Dr. Esen Kirdis, associate professor of international studies, has a new book out titled The Rise of Islamic Political Movements and Parties, published by Edinburgh University Press. Based on qualitative fieldwork, the 240-page book explores the strategic decision-making of six Islamic political movements in Jordan, Morocco, and Turkey.
Kirdis has analyzed how some Islamic movements decide to form a political party to run in elections while their counterparts in the same country reject doing so and instead engage in political activism as a social movement through informal channels. More broadly, the book demonstrates the role of internal factors, ideological priorities, and organizational needs in explaining differentiation within Islamic political movements, and it discusses the effects on democratization.
Born in Turkey, Kirdis has lived in the U.S. since 2005. Her research and teaching interests focus on Islamic political parties, Islamic movements, religion and politics and cross-religious comparative politics with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Her previous work has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Democratization, and Turkish Studies, among others.
The Rise of Islamic Political Movements and Parties is available in hardback, paperback, and e-book through Edinburgh University Press here and also through the Oxford University Press here.