Islam and Islamism: Interpretation of a Cultural Paradox

Abstract: The paper aims to highlight, using historical data and sociological reflection, how much contemporary Islamism is a product of the conflicts of the second modernity and globalization rather than a legacy of Sunni religious fundamentalism.

Starting from a cultural reading of fundamentalisms, the research aims to pause the reflection on the cultural similarities between the West and the otherness that threatens it, more attentive to the effectiveness of its action than to the construction of a new order of values. This anthropological framework is defined by exploiting the sociology of experience according to which the continuous effort of each individual is aimed at achieving the balance of three basic logics of social action: belonging; integration; subjectivation. In this framework, therefore, Islamist propaganda will refer to the dominant values, symbols and conceptualizations rather than trying to assert its own independent identity.

Key words: terrorism; Islamism; fundamentalism; culture; identity

        JEL codes: Z1