Papers by Jillian Schwedler
The journal for interdisciplinary middle eastern studies, Dec 31, 2022
Amsterdam University Press eBooks, Jan 9, 2018
Middle East Journal, Oct 1, 2012
countries. As scholars and policymakers have gained interest in Salafi groups, particularly since... more countries. As scholars and policymakers have gained interest in Salafi groups, particularly since the beginning of the Arab uprisings and Salafi participation in elections in Egypt and Tunisia, papers and policy studies have emerged that draw heavily on a small number of published sources but seldom expand our knowledge. Most, in fact, rehearse the narrative that Salafism (in the singular) has spread its extremist ideas from Saudi Arabia, where it originated, throughout the Muslim world. In many instances, this diffusion of the movement is directly linked with efforts of the Saudi state to spread “its” brand of Islamism, particularly to combat the supposed spread of Shi‘ism’s strength in places like Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. Substantive scholarly work, however, has been in short supply, particularly given that the movements associated with Salafism do not have the sophisticated public relations machine of so many branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. Laurent Bonnefoy’s pathbreaking Salafism in Yemen is the work of four years of field research, including careful review of hundreds of publications and sermons by and about Salafis in Yemen. The work is remarkable for its depth of knowledge about various strands of the movement in Yemen, but it also draws out important patterns concerning the interaction of state and non-state actors, the diffusion of ideas, and how perceptions of the local and the foreign can play out politically in diverse locales and transnational discourses. Dr. Bonnefoy was trained in international relations, so his point of departure concerns questions about transnational flows and the relationship of national and foreign governments to local politics. This is a refreshing start for a book on Islamist movements, as most studies engage either social movement theory or debates about the effects of political inclusion or exclusion on specific Islamist groups. Bonnefoy starts, instead, by describing the history and geographic dynamics of the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He provides a rich background against which the “spread” of Wahhabi Salafism from Saudi Arabia emerges not as a case of an exported ideology, but rather as a tapestry of local norms and practices shaping and being reshaped nition of Israel’s power ... the Palestinian identity of these people is comatose” (p. 132). The third approach has few adherents, Cohen tells us: it consists of “people who believe that it is important to actively work on finding a solution to the problem of Jerusalem, sometimes in cooperation with Israelis” (p. 132). The fourth approach, which was prevalent in the past, is “nationalism à la Fateh.” Cohen argues that the boundaries between the groups are not rigid, and that they are all fighting to preserve Palestinian Arab life and identity in the city. Cohen concludes that “The struggle between Israel and the Palestinians over East Jerusalem, al-Quds, is not over ... The Palestinians in Jerusalem itself, who are in a relatively weak position, continue to work in order to strengthen the Arab identity of the city ... and reinforce the Palestinian hold ...The neglect of the Arab neighborhoods by the Israeli authorities ... only strengthen belief that Israel will not be able to rule these areas forever” (p. 134). This illuminating analysis neglects the recent “Israelization” process experienced by Palestinian Jerusalemites, who became a distinct “category” — between their brethren in the West Bank and the Palestinian Arabs in Israel itself. That said, this wellresearched and compelling book is a highly important contribution to the study of the Palestinians and of modern Jerusalem, and should be required reading for all those interested in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Perspectives on Politics, May 18, 2006
Psychoanalysis has suffered rough treatment in American mass media in recent decades. Dubious swe... more Psychoanalysis has suffered rough treatment in American mass media in recent decades. Dubious sweeping neurological claims have displaced what are regarded as dubious "talking cure" claims. This cultural trend is reflected in the reflex-like skepticism with which especially under-50 scholars behold the works of Sigmund Freud and his schismatic followers. Political scientists rarely bother with psychoanalysis or tend at best to exhibit a "Freud for Beginners' grasp of the enterprise, which is, after all, an exploration, and canny effort at explanation, of our "inner world" and of the rule of unconscious elements over our intentions and best-laid plans. Inasmuch as the study of the unwieldy "inner self " militates against rational modeling, it is little wonder that psychoanalysis has fallen out of favor since Harold Lasswell's heyday. Indeed, psychoanalysts offer some intriguing comments about underlying motives that drive those of us who pursue rationalist models as adequate depictions of reality, but we need not tarry there. Here, we have two adept political scientists, adherents of the British variant of psychoanalysis developed by Melanie Klein, tapping this multifaceted tradition for insights into group behavior, a move that is, as analysts readily acknowledge, speculative and only to be conducted with numerous caveats strewn ahead. A methodology devised to probe the innermost recesses of individuals obviously does not commend itself for the analysis of groups or institutions, too. The greatest care must be taken when appraising the results of such a methodological leap. Freud, after all, cautiously warned that his own meta-psychological excursions (Moses and Monotheism, Totem and Taboo, etc.) were "his own affair." People may have egos, ids, and superegos, but societies certainly do not. The two books under review display certain merits and some weaknesses of psychoanalysis when applied within social sciences. In Rethinking Freedom, Robert Alford employs psychoanalytical lenses, so to speak, throughout a brilliant little volume examining the meaning of freedom among contemporary Americans. The irony is that Alford is so good an observer that one suspects he could have made many of the same interesting judgments without resorting to psychoanalytical concepts at all. His data unapologetically are some 50 extensive interviews with "about twice as many younger informants (18-30) as older
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Aug 1, 2010
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Jun 13, 2018
