Islamic radicalism is a post-modern reaction to Third World modernization failures

Evidence

Islamic radicalism is not a traditionalist plea to return to the premodern era. Quite the contrary, it is a product of the contradictions of Third World modernization and represents a post-modern reaction to the specific form of modernization experienced by the Islamic Third World. In the Islamic countries, the response to the contradictions of modernization has taken the form of a “politics of identity.” (Gulalp, 1995:15) The limitation of space prevents a further elaboration of the neo-Orientalist paradigm, or for that matter the alternative account of the rise of political Islam - that of Gulalp and Zubaida. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3510

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the broader argument about identity politics as a product of modernity, and cross-references critiques of the Orientalist paradigm from Edward Said’s work.
• SEED: Article angle: ‘Islamic radicalism isn’t backward-looking — it’s the cutting-edge ideological product of failed modernization,’ flipping the usual chronological assumption.