Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies

he movement of nation building in Islamic societies away from the secular or Pan-Arab models of the early twentieth century toward a variety of nationalisms was accompanied by growing antagonism between the Muslim majority and ethnic or religious minorities. The papers in Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies offer a comparative analysis of how these minorities developed their own distinctive identities within the modern Islamic nation-state.

The essays focus on identity formation in five minority groups - Copts in Egypt, Baha'is and Christians in Pakistan, Berbers in Algeria and Morocco, and Kurds in Turkey and Iraq. While every minority community is distinctive, the experiences of these groups show that a state's authoritarian rule, uncompromising attitude towards expressions of particularism, and failure to offer tools for inclusion are all responsible for the politicization and radicalization of minority identities. The place of Islam in this process is complex: while its initial pluralistic role was transformed through the creation of the modern nation-state, the radicalization of society in turn radicalized and politicized minority identities. Minority groups, though at times possessing a measure of political autonomy, remain intensely vulnerable.

Contributors include Juan R.I. Cole (University of Michigan), David L. Crawford (Fairfield University), Michael Gunter (Tennessee Technological University), Azzedine Layachi (St John's University), Richard C. Martin (Emory University), Paul S. Rowe (University of Western Ontario), Maya Shatzmiller (University of Western Ontario), Charles D. Smith (University of Arizona), Pieternella van Doorn-Harder (Valparaiso University), the late Linda S. Walbridge (University of Oklahoma), and M. Hakan Yavuz (University of Utah).
ntroduction vii
MAYA SHATZMILLER

1
From Dhimmis to Minorities: Shifting Constructions of the non-Muslim Other
from Early to Modern Islam 3
RICHARD C. MARTIN
2
Copts: Fully Egyptian, but for a Tattoo? 22
PIETERNELLA VAN DOORN-HARDER
3
The Egyptian Copts: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Definition of Identity for a Religious Minority 58
CHARLES D. SMITH
4
The Sheep and the Goats? Christian Groups in Lebanon and Egypt in Comparative Perspective 85
PAUL S. ROWE
5
The Christians of Pakistan: The Interaction of Law and Caste in Maintaining ?Outsider? Status 108
LINDA S. WALBRIDGE
6
The Baha?i Minority and Nationalism in Contemporary Iran 127
JUAN R.I. COLE
7
Royal Interest in Local Culture: Amazigh Identity and the Moroccan State 164
DAVID L. CRAWFORD
8
The Berbers in Algeria: Politicized Ethnicity and Ethnicized Politics 195
AZZEDINE LAYACHI
9
Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey 229
M. HAKAN YAVUZ
10
The Kurdish Minority Identity in Iraq 263
MICHAEL M. GUNTER

Conclusion 283
MAYA SHATZMILLER

Bibliographies 289
Contributors 317
Index 319