Age of Coexistence : The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World / Ussama Makdisi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Makdisi, Ussama, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cultural pluralism--Middle East--History.

Cultural pluralism.

Middle East--History--Religious aspects.

Middle East.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 pages)

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

";Flawless . . . [Makdisi] reminds us of the critical declarations of secularism which existed in the history of the Middle East.";-Robert Fisk, The Independent Today's headlines paint the Middle East as a collection of war-torn countries and extremist groups consumed by sectarian rage. Ussama Makdisi's Age of Coexistence reveals a hidden and hopeful story that counters this clichéd portrayal. It shows how a region rich with ethnic and religious diversity created a modern culture of coexistence amid Ottoman reformation, European colonialism, and the emergence of nationalism. Moving from the nineteenth century to the present, this groundbreaking book explores, without denial or equivocation, the politics of pluralism during the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world. Rather than judging the Arab world as a place of age-old sectarian animosities, Age of Coexistence describes the forging of a complex system of coexistence, what Makdisi calls the "ecumenical frame." He argues that new forms of antisectarian politics, and some of the most important examples of Muslim-Christian political collaboration, crystallized to make and define the modern Arab world. Despite massive challenges and setbacks, and despite the persistence of colonialism and authoritarianism, this framework for coexistence has endured for nearly a century. It is a reminder that religious diversity does not automatically lead to sectarianism. Instead, as Makdisi demonstrates, people of different faiths, but not necessarily of different political outlooks, have consistently tried to build modern societies that transcend religious and sectarian differences.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Maps

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction: The Ecumenical Frame

Part I

Part II

Epilogue

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780520971745

0520971744

OCLC:

1099542955