Book Reviews 107

Islamic Activism: A Social Movement
Theory Approach

Quintan Wiktorowicz, ed.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004. 316 pages.

This book, an exciting development in the study of Islamic activism, is des-
tined to become a landmark text. The reason for this, as Kurzman observes
in his conclusion, is as simple as it is strange: The authors treat Islamic
activists as normal human beings who make decisions about activism in
ways that are similar to decision-making methods used by non-Muslim
activists. Were it not for the persistent notion in both academic and popular
circles that Islamic activists are their own species, one that is motivated by
an irrational fanaticism, any such conclusion would be seen as humdrum.
Such is the isolation of Islamic studies from theoretical developments in
other fields that it was not until the turn of the twenty-first century that schol-



108 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 22:1

ars began to study Islamic activists from the vantage point of state-of-the art
insights on social movements. For this, Wiktorowicz and the contributors to
his book are pioneers who deserve our appreciation.

Islamic Activism is divided into three parts: “Violence and Contention,”
“Networks and Alliances,” and “Culture and Framing.” It also features a
foreword by Charles Tilly, an introduction by the editor, and a conclusion by
Charles Kurzman. Each chapter is a strong contribution based on solid
empirical research with Islamic activists from various Muslim societies.
Many chapters also provide synopses of social movement theory before
moving on to a discussion of their particular case study. Due to the profun-
dity of social movement theory, this never becomes repetitive, and a non-
specialist reader will gain an understanding of social movement theory while
learning more about Islamic social movements. For this reason, both Tilly
and Kurzman note that the study of Islamic social movements is not just a
one way street – applying theoretical insights in social movement theory
derived from the study of non-Muslims to Islamic activists. Rather, the
broadening and deepening social movement theory itself is accomplished
via the empirical study of Islamic activists.

The book presents a “purposefully broad” (p. 2) definition of Islamic
activism in an attempt to be as inclusive as possible: Islamic activism is
defined as “the mobilization of contention to support Muslim causes” (p. 2).
Thus, the authors look at a whole range of activist behavior: from peaceful
protest, to inwardly focused spiritual renewal, to using violence to attain
movement goals.

Assuredly, it is the latter type of behavior that has maligned Islamic
activism and given rise to the “terrorist” stereotype of Muslims in the West.
Thus, the four chapters in part 1 that focus on violence as contention are cru-
cial. Mohammed M. Hafez looks at GIA (Islamist Armed Groups) violence
in Algeria after the military coup in 1991; Hafez and Wiktorowicz analyze
Islamic Jihad and Gama`a violence in Egypt during the same time period;
Fred Lawson discusses the Shi`ah uprising in Bahrain (1994-98); and Glenn
E. Robinson investigates Hamas.

Using the concepts of political opportunity structures, resource mobi-
lization, and framing, the authors provide a profound and nuanced under-
standing of these Islamic activists’ ideas, motivations, and actions. Rather
than essentializing their recourse to violence as “they are motivated by a vio-
lent religious theology,” the authors look at the interaction between actor and
environment. For instance, the article by Hafez, as well as the joint one by
Wiktorowicz and Hafez, show the important role that state repression and



Book Reviews 109

violence has played in Islamic activists’ decisions to transition from peace-
ful protest to violence (resort to violence when the Islamic social movement
is threatened in its membership and resources by violent state repression,
isolation from the broader society as the movement goes underground, and
development of stark “good movement” vs. “evil state” mental frames).

Part 2 contains four chapters that explore the role of networks in social
movement activism. Diane Singerman reveals the important role that infor-
mal networks play in Islamic activism, especially given the repressive nature
of Middle Eastern authoritarian polities; Janine Clark relates how Islamist
women in Yemen recruit new members, as well as how their activism
actually transforms and creates new networks that are changing the social
configurations of Yemeni society; Benjamin Smith describes the bazaar net-
work’s role in challenging or sustaining the state in Iran; and Jillian
Schwedler analyzes how Yemen’s changing political opportunity structures
affected an Islamist political party’s move into formal politics. 

Part 3 consists of three chapters: Carrie Wikham’s study of how ideas
matter in the recruitment of lower middle class graduates into the Islamic
movement in Egypt; Gwenn Okruhlik’s arguments on how cultural tool kits
and cultural repertoires help explain the rise and patterns of Islamic activism
in Saudi Arabia; and Hakan Yavuz’s account of how economic liberalization
in Turkey has created new cultural repertoires in which state-oriented
Islamic movements have fared less well than society-oriented Islamic move-
ments. The books ends with Kurzman’s conclusion, in which he traces the
parallel and eventually overlapping histories of Islamic studies and social
movements studies since the 1950s.

Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Approach should be required
reading for all policy makers, the epistemic community that influences them,
and those journalists whose writings so influence the general reading public.

Katherine Bullock
Editor, AJISS

Toronto, Ontario, Canada