Abstract
Abstract A comparison of different contemporary Islamic social movements shows that they are Janus-faced. That is, on the one hand they are modern and socially and politically “progressive” and express yearnings for democracy and economic development; on the other hand they are conservative and “authoritarian,” calling for a strict moral-religious code in society. Consequently, tension is an inherent characteristic of most Islamic social movements. Ironically, this tension between “progresssive” and “authoritarian” aspects of religious movements is the source of religious innovation. Unfortunately, many scholars of slam fail to see the complex nature of modem Islamic social movements and seek to explain them according to textual (essentialist) or economic reductionist (contextualist) readings of Islam. This book challenges such interpretations, arguing instead that, by embracing certain opportunity spaces within the public sphere, Islamic movements could become a motivating force for economic expansion, democratization, and the popular acceptance of many aspects of modernity.
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