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MUSLIM NATIONS IN POST-MODERNIST WORLD.
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Resistence to economic globalization & Western ideas in Muslim nations.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Resistence to economic globalization & Western ideas in Muslim nations: human rights, women's rights, secularism, technology. Islamic doctrine & dictates of the Koran & society. Cultural disparity between Muslim & Western states. Clash of ideologies. Issue of national sovereignty. Islamic fundamentalism. Terrorism.
Paper Introduction:
MUSLIM NATIONS IN THE POST-MODERNIST WORLD:
GLOBALIZATION OR DISSASOCIATION?
The varying concepts and norms of the post-modernist world can be aligned under one heading: globalization. More of an inevitability than a trend, globalization intends to integrate the economic, political, and cultural systems of the separate nation-states of the world in the most harmonious fashion possible. If the venture succeeds, many feel that humanity will enjoy an era of global prosperity and opportunity unlike any the planet has ever known. However, resistance to globalization is not at all uncommon in the modern context, and Muslim states have emphatically expressed concerns over the prospect of integration with Western culture.
And surely, these concerns are not unfounded. Globalization ultimately m
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Muslim societies are often malignedfor their mistreatment of women. Mastermind Ramzi Yousef used modern technology to plan, documentand communicate his terrorist agenda to his small band of partners; theirony, of course, was that Yousef was opposed to Western values but reliedalmost exclusively upon Western technology.[25] In the modern day, the challenge to Muslim nations in the face ofglobalization will be to neutralize threats such as Yousef. Sep-Oct 1997. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, (1999): 325.[3] Bruce W. BibliographyAhmed, Akbar S. In dispelling some ofthe myths surrounding Islamic society, Mazrui paints a picture of Muslimsas a peaceful people, safer on their streets at night, less disposed toracism, and ultimately no more subjected to censorship than their Westerncounterparts. For the modernMuslim state, perhaps this must happen sooner rather than later. The Muslim states have more on theline. It is clear that thougheach system traditionally approaches social and political issues in verydifferent ways, the objectives are often the same. In his piece, "Islam and Western Values," Mazruihighlights the similarities between Islam and the West, and hints thatperhaps our joint quest for a modern world order may not need to be anadversarial one. June, 1999. Economic integration with the world at large obviously opens thefloodgates for Western culture and media; and as Akbar S. Fundamentalism, often drivenstrictly by a backlash against globalization, can easily lapse intoviolence and exclusivity.[23] To make matters worse, as Friedmanemphatically mentions, is that angry fundamentalist individuals(not justwhole nations) can "rage against the West, in revenge for all the turmoilit has visited on their societies, but to do it by using Western technologywhile rejecting the Western value structure behind it".[24] So evidently, globalization serves a dual purpose for extremistswishing to do harm. Mazrui admits that theMuslim world is a few decades behind. Muslim nations willeventually come to terms with the concepts and norms of globalization- allnations on the planet will ultimately do this in one way or another. If the venture succeeds, many feel thathumanity will enjoy an era of global prosperity and opportunity unlike anythe planet has ever known. Islamist fundamentalists, obviously the least prepared toembrace any elements of Western culture, are utilizing terrorism more andmore effectively as the world modernizes. Eachphilosophy of leadership commits to a force that is all-encompassing.Within the Western construct, the "invisible hand" of the free-market canonly do it's duty when economies are open: it is an ideally flexiblesystem, compatible with the dictates of business. On the one hand, it mobilizes hatred. Can the West acknowledge Muslim culture as one richer in philosophyand beauty than it is in fanaticism and hatred? Clearly, a compromise must be reached. Within the Muslimconstruct, some feel the Islamic state can only fulfill its obligation toAllah if attempts to modernize are stifled and Westernization iscontrolled: it is an ideally rigid system, compatible with the dictates ofthe Koran.[3] Political author and foreign affairs columnist Thomas L. For this, an overhaul of the world order isenvisioned, with the banner of Islam flying high over the new arrangement. It's cultureand media are dominant, and so it need not fear any large-scale subversionof it's cultural identity at home. "Future" and "change" go hand in hand. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999.Haught, James A. In the Muslim states,religious conflict may arouse more carnage than resolution, andsubsequently belie the basic tenets of the faith. In theWest, particularly in the United States, leadership does not necessarilyreflect the religious composition of the nation. Friedman, inhis book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, highlights the struggle of Muslimsin an increasingly globalized(and increasingly Americanized) world. More of an inevitability than atrend, globalization intends to integrate the economic, political, andcultural systems of the separate nation-states of the world in the mostharmonious fashion possible. V33 i8 p6 .