Download Teaching Anthropology: Means and Meanings

Teaching Anthropology: Means and Meanings
2004-2005 Academic Year
AUTHOR: Ludwika Włodek
TITLE: „Bieda a fundamentalizm islamski” („Poverty and islamic fundamentalism”)
YEAR: 2002
Journal: Kultura i społeczeństwo”(“Culture and society”)
Vol. XLVII (4/2002)
Publisher: Warszawa, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, 2002
REVIEW
Reviewed by Paweł Hess
Student of Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
Advisor: Aleksandra Łojek
„Poverty and islamic fundamentalism” by Ludwika Włodek is an article released in
“Culture and society”, one of the major Polish periodicals dealing with the social field, be it
sociology or anthropology.
What the author deals with in this article is the relation between poverty and
fundamentalism – what significance the factor of poverty had to the creation and ongoing
development of fundamentalism in Islamic countries in particular. Włodek, following Bassam
Tibi, perceives contemporary fundamentalism as a political phenomenon which uses religion
to justify its existence and actions. She traces its origins to the salafiyya movement, started by
al-Wahhab as a reaction to the Western imperial expansion, and the rejection of spirituality,
cult of materialism, individualism, and loathing of the poor and weak, which it inevitably
spread.
The author outlines the approach of Islam towards poverty, pointing towards a
general imperative of helping the needy in Koran. She mentions three specific commandments
– zakat, sadaqa, and the prohibition of usury. Zakat is an obligatory (it’s one of the five
pillars of islam) ‘tax’ managed by the state, whereas sadaqa is voluntary alms given
personally by Muslims to their poorer brothers-in-faith. Furthermore, stress is put upon the
solidarity and unity within the umma, the community of believers, and its egalitarianism –
which makes Islam very attractive to people rejected by the society they live in (like the
untouchables in India) contributing to numerous conversions.
Fundamentalists, whilst criticizing the West and often their own countries’ political
elites, preach return to the utopia of a state founded upon the sharia law. This rhetoric veils
however political or economical goals – e.g. as the creation of an independent Palestinian
state. It depicts the Western civilization as a materialistic culture which excludes every
individual who fails to comply with its standards and ideals. Such political propaganda, as
Włodek calls it, is accompanied by charity activity – the Talibans in Afghanistan serve as an
example here, offering free education and help to numerous refugees in the area, gaining
supporters and recruits.
As for the actual socio-economical situation in Muslim countries, Włodek refers to a
recent report published by the United Nations agency of UNDP. Although the report
considers only Arab countries, the author draws conclusions about the whole Middle East,
which may seem to be too farfetched, and therefore a weak point of the reviewed article.
Important issues raised in the report are ineffective management of state income and
increasing unemployment. Extreme poverty however, is either absent or rare in the Muslim
countries – it is reduced by solidarity, and the vast majority of the society live in a higher
economical status. Poverty exists more commonly in the form of powerlessness – the poor
are subject to social exclusion, have limited access to healthcare and education, have no
political representatives.
It is these factors, and not poverty itself, which contribute to the swift spreading of
fundamentalism throughout the world – both Muslim and Western. The author argues that
democratization of Muslim states (or rather states with Muslim majority) could lead to a
reduction of such processes and their consequences. One issue that she fails to raise and
consider, is the possibility that it would be the fundamentalists, that such democratic
institutions would elect. What would Muslim states look like and how would they act if the
fundamentalists would have legitimate power? It is a question that Włodek’s article leaves
unanswered.