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How and why ideological shifts occur remains a central issue for students of political culture and development. This paper explores the linkage between political-economic change and the justification for new religious interpretations. The debate over the permissibility of the Western financial practices that erupted in 1989 demonstrated the strength of traditional institutions and norms when the conservative Islamic scholars of Al-Azhar University succeeded in blocking an economic reform bill. The law was passed in 2001 without much fanfare. Curiously, in 2002 a committee of Azhar jurists overturned their long-held position and declared (the financial practice) interest permissible under Islamic law. Many observers, especially those who see the ulema as an unsophisticated, anachronistic group, read this as another example of Islamic scholars serving as a mouthpiece for the regime. Instead, I argue that the cumulative effects of neo-liberal market reforms and the transnational structure of Islamic banking better account for this ideological shift. Different historical experiences shaped state-ulema relations in ways that encouraged the growth of Islamic banking in many Muslim majority countries- but not Egypt. As a result, when the State privatized the banking industry in 2003, the Azhari scholars were at a comparative disadvantage to their Malaysian, Pakistani and Qatari peers. The chain of events brought by economic liberalization and the globalization of Islamic authority had unintentionally, obviated the need to "reform" the conservative Azharis. By specifying one causal chain that explains the complex process of ideological change, this paper contributes to our understanding the linkages between economic change and shifts in religious interpretation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My paper analyzes transnational elite networks in Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey. Through field research among graduates and students of three American universities in these locations, which have historically produced such networks, it addresses the following question: How are globalized networks of elites situated in local structures of power? The paper incorporates statistical and textual analysis, interviews and participant observation to explore their claims to expertise in particular fields and how they utilize this claim in specific channels of political participation. I frame the discussion around two concepts: one is the notion of ?apolitics?, by which I mean tactics, which allow these social groups to participate in decision making processes, claiming to stand outside the society as a whole and without necessarily being active politicians. The second is the idea of ?international strategies,? which signify the work of transnational connections and accumulations in achieving and sustaining domestic positions of power.These elites, by and large, contend that they stay away from getting involved in active politics because of the contamination associated with it in the domestic arena. On the other hand, especially today, through their relatively exclusive career trajectories as well as memberships in international networks, they claim authority to make macro-decisions that impact all of their societies. This specific cultural capital accumulation is advocated as a transnational expertise, uncontaminated by populism and patronage relations, because it has its roots elsewhere. They put to work this transnational knowledge usually in civil society organizations or positions of technocracy in the government, through which their participants are in politics without necessarily seeming as such.I analyze this self-disposition of transnational connectivity and make cases for the following: (1) Their cosmopolitan identities and associated practices are an asset as long as they can claim a monopoly over it in the domestic sphere. (2) There are a number of threats to retaining this monopoly: availability of international cultural products to more people, apprehension of being labeled ?Americanized? in the current geopolitics of the Middle East; and rising strength of alternative explanations for their countries? trajectories. (3) These challenges are attempted to be averted by resort to binary reflections of authenticity and mimicry; civility and violence; absence and presence of knowledge; and strength and weakness of transnational connections. However the intensity of the struggle that goes into making these claims also points to the passing moment of particular notions of expertise in the contemporary context. This paper highlights the innovations of these elite networks in retaining their exclusivity in a moment of crisis and, therefore, allows us to probe into a number of seemingly indisputable categories of knowledge and identity. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on fieldwork in Turkey and Egypt, I analyze socioeconomic bases of Muslim Democratic parties (MDPs) in Middle East. In Egypt Wasat Party fails to demonstrate robust presence vis-à-vis Muslim Brotherhood, and largely remains a marginal party. Yet in Turkey Justice and Development Party won landslide victories in the last two elections against both secular and Islamist parties. What accounts for the variation in electoral strength of MDPs? Cross-national analysis demonstrates that changes in the fundamental socioeconomic structure in post-economic liberalization era led to changing preferences on various issues. Changing preferences and increase in size and strength of key socioeconomic groups such as small and medium-enterprise (SME) owners are the critical variables explaining strength of JDP in Turkey and weakness of WP in Egypt relative to Islamist parties. The analysis shows that two issue-areas are crucial for MDPs in garnering the support of SME owners: Economic liberalization, and promotion of social Islam instead of political Islam. Contrary to elite-based explanations, this account ties the future of democratization in the region to the impact of changes in underlying socioeconomic structure. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]