-----------------------[1] Wm. Mazrui himself agrees that "Islamic ruleson sexual modesty have often resulted in excessive segregation of the sexesin public places, sometimes bringing about the marginalization of women inpublic affairs...".[16] Indeed, Muslim history is rife with examples ofarranged marriages, polygamy, and extremists targeting women in their holycrusades, throwing acid on the faces of women not wearing veils, or, as inthe case of African Muslims, performing female circumcisions on anestimated two million pre-pubescent girls every year.[17] These practicesseem starkly incompatible with Western concepts of feminism. The international market, dominated by American business andtechnology, bears a typically Western style, and globalization in theseearly years has been little more than Americanization on a global scale.For Muslim states, this means that Western ideas concerning democracy,human rights, women's rights, secularism, and technology may be expected toinundate local populations- a cultural colonization that is, in many cases,unwelcome.[2] Essentially, the new globalization signifies a clashing of ideologies;on the one hand, the free-market Western capitalist model utilizeseconomics as the governing principle which ultimately binds together allpeople. However, whatbecomes of that system if an entire nation, and not just an individualchooses to reject it? On the other hand, it provides a technological means for grand-scale terrorism to originate in a small-scale operation. As a case inpoint, Friedman illustrates the World Trade Center bombing in New York Cityin 1993. Mazrui, "Islamic and Western Values", Foreign Affairs, v76 n5(Sep-Oct 1997): 118.[15] Ibid., 119.[16] Ibid.[17] James A. Where Islam can make the claim that Jews and Christiansare "People of the Book" and in a "fraternity of monotheists", the West canmake an example of constitutional laws which protect the freedom ofreligious expression.[2 ] In either case, the intentions are for peace and tolerance. Globalizationultimately means the spread of free-market capitalism to nations all overthe world. And similarities between the twoideologies are not so rare as might be expected.[13] Ali A. "Muslim countries," explains Mazrui, "are ahead in femaleempowerment, though still behind in female liberation". Oct 1999. Indeed, globalization is often accompanied by a loss ofnational sovereignty for those who expect to participate. It gives theroot of frustration a distinctive appearance: Americanization and Westernideals. Can Muslimsadjust to the modern world without giving up the central aspects of theirfaith? Though Western power is deeplyresented in many Muslim circles, a dependence upon the West for technology,expertise, and sometimes aid is not uncommon. For this,Muslim states that have sought to incorporate elements of Western-styledemocracy into their governments have been plagued with domestic insurgenceand religious protest.[1 ] As Friedman notes, extremists view "the United States, IBM, The NewYork Times, Wall Street and the global economy[as]...part of on poweredifice that needs to be brought down".[11] According to the strictesttenets of Islam, the Western arrangement is impure and dangerous, and hascontributed to Muslim nations having gone astray in the recent past.[12]In the face of globalization, these leaders and fundamentalists feel thatthe world-ruling system has not included the Muslims- and never will underthe present conditions. Muslimwomen have been voting in elections in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, andAfghanistan for decades, and have elected female prime ministers in manynations in the process. "Islamic and Western Values." Foreign Affairs. V49 i6 pp.24.Ahmed, Akbar S. New York: Prometheus Books, 1995.Mazrui, Ali A. Thebacklash among Muslims against globalization is multilateral: "in theMiddle East," writes Friedman, "...fundamentalists of many stripes havebecome highly adept at weaving the cultural, political, and economicbacklashes against globalization into one flag and one broad politicalmovement that seeks to take power and pull down a veil against theworld".[4] The point, he asserts, is that between Muslim states andWestern states, cultural disparity is vast, and "the greater thediscrepancy between a country's cultural norms and the norms of theglobalization system, the more wrenching will be the process of adapting toit".[5] Such cultural discrepancies can obviously be expected among Muslimstates and those of the West. Peace, understanding,national sovereignty, cultural identity, and prosperity for the future-these are the pillars which comprise the platform upon which all nationsstand. Ultimately, the issue willbe one that hinges upon cultural understanding and tolerance. "The Dark Side of Islam." Time. If Western principles are understood to bethe guiding principles of globalization, so Western nations need not sufferin the transition. The varying concepts and norms of the post-modernist world can bealigned under one heading: globalization. As Friedmanstates, "The only defense[against this brand of terrorism] is to isolatethat hard core from the much larger society around them".[26] Friedmanbelieves that the only way that this may occur is if as much of society aspossible retains a stake in the globalization system. Ahmed attests inHistory Today, "...the cultural invasion of western media images...thestereotypes of Islam in the Western media...coupled with the indifferenceof the west[to Muslims], combine to create a focus on the West as theenemy".[7] Indeed, resistance to globalization seems to divide the planetinto two camps, with Islam on the one side and the West on the other.