Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment

Ahmet T. Kuru
Paperback, 316 pages
9781108409476

A Global and Historical Comparison

Why do Muslim-majority countries exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet T. Kuru criticizes explanations which point to Islam as the cause of this disparity, because Muslims were philosophically and socio-economically more developed than Western Europeans between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Nor was Western colonialism the cause: Muslims had already suffered political and socio-economic problems when colonization began. Kuru argues that Muslims had influential thinkers and merchants in their early history, when religious orthodoxy and military rule were prevalent in Europe. However, in the eleventh century, an alliance between orthodox Islamic scholars (the ulema) and military states began to emerge. This alliance gradually hindered intellectual and economic creativity by marginalizing intellectual and bourgeois classes in the Muslim world. This important study links its historical explanation to contemporary politics by showing that, to this day, ulema-state alliance still prevents creativity and competition in Muslim countries.

Contents
PART I PRESENT
1 Violence and Peace
2 Authoritarianism and Democracy
3 Socioeconomic Underdevelopment and Development
PART II HISTORY
4 Progress: Scholars and Merchants (7th to 11th Centuries)
5 Crisis: The Invaders (12th to 14th Centuries)
6 Power: Three Muslim Empires (15th to 17th Centuries)
7 Collapse: Western Colonialism and Muslim Reformists (18th to 19th Centuries)
Conclusion