Religions and Constitutional Transitions in the Muslim Mediterranean ─ The pluralistic moment

This book investigates the role of Islam and religious freedom in the constitutional transitions of seven North African and Middle Eastern countries, namely: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan and Palestine. In particular, the book, with an interdisciplinary approach, investigates the role of Islam as a political, institutional and societal force. Issues covered include: the role played by Islam as a constitutional reference--a a€?static forcea€ able to strengthen and legitimize the entire constitutional order; Islam as a political reference used by some political parties in their struggle to acquire political power; and Islam as a specific religion that, like other religions in the area, embodies diverse perspectives on the nature and role of religious freedom in society. The volume provides insight about the political dimension of Islam, as used by political forces, as well as the religious dimension of Islam. This provides a new and wider perspective able to take into account the increasing social pluralism of the South-Mediterranean region. By analyzing three different topics--Islam and Constitutionalism, Religious Political Parties, and Religious Freedom the book offers a dynamic picture of the role played by Islam and religious freedom in the process of state-building in a globalized age in which human rights and pluralism are crucial dimensions.

Alessandro Ferrari teaches Law and Religion and Comparative Religious Laws at the University of Insubria (Como-Varese) and is also a member of the Groupe SociActAcs, Religions, LaA¯citAcs (GSRL-CNRS/A?cole Pratique des Hautes A?tudes-Sorbonne) and of Centre Prisme Politique, Religion, Institutions et SociActAcs : Mutations EuropAcennes of Strasbourg. He is the coordinator of the Inter-University project 'New Religious Presences' (www.fidr.it ) and member of the Conferenza Permanente Religioni, Cultura e Integrazione at the Italian Ministry for International Cooperation and Integration. His main research interests focus on the present changes of the right of religious freedom in the globalized context. James Toronto is Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, teaching courses in religion, humanities, language, and research methodology. He has lived in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan) for ten years teaching in international schools, studying Arabic language and literature, and conducting research on issues of Islamic education, legal status of religious minorities, and LDS missiology. For three years he served as director of the Center for Cultural and Educational Affairs in Amman, Jordan which is operated by the LDS church