Social Capital, Islam, and the Arab Spring in the Middle East

Achilov, Dilshod

doi:10.1080/17448689.2013.816541

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Of no less importance is the role of social networking (associational social capital), which suggests that moderates are more socially connected and are more active in local organizations or formal groups that foster a sense of community and collective claim making. This in part supports resource mobilization theory, which asserts that individuals with more available resources, such as higher levels of education, income, and social capital, are more likely to support pro-democratic collective activism (Achilov, 2013, 2016). Engagement in formal organizations is particularly revealing given that those who work in close cooperation within a social group are better positioned to learn from one another.…”

Section: Descriptive and Associational Patternssupporting

confidence: 72%

Got political Islam? Are politically moderate Muslims really different from radicals?

Achilov

Şen

2016

International Political Science Review

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Is making an explicit distinction between politically moderate devout Muslims and political radicals empirically valid? If yes, in what ways do political moderates differ from political radicals? By systematically examining cross-national Muslim attitudes, this article scrutinizes the distinctiveness of politically moderate and politically radical Islam against the weight of empirical evidence. By drawing from extant theoretical linkages, we conduct a confirmatory factor analysis of cross-national survey data from 13 Muslim-majority states to test the fit of two widely theorized factors-moderate and radical Islamism. The findings suggest that support for politically moderate Islam is distinctively different from support for politically radical Islam. This article makes two key contributions. First, this study introduces a systematic empirical operationalization of Political Islam, and a more nuanced measurement thereof for empirical research. Second, the findings help advance our understanding of the variation in politically divergent religious attitudes in the Islamic world.

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Section: Descriptive and Associational Patternssupporting

confidence: 72%

Got political Islam? Are politically moderate Muslims really different from radicals?

Achilov

Şen

2016

International Political Science Review

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“…In defining social capital, a heavy emphasis has been placed on “why” and “how” social relations matter and on structures in which individuals work together for a common purpose . In this context, collective agency is theorized as an important driving social force (Leonard, ) wherein social capital is the result of individuals intentionally building their networks and social relations for mutual benefits (Achilov, ; Bourdieu, ; Casanova, ; Coleman, ; Radnitz et al., 2009; Putnam, ; Portes, ). For instance, mosques (and especially Friday prayers) played a unique role in bringing practicing Muslims together, through which individuals discussed pressing political issues and joined in masses during the Arab Spring (Lynch, )…”

Section: Collective Action: Resources Religion and Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Political Islam: Explaining the Nexus Between Political Islam and Contentious Politics in the Arab World*

Achilov

2016

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective This study (1) introduces a new framework to conceptualize and measure political Islam, and (2) examines the empirical nexus among Islamic religiosity, ideological support for political Islam (ISPI), and collective protests in the Arab Middle East. Methods Analyzing cross‐national attitudes in five Arab states, I conduct a principal component analysis to construct a new index to account for a variation in ISPI, and examine the effects thereof on participation in collective protests. Results The evidence shows that Islamic religiosity matters in challenging political elites via collective action. While politically moderate Muslims appear more likely to engage in nonviolent, collective political protests, political radicals seem less likely to do so. Conclusion The findings suggest that political ideology plays a central role in moderating the intricate relationship between Islam and collective political activism. The evidence also supports the resource mobilization thesis, among other factors, to explain the dynamics of collective action in the Arab world.

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“…In one of the rare studies focusing on the Arab region, Beissinger et al (2014) in an analysis of the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia found that the protest participants were overwhelmingly male and had above-average levels of income and education. Similarly, Achilov (2013) in a study of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Jordan revealed that individuals with higher educational attainments were more likely to take part in protests. These findings confirm the positive relationship between education, income, and the 2011 Arab Spring protests.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Internet and political (in)equality in the Arab world: A multi-country study of the relationship between Internet news use, press freedom, and protest participation

Ahmed

Cho

2019

New Media & Society

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This study investigates the role of the Internet in protest participation in the Arab world. More specifically, we aim to address three important questions: (1) Does Internet news use increase the chances of protest participation? (2) Does Internet news use amplify or reduce participation gaps that exist among individuals at various socioeconomic strata? (3) How does a country’s press freedom act as a contextual factor to shape the role of the Internet in affecting protest participation gaps? The results based on an analysis of the third wave of Arab Democracy Barometer survey suggest that Internet news use for political purposes increases the likelihood of protest participation in the Arab world while it also deepens socioeconomic stratification in participation. Furthermore, national press freedom shapes the intervening role of the Internet. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for political inequality literature and the practical consequences for the Arab world.

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Social Capital, Islam, and the Arab Spring in the Middle East

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

Got political Islam? Are politically moderate Muslims really different from radicals?

Got political Islam? Are politically moderate Muslims really different from radicals?

Revisiting Political Islam: Explaining the Nexus Between Political Islam and Contentious Politics in the Arab World*

The Internet and political (in)equality in the Arab world: A multi-country study of the relationship between Internet news use, press freedom, and protest participation

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