Berna Turam Between Islam and the State sku-27386555

Berna Turam's Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement (Hardcover), SKU sku-27386555, is a Religion & Religious Studies Books title. It examines how conflict between Islamic forces and authoritarian states has hindered democratization across much of the Middle East.

In Turkey, the Gülen movement and the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party have negotiated the terms of secular liberal democracy. The book explores the social and political conditions and cultural settings in which Islamic movements begin cooperating with secular states.

Both the Gülen movement and JP have ambivalent attitudes toward individual freedoms and aspects of civil society, yet their continuing engagement with the state has encouraged democracy in Turkey. They contest education and morality while cooperating on ethnic and gender politics, changing the boundaries between public spaces and private lives.

Examples from Turkey, Kazakhstan and the United States present engagement as a way to negotiate between religion and politics.