This is a provocative and innovative account of how Muslim identities have come to play an increasingly political role. It shows how Islamic movements are best understood as a continuation of political and cultural decolonization. The fear and anxiety aroused by the 'Islamic threat' is not a myth nor simply a consequence of terrorism or fundamentalism. It signals the end of the uncontested notion that 'West is best'. Islamism means having to rethink Western identity and its place in the world, and acknowledging that the West is just another civilization among many. This study draws upon the full breadth of poststructuralist thought as a means of better understanding Islamism. It is necessary reading for all those who are interested in the Muslim world and academics concerned with questions of 'race' and place in a poststructuralist context.

Table of Contents

* Acknowledgements * Preface to the second edition * Prologue: The return of the repressed * 1. Framin' fundamentalism * 2. Thinking Islamism, (re)thinking Islamism * 3. Kemalism and politicization of Islam * 4. Islam, modernity and the West * 5. Islamism and the limits of the invisible empire * Epiloque: Islamism/eurocentrism * Bibliography * Index

Author Biography

S. Sayyid is Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. He has previously taught at the Universities of East London, Manchester and Salford.