[8] In this configuration, Ahmed states, Western ideologies seem mainly to be rooted in a vision of the world as secular, democratic and ordered by the need to acquire material goods for a satisfactory life, whereas those of Islam are motivated primarily by religious belief....[9]Therefore, the conflict over globalization is deeply rooted- but the West'sMcDonald's and Disneyland culture surely has the advantage. "Islam's Crossroads." History Today. In an increasingly integrated world, those nations choosing to pullback rather than jump in may ultimately create more imbalance in the worldorder. Nelan, "The Dark Side of Islam", Time, v142 n14 (Oct 1993):63.[4] Friedman, 28 .[5] Ibid., 335.[6] Van Dushen Wishard, 61.[7] Akbar S. Holy Hatred: Religious Conflicts of the 9 s. Mazrui writes about the major challenges which face Muslimnations as they grapple to come to terms with the post-modernist,globalalizing world. Even among theWestern nations of Europe, the debate over nationalism and sovereignty hasraged throughout the 9 s as the European Union has demanded that allparticipants must relinquish a degree of autonomy in the name of economicintegration.[6] For Muslim states, the thought of losing national sovereignty undereconomic consolidation is abhorrent to many, particularly fundamentalistthinkers. "Globalization: Humanity's Great Experiment." The Futurist. Ahmed, "Islam's Crossroads", History Today, v49 i6 (June1999): 24.[8] Akbar S. V142 n14 p62(3).Van Dusen Wishard, Wm. On the other hand, Muslim states cling to an Islamic doctrinewhich does not provide for a separation of religion and politics. The West is fortunate in this endeavor of globalization. Interestingly, thesequestions reveal connections between the West and Islam which challengeeach side to make some adaptations. Ahmed, Living Islam: From Samarkand to Stornoway, (1994): 119-12 .[9] Ibid., 13.[1 ] Nelan, 64.[11] Friedman, 325.[12] Nelan, 63.[13] Ahmed, Living Islam, 19.[14] Ali A. Haught, Holy Hatred: Religious Conflicts of the 9 s, (1995):157-165.[18] Mazrui, 119.[19] Ibid., 121.[2 ] Ibid.[21] Ibid., 122.[22] Ibid.[23] Friedman, 281.[24] Ibid., 325.[25] Ibid.[26] Ibid., 328. Though better than a century behind,in an age in which a laptop computer is archaic a year after it is made, inmany cases a decade might as well be an eternity. MUSLIM NATIONS IN THE POST-MODERNIST WORLD: GLOBALIZATION OR DISSASOCIATION? Emerging from a troubled and bloody 2 th century, many issues arestill not resolved, and fundamentalists are quick to aggravate the inter-Muslim struggle for a modern identity. And all walls do topple eventually. Great Britain: Butler and Tanner, Ltd., 1994.Friedman, Thomas L. V76 n5 p118(15).Nelan, Bruce W. On the contrary, Western and Islamic values may not be soincompatible after all.[14] Islam, contends Mazrui, "is a civilization...animated by a commonspirit more humane than most Westerners realize."[15] Ultimately, Islamicsocieties may be only a few decades behind the more socially andtechnologically advanced Western ones. Islamic law has alwaysallocated shares from every inheritance to both daughters and sons. Among Muslim nations, as men like Osama bin Ladengain influence, such a scenario may not be so unlikely. In an emergingglobalized structure, it will be shared philosophical values which mayprovide a common ground where the West and the Muslim-states may convene.The means will be different, but if the objectives are the same, there is ahope for understanding.[21] On other issues as well- censorship, racism, and violence withinsociety- Western and Islamic ideals tend to concur. No matter how steeply wallsare constructed around a society, a religion, or even an individual, astime marches on change becomes inevitable, whether working from the insideout or the outside in. However, as Mazrui points out, in many ways Muslim societies are aheadof the West in the quest for gender equality. Living Islam: From Samarkand to Stornoway. Oct 4, 1993. The last thing the Western and Islamic cultures need is aheightened sense of alienation from one another. Van Dusen Wishard, "Globalization: Humanity's Great Experiment",The Futurist, v33 i8 (Oct 1999): 6 .[2] Thomas L. Even Ali A. Clearly, thescales are a bit more balanced than has been assumed.[18] Similarly, Mazrui asserts that as surely as the West has sought toprotect minority religions through secularism, so Muslim states have soughtto incorporate Islamic ideas of ecumenicalism into political practice.And, Mazrui contends that the Muslim world, in spite of it's manyconflicts, has "never yet given rise to systematic fascism and itsorganized brutalities".[19] Thus, Islam is presented as a theologyinherently resistant to racism; although this notion seems to trivializethe bloody jihads of virtually every Muslim state, the point worth notingis this: the best intentions of Islam are similar to the best intentions ofthe Western World. In these ways, there is reason to be optimistic that theMuslim states may in fact be prepared to cooperate with the West in aglobalized system and yet simultaneously maintain a strong sense ofcultural identity.[22] However, extreme fundamentalists will continue to be an obstacle forMuslim states. The United States has certainly not achieved sucha feat. However, resistance to globalization is not atall uncommon in the modern context, and Muslim states have emphaticallyexpressed concerns over the prospect of integration with Westernculture.[1] And surely, these concerns are not unfounded. The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
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