Axial civilizations, multiple modernities, and Islam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2404681 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Saïd Amir Arjomand (0009-0002-0083-5852, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA,, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 327-335 |
| Publication date | 2011-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Classical Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-795X • E-ISSN: 1741-2897 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1468795x11406032 |
| OpenAlex | W2148906668 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 27 |
Departing from the modernization theory, S.N. Eisenstadt proposed the idea of 'post-traditional societies' in the early 1970s, and proceeded to formulate the concepts of 'axial civilizations' and 'multiple modernities' in the following decades. In the 1980s, Eisenstadt sketched a model of constant tension between an Islamic primordial utopia - the ideal of the Golden Age of pristine Islam- and the historical reality of patrimonial Sultanism, coexisting with an autonomous public sphere protected by Islamic law and dominated by the religious elite, the ulema. The main feature of this model was the oscillation between military regimes with limited pluralism and puritanical fundamentalism. Eisenstadt further emphasized the degree of autonomy of the religious elite as the carriers of Islam in relation to the ruler and political power as a determinant of the strength of their civilizational impact. Islam remained confined to the religious sphere in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, where the religious elite lacked autonomy, but had a much broader civilizational impact in the Middle East and North Africa, where the ulema developed greater autonomy. The article shows Eisenstadt's subsequent influence by discussion of the application by other sociologists of civilizational analysis to Islam in a comparative perspective, and of multiple modernities to contemporary Islam
Autonomy · Elite · Epistemology · Islam · Pluralism (philosophy) · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Sociology · Theology · Asian Studies and History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions
Parameters of a Postcolonial Sociology of the Ottoman Empire
The Awakening of Muslim Democracy
Islamic civilization in the age of globalization
Introduction – Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas Beyond Central Asia and the Caucasus
S.N. Eisenstadt’s theory of culture
Mobilities, Boundaries, and Travelling Ideas
Multiple racializations in a multiply modern world
Islams and Modernities (Phronesis)
Transformation of the Islamicate Civilization
Weber’s Analysis of Islam and the Specific Pattern of Islamic Civilization
Axial Civilizations and the Axial Age Reconsidered
The Venture of Islam, Volume 1
After Khomeini
The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam
Islam and Democracy
Comparative Civilizations and Multiple Modernities
Comparative Civilizations and Multiple Modernities
The Venture of Islam, Volume 3
Fundamentalism, Sectarianism, and Revolution
Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations, The
Transformation of the Islamicate Civilization
Islams and Modernities
Post-Traditional Societies
Islam et Capitalisme
Rethinking Civilizational Analysis
History, Structure, and Revolution in the Shi'ite Tradition in Contemporary Iran
The Political Dimensions of Religion
Weber and Islam
On the Roads to Modernity
The Law, Agency, and Policy in Medieval Islamic Society
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,54 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |