Salafism and Political Order in Africa

An analysis of how African states become radicalizers or demobilizers of their domestic Salafi communities.

Sebastian Elischer (Author)

9781108496957, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 August 2021

304 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.624 kg

'Elischer successfully achieves his goal of contributing to the debate surrounding state-society relations in areas of weak statehood … Elischer's work enhances the debate on jihadi Salafi mobilization and demobilization making it essential reading for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge on Salafism.' Michael Schuster, African Studies Quarterly

Violent Islamic extremism is affecting a growing number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In some, jihadi Salafi organizations have established home bases and turned into permanent security challengers. However, other countries have managed to prevent the formation or curb the spread of homegrown jihadi Salafi organizations. In this book, Sebastian Elischer provides a comparative analysis of how different West and East African states have engaged with fundamentalist Muslim groups between the 1950s and today. In doing so, he establishes a causal link between state-imposed organizational gatekeepers in the Islamic sphere and the absence of homegrown jihadi Salafism. Illustrating that the contemporary manifestation of violent Islamic extremism in sub-Saharan Africa is an outcome of strategic political decisions that are deeply embedded in countries' autocratic pasts, he challenges conventional notions of statehood on the African continent, and provides new insight into the evolving relationships between secular and religious authority.

Introduction: Africa's changing security landscape
1. Cases, concepts and variation
2. Critical junctures and the formation of state-led national Islamic associations
3. Missed opportunities and the formation of Islamic federations
4. The state as demobilizer of activist Salafism
5. The state as enabler and radicalizer of activist Salafism
6. From theory generation to theory testing
7. Autocratic legacies, the state and Salafism in Africa
8. Conclusion: reviewing state-Islamic relations in Africa
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Revolutionary groups & movements [JPWQ], Terrorism, armed struggle [JPWL], Religious & theocratic ideologies [JPFR], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP]