Identity Politics in Central Asia and the Muslim World

Author/Contributor(s):	Schendel, Illen Van ; Schendel, Willem Van ; Zurcher, E ; Zürcher, Erik J
Publisher:	I. B. Tauris & Company
Date:	04/27/2001
Binding:	Hardcover
Condition:	NEW

Nationalism was regarded as a positive force shaping "modern" societies and states but in Europe it has been overshadowed by the disasters of two world wars. Outside Europe it has continued to enjoy a heyday throughout the 20th century. Covering Turkey, Iran, Abghazia, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Afganistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, this study lays bare the counter-forces unleashed by the project of nationalist modernization, and the stimulation of identity politics as the result of ruthless repression of minority languages, culture, traditions and religion - the life-blood of minority ethnicity. This study examines how these policies, which include Islam as the basis of nation-building in, for example, Pakistan and the post-Pahlavi Iran, have strengthened identity politics and the movements for opting out of the nation.