The Economic Agendas of Islamic Parties in Tunisia and Morocco:Between Discourses and Practices

Six years since the so called“Arab Spring”,this article looks at the two Islamist parties that have since then-although under different circumstances-been key political actors both in Tunisia and Morocco,respectively.It analyses,in a comparative perspective,the economic programs that the PJD in Morocco and Ennahda in Tunisia proposed during their electoral campaigns,along with the policies they implemented.By looking at their platforms and performance,the article investigates the gap between discourses and practices in order to assess to what extent contingent needs and the interplay with other political and social actors impact on Islamists’ideological perspectives and their capacity to meet societal demands.

The Middle East Unrest and the New Development of Islamic Parties

Islamism forces have risen rapidly after the unrest in the Middle East,and the Islamic parties based on them have initiated political participation one after another.Some moderate Islamic parties,such as the ones in Egypt,Tunisia and Morocco,have become the ruling parties in these countries through parliamentary elections.The Justice and Development Party(AKP),an old Islamic party in Turkey has played an important role in the unrest in the Middle East.Islamic parties have had significant changes in fields of ideology and political practices.Despite their various performances in facing complex situations both internally and externally,Islamic parties all face tough challenges.The Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt’s failure just after its one-year ruling marks the biggest setback of Islamic parties.

“National Outlook Movement”in Turkey:A Study on the Rise and Development of Islamic Political Parties

The Turkish“National Outlook Movement”,defined as a continuous Islamic Political Parties’movement since the 1970s was led by Turkish former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.Apart from factors of economy,society,psychology,culture and ideology,the rise of Islamic Political parties was due to the inclusion-coaptation strategy initiated by the state.As a 40 years’lasting movement,the development,climax,crisis and continuity of“National Outlook Movement”will be of great help in understanding the relationship between modernization and secularization,religion and democracy,as well as the complex reasons of religious revival.

Religious Affiliated Political Parties in the Post-Arab Spring Era:In Retrospect and Future Prospects

Since the rise of the Arab Spring,a series of social movements have led to a deterioration of political stability in some Arab countries.In the past decade,ordinary people in Arab countries have generally increased their aspirations to express their own political opinions in the public sphere.When viewed from the consequences of contemporary political reforms,the degrees of political participation of different national parliaments are eventually influenced by the transition from authoritarian rule and are characterised by their polity.While before the Arab Spring,the performance of religious affiliated political parties in every nation’s parliament was not prominent,but the democratisation reform provided these religious affiliated political parties with important political opportunities to even overtake their secular opponents.Religious traditions are dominant cultural in the Middle East and North Africa(MENA).The political participation of religious affiliated political parties plays a directionally representative role on the current development of political and religious relations in this era.By comparing the political performance of Islamic political parties in the parliamentary elections in Arab countries since 2010,this essay attempts to theoretically explore the role of religious affiliated political parties in the process of social integration and the political modernisation after the democratisation revolution,and explains the intervention of deeplyrooted religious tradition into public politics.Religious affiliated political parties in the Arab countries are strengthened on the one hand by internal initiative and on the other hand by catering to external needs.However,at the same time,the political participation of religious affiliated political parties has triggered concerns amongst secularists about theocracy,and its true effectiveness is also severely constrained by the degree of progress in the political modernisation process of the host country.

Behaviorist Fundamentalism Turns Radical:ETIM/TIP’s Islamic Fundamentalist Representations and Narratives

Many contemporary Islamic terrorist groups have been identified as forms of religious fundamentalism.Moreover,the narratives and representations constructed by many of these groups contain traces of religious fundamentalism.In this article,ETIM/TIP’s narratives and representations are examined as a case study.The group’s power discourses as they relate to religious fundamentalism are analyzed through examining the group’s rhetoric of its own origin,its current situation,and its reactions toward this situation.The power discourse of an unconventional“Orientalism”and the use of behaviorist logic are especially emphasized.Furthermore,the presence of behaviorism in religious fundamentalist narratives suggests the need for China to revise its official national counterterrorist discourse.Instead of continuing the current behaviorist rhetoric in the legal framework,this article suggests a deconstruction-ultimately,a discouragement-of religious behaviorism to prevent the radicalization of Muslims in the country.