The Rise of Islamic Political Movements and Parties

Kirdiş’s volume is a most welcome contribution to the growing literature on Arab political parties. In this insightful study, Kirdiş provides a compelling analysis of how islamist organizations decide to either form a political party or continue their activism through more informal channels. This book is a fascinating empirical study focusing on the internal workings and debates of Islamist movements. * Francesco Cavatorta, Professor of Political Science, Laval University *The obvious strengths of the book include its comparative analysis of six cases in three countries by making important conceptual and empirical contributions. It is also impressive that the author conducted in-depth fieldwork in Morocco, Turkey, and Jordan with interviews and bibliographical sources in Arabic, English, French, and Turkish. […] Overall, The Rise of Islamic Political Movements and Parties is an important contribution to the literature on religion and politics in general, and Islam and politics in particular. It is particularly a must read for those who want to learn about the diversity of Islamic groups in the Middle East. – Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University * Journal of Church and State Vol. 62, No. 2 *

Esen Kirdiş is Associate Professor in International Studies at Rhodes College. Her current research explores Islamic political parties, Islamic movements, religion and politics and cross-religious comparative politics with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Esen’s previous work was published in Political Research Quarterly, Democratization, Politics, Religion & Ideology and Turkish Studies.