Islam and the Political: Theory, Governance and International Relations »

Amr G. E. Sabet is Docent in the Department of Political Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. He is also currently visiting scholar in the Department of Public Management, Vaasa University, Finland.

Compares Islamic and Western political formulations, highlighting areas of agreement and disparity, and encouraging an open dialogue between them.

Introduction 1

1 Religion, Politics, and Social Change: A Theoretical Framework 28

2 Islam and the Appropriation of Modernity 62

3 Wilayat al-Faqih: An Islamic Theory of Elite Hegemony or, Assabiyyat al-Khawass 97

4 The Islamic Paradigm of Nations: Toward a Neoclassical Approach 125

5 Islam, Iran, and Western Discourse: Behind the Democratic Veil 152

6 Liberalism and the Contestation of Islamic Sovereignty 176

7 Human Rights: A Double Discourse of Power 202

Interview 247

Notes 265

Bibliography 284

Index 301