UMI Dissertation Services eBooks, 2000
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Dec 31, 2004
Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 2013
Over the last decade or so Salafism has become one of the West's new political bogey-men. Man... more Over the last decade or so Salafism has become one of the West's new political bogey-men. Many regard the movement as the antechamber of violent groups such as al-Qaeda, and as the by-product of a centralized foreign-policy platform shaped by so-called Saudi interests. Based on extensive research conducted throughout Yemen between 2001 and 2009, and particularly in the southern province of Yafi', this book offers an original approach to Salafism and draws a necessary counter-narrative that takes into account the dynamics of the Salafi movement as well as its relationship to its evolving environment, either local, regional and international. Having studied over a hundred recorded sermons and conferences and dozens of books, and carried out interviews with numerous clerics, intellectuals and activists, Laurent Bonnefoy focuses on the allegedly apolitical Salafi doctrine promoted by the renowned Yemeni Salafi figure, Muqbil al-Wadi'i, who died in 2001. Building on IR theory and political sociology, he references the everyday practices of al-Wadi'i's dedicated followers, their rivalries as well as their own evolving trajectories. He demonstrates that, rather than resulting from specifically planned policies, Yemeni Salafism has, since the early 1980s, evolved through a series of spontaneous, grassroots mechanisms, many of which are shaped by transnational flows, that embed this movement in the complex Yemeni context.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 19, 2006
Social Science Research Network, 2019
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Jun 19, 2006
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explain how abstract space of the Stateuniversally and sp... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explain how abstract space of the Stateuniversally and specifically within the context of Middle Eastern citiesaims to homogenise the city and eliminate any anomaly that threatens its power structure. Design/methodology/approach-Through a historical and discourse analysis of these policies and processes in the two case studies, this paper presents a contextualised reading of Lefebvre's concept of abstract space and process of abstraction in relation to the alienation of political public spaces. Findings-The paper proposes that regardless of these homogenising strategies being applied universally, they fail to respond to contextual particularities and therefore theyin a contradictory mannermay themselves produce a space of resistance and difference. Originality/value-This paper focusses on Iran, the case of Tehran and Turkey, the case of Taksim Square and Gezi Park in Istanbul. Recent policies and strategies have been proposed and implemented to reduce, alienate and possibly neutralise the impacts of urban and political protests in these cities and socio-political contexts.
Stanford University Press eBooks, Apr 19, 2022
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Jul 1, 2013
Faith in Moderation Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen Does political inclusion produce ideolog... more Faith in Moderation Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen Does political inclusion produce ideological moderation? Jillian Schwedler argues that examining political behavior alone provides insufficient evidence of moderation because it leaves open the possibility that political actors might act as if they are moderate while harboring radical agendas. Through a comparative study of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) party in Jordan and the Islah party in Yemen, she argues that the IAF has become more moderate through participation in pluralist political processes, while the Islah party has not. The variation is explained in part by internal group organization and decision-making processes, but particularly by the ways in which the IAF has been able to justify its new pluralist practices on Islamic terms while the Islah party has not. Based on nearly four years of field research in Jordan and Yemen, Schwedler contributes both a new theory of ideological moderation and substantial new detail about the internal workings of these two powerful Islamist political parties.
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Dec 31, 1995
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Dec 31, 1994
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Sep 30, 2013
tions mistakenly conflate causal accounts in general with Humean accounts of causality, and there... more tions mistakenly conflate causal accounts in general with Humean accounts of causality, and thereby overly restrict the scope of their analyses. Third, the kinds of tools political scientists have developed to explain regularized human behavior direct attention away from inquiry into the extraordinary, and thus too from some of the causal questions we most want to pose. I must also make one final point. If political scientists in seeking explanation for surprising human actions were to ask only cause questions-even ones that invite investigation into reasons, motives, and understandings-their inquiries would be dangerously constrained and potentially misguided. Cause questions, after all, are premised on the asker having accurately interpreted the situation, but misinterpretation is always possible. To the question, "What caused the contractor to fall from the roof?" someone with more intimate knowledge of what happened might reply, "She didn't fall, she jumped" and thereby challenge seeing the event as an accident. We must always be willing to step back and ask more fundamentally, "What's going on here?" 4 Notes 1 I thank Robert Adcock, Ivan Ascher, Xavier Coller, Barbara Cruikshank, and Dvora Yanow for their insightful comments on earlier drafts. The usual disclaimers apply. 2 I understand "normal" to include both a descriptive sense (conforming to a regular pattern) and a moral sense (conforming to a moral norm). Consequently, the deviation can be from either a regular pattern of action or an established moral norm, or both. 3 I quote here the English translation of Hugh Tredennick. 4 In invoking the question "What's going on here?" I invite you, the reader, to reflect on how the problems explored in this essay relate to those examined by Schwedler in her contribution to the symposium.
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Jul 1, 2013
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Jul 1, 2013
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Papers by Jillian Schwedler