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The Authoritarian State in the Muslim World: Comparative Insights From Ibn Khaldun and Stein Rokkan

Ahmet T. Kuru (San Diego State University, USA)

A Comparative Historical and Typological Approach to the Middle Eastern State System

ISBN: 978-1-83753-123-3, eISBN: 978-1-83753-122-6

Publication date: 19 April 2024

Abstract

Political Science in the United States has focused too much on variable-oriented, quantitative methods and thus lost its ability to ask “big questions.” Stein Rokkan (d. 1979) was an eminent comparativist who asked big questions and provided such qualitative tools as conceptual maps, grids, and clustered comparisons. Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), arguably the first social scientist, also asked big questions and provided a universal explanation about the dialectical relationship between nomads and sedentary people. This article analyzes to what extent Ibn Khaldun's concepts of asabiyya and sedentary culture help understand the rise and fall of the Muslim civilization. It also explores my alternative, class-based perspective in Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment. Moreover, the article explores how Rokkan's analysis of cultural, geographical, economic, and religio-political variations within Western European states can provide insights to the examination of such variations in the Muslim world.

Keywords

Citation

Kuru, A.T. (2024), "The Authoritarian State in the Muslim World: Comparative Insights From Ibn Khaldun and Stein Rokkan", Mjøset, L., Butenschøn, N. and Harpviken, K.B. (Ed.) A Comparative Historical and Typological Approach to the Middle Eastern State System (Comparative Social Research, Vol. 36), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 221-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0195-631020240000036007

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024 Ahmet T. Kuru. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited