'Political Islam Observed turns the debate about Islam and politics on its head. By drawing our attention to the impact of disciplinary lenses on the production of knowledge about politics in Muslim societies, Frederic Volpi teaches us how to ask better questions about the nature and future of political Islam. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars ... Read moreof contemporary Islam and social science methodologists alike.'
Peter Mandaville, Director, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University and author of Global Political Islam
'Has the potential of becoming a very significant contribution to the study of political Islam.'
Dr Francesco Cavatorta, Dublin City University
'Going beyond the subtle irony of the title, Volpi digs deeper than any other work to date into the myriad latent issues-theoretical, historical, contemporary-buried behind the reassuring category of 'political Islam' and offers us nothing less than the best available map to navigate the political tensions and conceptual ambiguities evoked by the idea of Islam gone 'political.' Patiently guided up the impervious interdisciplinary slope from which 'political Islam' can be 'observed,' we also receive, on the way down, a precious transdisciplinary knowledge bonus: an articulate understanding of the fine synapses of a complex phenomenon-a sometimes culturally oriented, sometimes resentment-driven call for justice and quest for participation.' -
Armando Salvatore, author of 'The Public Sphere: Liberal Modernity, Catholicism, Islam'
'If the maturity of a discipline is determined by the quality of its secondary literature, then Volpi's book signals the coming of age of Islamism studies. He provides a multidisciplinary critique that is epistemologically rich and fruitful. By bringing together in one volume the major attempts to comprehend political Islam, this book demonstrates how complex a phenomenon it is and how radical is its challenge to conventional Eurocentric social sciences. His book is a must-read for all interested in political Islam and its place in the world.'
S.Sayyid, author of 'A Fundamental Fear.'
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