Welcome!

My dissertation, titled ‘Legitimacy, Survival, and Contestation: Varieties of Islamic Movements and Attitudes Toward Democracy’ examines how institutional factors shape the political strategies of Islamic movements. Specifically, I focus on how state interference in the religious sphere, political regime type, and state capacity influence strategies that range from peaceful democratic engagement to violent anti-regime actions.

I introduce a novel dataset on Islamic social movements across 19 countries in the MENA region. The dataset covers a range of variables, including the movements’ use of violence, involvement in forming political parties, support for democracy, participation in charitable activities, stance on whether voting is considered un-Islamic, the presence of community-owned schools, and their commitment to the strict implementation of Sharia law, among others.