Secular Education and the Political Socialization of Muslim Children

Abstract

As discussions of the "New World Order" intensify, Muslims around theworld are increasingly questioning the relevance of this phrase to their livesand to the future of the ummah. For many Muslims, the popularization of thisterm signals a need to reexamine those processes that shape the transmissionof the Islamic worldview from one generation to the next. The proposed"New World Order" seems much too reminiscent of the "Old World Order,"an economic and political order characterized by the economic subservienceand political impotency of most of the Muslim world. Muslim social scientistsare beginning to examine those processes and factors that might create thekind of "New World Order" that liberates rather than oppresses Muslims.One a m of inquiry that must be addressed is that of political socialization,as it is a phenomenon that occm within virtually every human culture.In essence, it is a process that involves the individual's acquisition of sociallyand culturally approved attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors as regards thepolitical world. As a social science subspecialty, it represents a convergencebetween political science and child development. Much of the literature dealingwith political socialization therefore focuses on the institutions and mechanismsthrough which children are politically socialized over time.Within the Muslim world, the study of political socialization is critical toacquiring an understanding of how Muslim children learn about the multidimensionalnature of the political world. How do they learn about politics?What kinds of political socialization models might be developed to reflecttheir experience? What are the relative effects of institutions like the familyand school on their political socialization? These are just a few of the questionsthat must be addressed within an approach to political socialization thatreflects the cultural integrity of Muslims.This paper will explore the potential impact of secular education on thepolitical socialization of Muslim children. It will begin with a discussion ofa variety of political socialization models that have been developed in theWest. Nationalism, as a central dimension of political socialization, will bediscussed with particular emphasis placed on how schools promote nationalismin children. The conflict between nationalistic and Islamic identities willbe explored as it is manifested in the secularized educational curricula ...