This reflection was born out of an encounter between two researchers working on the same urban space in Cairo, a…
Fieldwork in translation: Reflections on positionality and distance in Cairo
Islamism
The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction
Thinkers like Joseph de Maistre and the attitudes they embody are the subject of Mark Lilla’s new book, The Shipwrecked…
In praise of heresy
It seems as if there’s been an avalanche of inquiries into the precarious status of religious minorities in Muslim-majority societies…
Egypt’s uncertain future
Since the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt has experienced significant turmoil, from temporary rule by the…
Islamism beyond the Muslim Brotherhood
A few weeks after the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the New York Times ran this headline:…
Beyond duality, for plurality
Carl Becker was right in his assessment of great events: they have an ability to create a new normal language…
Egypt and the elusiveness of shar’iyyah
Political legitimacy in the Arab world has often been derived from Islam. Both sharia (Islamic law) and shar’iyyah (legal, legality…
Three observations on religion, politics, and the Muslim Brotherhood
In the following essay I would like to offer three observations about the use of religion in politics in Egypt…
Not secularism vs. Islamism
Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the new Nasser, according to many Egyptians. The image of the military strong man…
The future of political Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Egyptian politics
Shortly after the late Omar Suleiman, the Hosni Mubarak era head of Egypt’s military intelligence, had been appointed vice president…