throughout Western culture today. As conflicts continue to proliferate around the globe, the perception of a colossal, unyielding, and unavoidable struggle between Islam and the West has intensified. These numerous conflicts, both actual and ideological, have revived fears of an ongoing "clash of civilizations"—an intractable and irreconcilable conflict of values between Western cultures and an Islam that is portrayed as hostile and alien.
The New Crusades takes head-on the idea of an emergent "Cold War" between Islam and the West. It explores the historical, political, and institutional forces that have raised the specter of a threatening and monolithic Muslim enemy and provides a nuanced critique of much received wisdom on the topic, particularly the "clash of civilizations" theory. Bringing together twelve of the most influential thinkers in Middle Eastern and religious studies—including Edward Said, Roy Mottahedeh, and Fatema Mernissi—this timely collection confronts such depictions of the Arab-Islamic world, showing their inner workings and how they both empower and shield from scrutiny Islamic radicals who operate from similar paradigms of inevitable and absolute conflict.
- Contents
- Preface: A Tribute to Eqbal Ahmad Emran Qureshi
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Constructing the Muslim Enemy Emran Qureshi and Michael A. Sells
- Part I
- Palace Fundamentalism and Liberal Democracy Fatema Mernissi
- The Clash of Definitions Edward W. Said
- The Clash of Civilizations: Samuel P. Huntington, Bernard Lewis, and the Remaking of Post–Cold War World Order John Trumpbour
- The Clash of Civilizations: An Islamicist’s Critique Roy P. Mottahedeh
- Among the Mimics and the Parasites: V. S. Naipaul’s Islam Rob Nixon
- The Islamic and Western Worlds: “End of History” or the “Clash of Civilizations”? Mujeeb R. Khan
- Part II
- Europe and the Muslims: The Permanent Crusade? Tomaz Mastnak
- The Myth of Westernness in Medieval Literary Historiography María Rosa Menocal
- Islamophobia in France and the “Algerian Problem” Neil MacMaster
- The Nationalist Serbian Intellectuals and Islam: Defining and Eliminating aMuslim Community Norman Cigar
- Christ Killer, Kremlin, Contagion Michael A. Sells
- Contributors
- Index
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
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