Islamist Movement Change in the Arab World: Egypt in Comparative Perspective

Guest Lecture by Dr. Carrie Wickham

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM EDT
Buchanan Hall, Conference Room D3AB

The rise of mainstream Islamist groups as a major force in Arab politics has made it all the more vital for us to understand their objectives. Yet characterizing such groups as “moderate” or “extremist” fails to capture the disagreements among their competing factions, as well as the contradictions in their agendas between new themes of pluralism and democracy and traditional Shari’a precepts carried over from the past. This talk traces the evolution of Islamist groups in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Kuwait, highlighting the scope – and limits – of Islamist movement change as well as the new opportunities and challenges facing Islamist groups in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Carrie Wickham is Associate Professor of Political Science at Emory University. She teaches courses on Islam and Politics; Middle East Politics; and democratization, contentious politics and social movements in the developing world. Wickham is the author of Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism and Political Change in Egypt (Columbia University Press, 2002). Her articles have been published in Comparative Politics; PS: Political Science and Politics; Middle East Policy; Middle East Law and Governance Journal; and the Muslim World Journal of Human Rights. She has just completed a new book, Islamist Movement Change in the Arab World: Egypt in Comparative Perspective (forthcoming, Princeton University Press). In recent years Wickham has presented lectures on her research at many universities in the U.S. and abroad. She has also been invited to share her findings with the State Department; National Security Council; Supreme NATO Command; Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: the U.S. Naval Academy; staff members in Congress; and government intelligence analysts in the U.S. and Canada. She served as a consultant in the Social and Behavioral Science Partnership Program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2005-2006) and was a core team member of the “Social Dynamics of Activism and Radicalization” Project sponsored by the Science and Technology Expert Partnership (STEP) of the National Intelligence Council (2007).

Sponsored by the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies.