Post-Islamism in Tunisia and Egypt: Contradictory Trajectories

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This article does not provide any added information to the condition of Islamic parties in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey. It proposes to compare similarities and differences on the "post Islamist" status of these three parties.Which dimensions of post Islamism are compared: electoral strategies? acceptation of the rule of law?  the secular nature of the state? a real comparison is to assess specific dimensions. Because none of these elements are clearly defined and systematically investigated, the paper reads like a description of the fate of these parties since the so called "Arab Spring". What the paper describes is different set of strategies shaped by the political and institutional  constraints of each country. So what is post Islamism in these strategies? how is post Islamism an explaining factor? 

The paper does not provide a clear and helpful analysis to respond such a question.

 

Author Response

the dimensions of post Islamism that are compared in this paper are clear: 

Compromise, consensus, reconciliation, and coalition-making

The separation of religious and political activities

Gender and minority rights

 

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a very helpful and comprehensive review of the political activities of the Tunisian Ennahda and Egyptian MB since the 2011 revolutions. The positive aspect of this paper is its comprehensiveness - everything is gathered here in one place. On the other hand, the paper doesn't really introduce anything new. It is a summary of widely known events. Also, there is no real analytic problem or question. It is mostly descriptive of events.

 If so, you should have it proof-read for English style and a few other typos (e.g. in the abstract for "religion and state" the author puts in Arabic al-siyāsa wa'l-daʿwa (actually "daʿwī" which is the adjective), which is a totally different concept).

A few interpretive points. I think it is provocative and one-sided to say that "the Muslim Brotherhood's unilateralism and reluctance to cooperate with the opposite prompted a military coup."

Also, does Ennahda have a violent "secret apparatus"?? (p. 9)

Author Response

 I had the paper proofread. 

I fixed all the comments suggested. Thank you. 

Reviewer 3 Report

The author utilizes a comparative lens to highlight Egypt and Tunisia’s engagement with Post-Islamism. I believe this is a significant contribution as it contextualizes two contexts that are mostly deemed similar in the discussions of Post-Islamism.

My concerns are moderate, and I believe they can be addressed with another careful round of editing.

Theoretical framework:

• Throughout the text, but especially in the introduction, the author uses Political Islam and Islamism almost interchangeably. There is an extensive literature debating the differences of these, including Bayat who provides the main theoretical framework for this paper. I recommend the author to revisit this debate.  
• Another term that requires author’s attention is “Political modernity” and “deep state”. It is not clear what they mean by these.
• Although the author introduces Asef Bayat and Olivier Roy in the introduction, the author does not refer to Roy anywhere else in the text.

 

Methodological Framework:

• I appreciate the comparative analysis provided by the author for Egypt and Tunisia. I believe the contextual information for these countries could be shortened to make room for the analysis section.
• In line with that, the “conclusion” or where the author makes their analysis clear after comparing these contexts should be extended especially with a specific focus on Post-Islamism. Why is this comparison is significant for the debates on post-Islamism?

Other Considerations:

There are still a few typos and styling issues throughout the text. A second editing is needed.

Author Response

Thank you for the feedback. I took all your comments into consideration in the new version. 

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This article presents a detailed description of the political evolution of Ennhada but remains descriptive with no added value to the current important debates on political Islam and democratization.

Because the article offers a good synthesis of Ennahda political evolution, I am incline to suggest revisions and re submission if the author is willing to consider expanding his/her theoretical positions.

First,post islamism as a concept has been criticized because it does not take into account the broader topic of religion and democratization in which the evolution of Islamic parties should be analyzed (see Alfred Stepan work pioneer work on Tunisia). It therefore presupposes a sort of exceptionalism of Islam which is in fact an orientalist assumption. The author could build on this critique and offer an analysis of the political evolution of Ennahda based on the vast literature that discusses the successful conditions for democratization. What he or she considers a cause like consensus or pragmatism are in fact expressions of this successful transition and the key role of Ennahda in it.

For an example of the discussion of inclusion of islamist parties within secular authoritarian systems, including Ennahda (see Cesari 2014)

Second, Even more fundamentally, there is a rising work on the broadening of Political Islam to include state action and national cultures  (Shelline 2019,  Erdi Ozturk, 2019, Cesari, 2018) that avoid the false dichotomy of  secular state/ religious islamist which does not reflect the political and religious reality.

   

Author Response

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. 

