The Struggle to Define a Nation: Rethinking Nationalism in the Contemporary Islamic World

The present volume analyses the relation between religion and nationalism within the wider context of the so-called “Islamic World” from the first half of twentieth century until the most recent events of the Arab Spring. In particular, the book seeks to investigate the historical significance of this relationship, evaluating and exploring its multidimensional character, with a particular focus on the concepts of the ‘nationalization’ of religion (Haupt & Langewieshe 2004; Schulze Wesse 2006) and ‘religious nationalism’ (Friedland 2002). Although this relationship has been studied within the Western context (for example the contribution of the Protestant Reformation to the development of nationalism), a comprehensive study along this path, which focuses on the Islamic World and its different ethnic, linguistic and religious components, has yet to be written and, therefore, this is the main object and topic of the book. The book comprises chapters from seventeen specialists.