The Meaning of the Concept in This Book
Islamism is presented here as a conservative and closed use of sacred language: it amplifies Islam in a fundamentalist form and resists the introduction of critical modernity. For Mohammed Arkoun, it is not merely a religious stance, but part of turning the religious sphere into an instrument of political and ideological conflict rather than a domain of open interpretation.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
The concept is linked to the book’s argument, which holds that the contemporary crisis reveals a political and cultural deadlock that requires deconstruction, and that this deadlock is supported by religious and political authorities and accompanied by the weakness of the critical intellectual, the expansion of mass education, and the dominance of clerics. In this context, Islamism becomes a sign of the retreat of free thought and of the shift of religion from a space of meaning to a space of closure and mobilization.
How It Functions Within the Atlas
Within the atlas, the concept functions as a point of connection between the critique of Islamic reason and the reading of modern transformations in the Arab-Islamic sphere. It stands alongside discussion of the major orthodoxies in Islam, of Islamism’s exploitation of sacred language, and of the shared imaginary that amplifies Islam; it is also tied to distinguishing religion from ideology and to the siege of free thought. Through these links, Islamism appears as a historical and cultural product, not an isolated idea, and as part of the structure that resists critical reading and reproduces closure.
Nearby Pages
- The exploitation of sacred language by Islamism
- The major orthodoxies in Islam
- The contemporary crisis reveals a political and cultural deadlock that requires deconstruction
- The rise of Islamism was accompanied by the weakness of the critical intellectual, the expansion of mass education, and the dominance of clerics
- Distinguishing religion from ideology