Abstract:

It is hard to explain social movements, with a reductionist approach, that took place in the Middle East at the end of 2010 and during 2011. When human beings are the subject of discussion, it is necessary to include different global, historical, intellectual, social, economic, religious variables for proper explanations. It is not a new fact that the Middle Eastern peoples struggle to bring administrators in to power with whom their needs can be understand well and their problems are solved. However, what is new is that they want to see such results by expressing their wishes in the squares of their towns instead of trying to convince political parties, opinion leaders, underground organizations or young military officers. Except from the last century, the region has always maintained its central role in the world and during the last century it has been an attraction for colonization intentions. This fact led Western powers, who held important interests in the region, continuously to intervene into the region and played crucial roles in the equilibrium of social and political structures. Disappointments caused by the ideologies of modernization and of development encouraged peoples of this region to look, as alternatives, at Islamic thought and imagination as well as Islamic parties, groups and communities who were classified as dangerous by Western powers. Stressing three main dynamics, this paper will explain why and to what peoples of the Middle East reacted. This explanation will come after a broad background info and historical description on how peoples of the Middle East came to this point. The paper will analyze the revolutionary nature of the social movements in the Middle East in terms of “the paradoxes of globalization”, “Islamic thought” which was neglected within the context of society- religious knowledge- leadership typology, and the issue of “participation”.

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