Islam and the Politics of Virtue

Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam. Sami Zubaida, Islam, The People and The State: Essays on Political Ideas and Movements in the Middle East. Akbar S. Ahmed and Hastings (eds.), Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity.     

James Ceaser and the Restoration of Political Science

Abstract

Fedor Dostoevsky's The Devils (1872) has been habitually denounced as an artistically lacking, reactionary pamphlet. This article demonstrates how the novel instead presents a lucid analysis of basic functional principles of the political sphere, taking apart the inner mechanisms of political developments, their sources of social and intellectual energy, and the instruments of deception and illusion that are vital for their functioning. The Devils is interpreted as a fundamentally anti-political novel that exposes the irrational foundations, the schemes, and the consequences of political manipulation. Particular attention is devoted to the category of charismatic leadership by offering a new reading of the enigmatic character of Nikolai Stavrogin.