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Islamization as a Strategy for Reconciliation between Modernity and Tradition: Examples from Contemporary Arab Gulf States

Ouis, Pernilla LU (2002) In Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 13(3). p.315-334
Abstract
The article analyses how Islam, traditions and modernity are socially negotiated and reconstructed in the Arab Gulf states under the influence of globalization and new communication technologies. Although these concepts are subjected to 'reifications', they are important in the official rhetoric for the legitimization of political power. The author bases her study on conventional anthropological fieldwork, as well as 'e-fieldwork' on the Internet/e-mails. The article presents the results of an e-survey on Gulf youths' attitudes towards modernization and Westernization, analyses 'freedom of speech in cyberspace' from discussions held on the Internet on politics and gender relations and finally gives examples from newspapers revealing the... (More)
The article analyses how Islam, traditions and modernity are socially negotiated and reconstructed in the Arab Gulf states under the influence of globalization and new communication technologies. Although these concepts are subjected to 'reifications', they are important in the official rhetoric for the legitimization of political power. The author bases her study on conventional anthropological fieldwork, as well as 'e-fieldwork' on the Internet/e-mails. The article presents the results of an e-survey on Gulf youths' attitudes towards modernization and Westernization, analyses 'freedom of speech in cyberspace' from discussions held on the Internet on politics and gender relations and finally gives examples from newspapers revealing the ambiguous attitude towards Islam, tradition and modernity in the public discourse. The conclusion is that Islamization is a strategy that incorporates both resistance to and accommodation of modernity, and could be viewed as the culturally accepted form of modernization in Muslim contexts. Islamization serves in the Gulf as a third alternative resolving the paradoxes between tradition and modernity as it creates a discourse of coalition between the traditional and modern discourses. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
volume
13
issue
3
pages
315 - 334
publisher
Carfax Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85011917122
ISSN
0959-6410
DOI
10.1080/09596410220220145516
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b557b366-687a-4801-a2d4-cd69f1770a9d (old id 161943)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:29:19
date last changed
2022-01-27 05:43:16
@article{b557b366-687a-4801-a2d4-cd69f1770a9d,
  abstract     = {{The article analyses how Islam, traditions and modernity are socially negotiated and reconstructed in the Arab Gulf states under the influence of globalization and new communication technologies. Although these concepts are subjected to 'reifications', they are important in the official rhetoric for the legitimization of political power. The author bases her study on conventional anthropological fieldwork, as well as 'e-fieldwork' on the Internet/e-mails. The article presents the results of an e-survey on Gulf youths' attitudes towards modernization and Westernization, analyses 'freedom of speech in cyberspace' from discussions held on the Internet on politics and gender relations and finally gives examples from newspapers revealing the ambiguous attitude towards Islam, tradition and modernity in the public discourse. The conclusion is that Islamization is a strategy that incorporates both resistance to and accommodation of modernity, and could be viewed as the culturally accepted form of modernization in Muslim contexts. Islamization serves in the Gulf as a third alternative resolving the paradoxes between tradition and modernity as it creates a discourse of coalition between the traditional and modern discourses.}},
  author       = {{Ouis, Pernilla}},
  issn         = {{0959-6410}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{315--334}},
  publisher    = {{Carfax Publishing}},
  series       = {{Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations}},
  title        = {{Islamization as a Strategy for Reconciliation between Modernity and Tradition: Examples from Contemporary Arab Gulf States}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09596410220220145516}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/09596410220220145516}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2002}},
}