The Praxis of Purity: A Multi-Causal Analysis of Salafi Politicization in Egypt
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2013
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Haverford College. Department of Political Science
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Tri-College users only
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Abstract
This thesis explores the dynamics of Egyptian Salafism, tracing the path to formal political participation taken by principal actors that include individual religious leaders, ulama, and Salafi civil society institutions since the 2011 revolution. The research goal of this study is to identify the potential causal mechanisms leading to these actors decision to participate in formal electoral politics, employing two competing theoretical approaches: rational choice, and social constructionism. Delineating the link between structural constructs in each of these theoretical frameworks and the political reality of the Middle East is a prerequisite to understanding the new, complex world that bridges Salafist histories across time and circumstance. The intention of this thesis is to identity variation among actor pathways towards the observed equalfinality of political party formation and participation. In doing so, this inquiry will demonstrate that the participative politics of the Egyptian Salafists was an unprecedented phenomenon, yet also a predictable one. The analysis finds that the decision by Egyptian Salafis to enter politics is grounded in a structural shift in political opportunity, which catalyzed primary and secondary responses. The primary catalyst for mobilization was a collective constructionist shift in identity in response to the threat of secularization, a menace manifest not only in the Twitter-driven youth coalition responsible for actualizing the January 25 protests, but the traditional sources of Salafi enmity, the Copts, Shia, and Sufi. Secondary responses developed from a number of sources, ranging from an increase in capabilities for resource mobilization to utilitarian calculations from the organizational leadership, responding to both a social-identity shift that had already occurred within Salafi youth and influential independent religious leaders In the wake of the political success of their Egyptian peers, Salafi parties have emerged in the post-revolutionary states of Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, while other politicizing Salafi movements have materialized in other countries that did not experience significant changes in political opportunity, including Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, and Gaza, indicating that a socially constructed shift has occurred. This thesis will make a small contribution towards understanding the roots and the nature of that shift, and its potential impact on national and international relations, a nascent field of research that is critical to the future of United States foreign policy in the Middle East.