Observing (the debate on) sectarianism: On conceptualizing, grasping and explaining sectarian politics in a new Middle East

ABSTRACT

To what extent has the study of sectarianism in the Middle East made any progress in the first decade after the Arab uprisings? Based on an analysis of three aspects of the study of sectarianism – on how to conceptualize, grasp and explain sectarianism – the article shows that the sectarianism debate hardly has provided much certainty, agreement or any firm conclusions. However, the study of sectarianism has progressed in terms of greater conceptual, methodological and theoretical sophistication. Thereby, the study of sectarianism resembles a broader trend in Middle East Studies towards moving beyond the classic ‘trenches’ in the Area Studies Controversy.

KEYWORDS:

• Sectarianism
• sectarian politics
• Arab uprisings
• Shia-Sunni
• meta-study
• area studies controversy
• identity politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) that has been funded under the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) [Grant 01DL20003], and by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (Grant: TOI: Bringing in the Other Islamists [9038-00095B]).