Professor Ahmet. T. Kuru comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment in Islamic Countries. We get into a deep dive on whether Secularism is Islamic, the Ulema-State nexus and Modernity.  Ahmet T. Kuru (PhD, University of Washington) is the director of Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies and Bruce E. Porteous Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. He was a postdoctoral scholar at Columbia University. Kuru is the author of Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (Cambridge University Press, 2009), which received Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR)’s Book Award. He is also the co-editor (with Alfred Stepan) of Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey (Columbia University Press, 2012). Kuru’s articles appeared in various journals including World Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. His recent book, Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison (Cambridge University Press, 2019) became the co-winner of the American Political Science Association's International History and Politics Section Book Award and received honorable mention of SSSR’s Book Award. Kuru’s works have been translated into Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Malay, Persian, and Turkish.  Chapters: 0:00 Secularists vs Islamists 12:00 Is Islam against Secularism? 20:00 Is there evidence for Secularism? 32:30 Abrogation Principle and understanding Verses 37:30 The Ulema-State unison in Sunni history 47:30 Why did Islamic societies not progress? 53:30 Is Modern Islam compatible with Modernity? 1:01:00 Democracy and Underdevelopment in Islamic countries 1:15:30 Peoples Q&As

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