Beyond Piety and Politics: Religion, Social Relations, and Public Preferences in the Middle East and North Africa

Description

How do ordinary men and women in Muslim-majority societies create religion-informed views of political topics such as democracy and economics? Beyond Piety and Politics provides a groundbreaking approach to understanding the depth and variety of political attitudes held by people who consider themselves to be pious Muslims. Using survey data on religious preferences and behavior, the authors argue for the relevance and importance of four outlook categories―religious individualist, social communitarian, religious communitarian, and post-Islamist―and use these to explore complex and nuanced attitudes of devout Muslims toward issues like democracy and economic distribution. They also reveal how intrafaith variation in political attitudes is not due simply to doctrinal differences but is also a product of the social aspects of religious association operating within political contexts. By highlighting the dynamic societal and political implications of religious devotion, Beyond Piety and Politics offers a fascinating new theoretical perspective on Islam and politics. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction Chapter 1. Religious Communities, the State, and Religious Outlooks Chapter 2. Attitudes of the Devout: The Nature of the Substance or the Nurture of Relationship? Chapter 3. Empirical Foundations of Religious Outlooks Chapter 4. The Individual and Contextual Determinants of Muslim Religious Outlooks in MENA Chapter 5. Islam and Support for Democracy Chapter 6. Temporal Change in Religious Outlooks and Political Preferences Chapter 7. Islam and Distributive Preferences Conclusion Appendix A Appendix B Bibliography Index About the Author