Call for Book Chapters: ‘Rethinking Islamism beyond jihadi violence: Fighting ideas leaving the sword aside’

For several years Islamism has been associated with jihadism and violent extremism both in academia and in contemporary political debates. However, this association can be misleading: Islamism has much deeper roots than jihadi terrorism and it stands as a powerful and complex ideology inspiring thoughts, actions and groups all over the world. Emerging as a protest-for-justice ideology claiming freedom against Western colonisation of the Muslim world, Islamism has triggered both individual and groups worldwide since early 1900s. Almost as a sacred ideology – based on the need to revive Islam as the only saving grace for Muslims around the world – Islamism started being widely associated with violent jihadism after 9/11. Before then, Islamism was not automatically related to terrorism but to resistance.

Given that terrorists are only a small and definite portion of Islamists, this volume aims to re-focus research on Islamism beyond jihadism by collecting relevant contributions on Islamist but non-violent organisations.

More precisely, this volume seeks original contributions investigating the following issues:

• The origins of Islamism and the differences with jihadism
• The evolution of Islamism over time and places
• The role played by non-jihadist Islamist organisations in different national contexts and their appeal

Contributors are required to submit a 500-word abstract of their chapter along with a preliminary list of references and their short biography for the the editor’s consideration by 30th August 2020.

Proposals can be sent via email to elisa.orofino@anglia.ac.uk. The editor will be in contact with applicants in the months thereafter with news about the outcome of the abstract review process. Eventual submissions will comprise a 8,000 word chapter (including references and figures).