Countering Sectarianism: The Many Paths, Promises, and Pitfalls of De-sectarianization

Abstract

It is well known that the “sectarianization” of Middle Eastern politics during the last decade has had many negative effects. In that light, it should come as no surprise that most agree that sectarianism should be countered. However, it turns out that it is anything but clear what we are talking about, when we talk about anti/counter/post/trans/cross/non/multi-sectarianism. Moreover, a shared ambition of countering sectarianism can translate into very different kinds of strategies, some of which are burdened with their own problems or dilemmas, raising the question whether the cure is always better than the disease.

Keywords:

• Sectarianism
• De-sectarianization
• Anti-sectarianism
• Nationalism
• Middle East

ORCID

Morten Valbjørn http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8739-5425

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Morten Valbjørn

Morten Valbjørn is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University. He has been leading the interdisciplinary research project “SWAR: Sectarianism in the Wake of the Arab Revolts” (www.ps.au.dk/swar) and is now directing the research project “TOI: Bringing in the Other Islamists” (www.ps.au.dk/toi). In addition to sectarianism, his research interests concern international relations, Islamism, and the sociology of knowledge concerning the study of Middle East politics.