To answer to the reviewers' comments:
1- In regard to their comment about the conceptualization of post-Islamism, I did add a section where I engaged with the concept critically and highlighted some of its limits. For instance, if a party is post-Islamist, that does not guarantee it will advance certain civil rights and liberties. In the Tunisian case, Ennahdah rejected the law proposed by the President Beji Caid Esbesi to codify parity in Inheritance between men and women on the grounds that it contradicts existing Islamic laws. Moreover, the

2- I added more political changes that took place inTunisia beyond 2016 such as the 2019 elections and its significant repercussions not only on the political scene but also on the internal politics of the Ennahda party. The new coalition of Ennahdha and Qalb Tounes party is a major manifestation of radical pragmatism yet it can also be argued that it was an example of electoral misleading. Before the elections, Both parties pledged that they will not cooperate or be in any coalition but later they ended up in a new troika (Ennahda, Qalb Tounes, and Al Karama coalition)

3- I nuanced the section about Rached Ganouchi's effort to rethink Islamist politics. I argued it is a mixture of political pragmatism as well as ideological development. Examples were provided such as the LGBT issues and the inheritance law proposed by the former Tunisian president Beji Caid Esebsi. The intra-party democracy is another critical issue on which I elaborated further since there have been attempts by Ganouchi to run for a third term as president of Ennahda against the will of many cadres in the party. The high level resignations in the party was another manifestation

4- There was a suggestion to include the works of Alfred Stepan, Jocelyn cesari and Mojtaba Mahdavi and that was done. Alfred Stepan's 'twin toleration' was added as it accounts for the success of the post-Islamist shift. In fact, Thanks to the spirit of consensus and dialogue, Islam was blended witht the secular frameowrk of the state.

5- I honed the conclusion to be more comprehensive and summative.

Reviewer 2 Report

This short paper seeks to assess the apparent transformation of the Tunisian political party, Ennahdha, into a post-Islamist party. This seems to hinge on whether such parties accept the basic premises of liberal democracy and do not claim that an Islamic state is the only suitable goal for an Islamist party to pursue. This is a worthy goal. The paper is a short descriptive account of Ennahdha's leader to persuade those interested that the party has changed in the light of Tunisian realities, that is, that not that many voters want an Islamist party of the old school, one that denies pluralist realities.

I am not convinced that the paper tells us anything new. The analysis doesn't substantively go beyond 2016 and there does not seem to have been primary research involved in compiling the paper. In addition, the author seems to be satisfied by Ghanouchi's rhetoric about changing the party. If all that is wanted is a descriptive, slightly outdated, overview, then the paper is adequate. But if we want to learn from the paper anything new about political Islam in Tunisia, then the paper disappoints. What has happened over the last four years to provide evidence of Ghanouchi/Ennahdha's claims to have substantively changed? Has the party developed its own democratic structures or is still the leader's platform? To my mind the paper requires more in the way of critical analysis of Ghanouchi's claims to make it publishable in the special issue of Religions for which it is designated.

Author Response

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. 

To answer to the reviewers' comments:
1- In regard to their comment about the conceptualization of post-Islamism, I did add a section where I engaged with the concept critically and highlighted some of its limits. For instance, if a party is post-Islamist, that does not guarantee it will advance certain civil rights and liberties. In the Tunisian case, Ennahdah rejected the law proposed by the President Beji Caid Esbesi to codify parity in Inheritance between men and women on the grounds that it contradicts existing Islamic laws. Moreover, the

2- I added more political changes that took place inTunisia beyond 2016 such as the 2019 elections and its significant repercussions not only on the political scene but also on the internal politics of the Ennahda party. The new coalition of Ennahdha and Qalb Tounes party is a major manifestation of radical pragmatism yet it can also be argued that it was an example of electoral misleading. Before the elections, Both parties pledged that they will not cooperate or be in any coalition but later they ended up in a new troika (Ennahda, Qalb Tounes, and Al Karama coalition)

3- I nuanced the section about Rached Ganouchi's effort to rethink Islamist politics. I argued it is a mixture of political pragmatism as well as ideological development. Examples were provided such as the LGBT issues and the inheritance law proposed by the former Tunisian president Beji Caid Esebsi. The intra-party democracy is another critical issue on which I elaborated further since there have been attempts by Ganouchi to run for a third term as president of Ennahda against the will of many cadres in the party. The high level resignations in the party was another manifestation

4- There was a suggestion to include the works of Alfred Stepan, Jocelyn cesari and Mojtaba Mahdavi and that was done. Alfred Stepan's 'twin toleration' was added as it accounts for the success of the post-Islamist shift. In fact, Thanks to the spirit of consensus and dialogue, Islam was blended witht the secular frameowrk of the state.

5- I honed the conclusion to be more comprehensive and summative.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I appreciate the author taking into account my feedback. Regretfully, the amendments do  not improve the argument.

Although the author has included the critiques to the post islamism concept, such addition has not changed his or her analysis at all.The goal was not to do a literature review of the  critiques of postislamism but to take on these critiques in order to make an argument. Because such theoretical engagement does not happen, there is no methodology and no clear findings. Ultimately,the paper reads like an informed description of the political evolution of Ennahda. But a description, is not a research paper.

 

Reviewer 2 Report

The author has responded well to my critique and suggestions for amendment. S/he has expanded the paper quite substantially, and this has enabled greater clarity to emerge. The additional information and updating is also useful in expanding the material on and analysis of post-Islamism, which Ennnahda is said to exemplify. Overall, the paper is much improved and in my view (almost) ready for publication. It does require fairly detailed copy-editing as the English language and expression, while it overall good, still has some lapses, especially in the new material.