Radicalism and political reform in the Islamic and western worlds / Kai Hafez ; translated by Alex Skinner.

"First published in German as Heiliger Krieg und Demokratie, Radikalismus und politischer Wandel im islamisch-westlichen Wergleich by Transcrip 2009"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Concepts of modernity: reform, reformation and radicalism -- 2. Political cultures and social movements: the social rationality of cultural change -- 3. The discourse of democratization: grey zones on the intersection of religion and secularism -- 4. Political system change: the radicals' democracy -- 5. Authoritarianism: dictatorship between fascism and modernization -- 6. Imperialism: autocracy, democracy and violence -- 7. Terrorism and non-violent resistance: extremism and pacifism across cultures -- Conclusion: from 'holy war' to democracy? The current state of Islamic and Western modernity.

"Over the last decade, political Islam has been denounced in the Western media and in the surrounding literature as a terrorist or fascist movement that is entirely at odds with Western democratic ideology. Kai Hafez's book overturns these arguments, contending that, despite its excesses, as a radical form of political opposition the movement plays a central role in the processes of democratization and modernization, and that these processes have direct parallels in the history and politics of the West." -- Publisher.