Ummah(s), Islam and Politics in Bangladesh

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the resurgence of Islam and emergence of political Islam post 1970s, as well as the replacement of the ‘Red’ menace with the ‘Green’ menace at the end of the Cold War, Islam as a religion and political ideology has attracted renewed attention in international relations. Predictably, scholarship remains divided over Islam’s influence in politics and international relations. On one hand, many liberals, Western conservatives and neo-conservatives see Islam as an illiberal, violent and fascist religion. On the other hand, critics of conservatives and post-Islamist scholars argue that the forces of modernity, particularly democratisation and globalisation, can tame Islam. This thesis, by contrast, argues that international relations scholarship requires a more nuanced approach to explain and understand the relationship between Islam and politics. Drawing upon the political experience of Bangladesh, the fourth largest Muslim state in the world, this thesis shows that various waves of modernity, democratisation and globalisation have formed Islamist narratives of international relations and domestic politics, pushed nominally secular parties of Bangladesh towards supporting political Islam, and produced conflict within Islamist movements. Ultimately, it is the Islamic concept of “ummah” (the global brotherhood of Muslims) that forms the basis of ‘post-Western IR’ narratives.