University of Copenhagen - Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World
- Offered byCoursera
- Public/Government Institute
Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World at Coursera Overview
Duration | 40 hours |
Total fee | Free |
Mode of learning | Online |
Official Website | Explore Free Course  |
Credential | Certificate |
Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World at Coursera Highlights
- Shareable Certificate Earn a Certificate upon completion
- 100% online Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
- Flexible deadlines Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
- Approx. 40 hours to complete
- English Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Russian, English, Spanish
Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World at Coursera Course details
- Learn what motivates the restive Muslim youth from Tunis to Tehran, what political positions Islamists from Mali to Chechnya are fighting for, where the seeming obsession with Islamic law comes from, where the secularists have vanished to, and whether it makes sense to speak of an Islamic state.
- Since 2009 there has been a renewed wave of popular unrest sweeping throughout much of the Muslim world. Secular, but generally repressive and inefficient autocracies have come under pressure or been swept aside entirely. At the same, the various Islamic Republics have not fared much better, but been convulsed by internal unrest, economic and social decline. Throughout the Muslim lands, existing constitutional arrangements are being challenged, often very violently.
- This course is a survey of the constitutional ideas and institutions that have developed since the mid 19th century throughout predominantly Muslim countries, but its focus will lie on the actors that have dominated this discourse and shaped its outcomes. We will look at the large body of classical writings on the Islamic state only in so far as it is necessary to understand the contemporary debate, but concentrate on the legal and political developments of the 20th and 21st centuries.
- Three common themes will characterise the course:
- We privilege the study of the legal and social reality and seek to highlight where it is at odds with dogmatic stipulations, be they religious or constitutional.
- We seek to illustrate the practical tensions posed by limited administrative capabilities and political legitimacy that resulted from the incomplete reception of modern bureaucratic statehood.
- We seek to examine how popular dissatisfaction with the practical performance of Muslim governments has fuelled demands for greater accountability under the guise of cultural authenticity.
- Ultimately, the course aims to equip participants to better understand Muslim contemporary discourse about the res publica, better contextualise the demands for religious law in public life, and to better ascertain the theoretical and practical feasibility of postulated religious alternatives to the still-dominant secular model of governance.
Constitutional Struggles in the Muslim World at Coursera Curriculum
Overview: Presenting the Course
1.1 Welcome and Introduction
1.2 Presenting the Region
1.3 Early Modern History
1.4 Unresolved Challenge of Modernity
1.5 Four Models of Adaptation
1.6 Indicators of Relative Failure
1.7 Role of Religion and Islamic Law
Readings Week 1: Presenting the Course
End of Week 1 Quiz
Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
2.1 People, Place and Patterns
2.2 Ottoman History
2.3 Ottoman Reform: Tanzimat and Majallah
2.4 Creation of the Republic
2.5 Kemalism and its Problems
2.6 Westernisation and Islamism
Readings week 2: Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
End of Week 2 Quiz
Egypt and Maghreb
3.1 People, Place and Patterns Egypt
3.2 People, Places and Patterns Maghreb
3.3 Ottoman and Colonial History
3.4 Independence
3.5 Modernisation and Reform
3.6 Nasserism and its Problems
3.7 Westernisation and Islamism
Readings Week 3: Egypt and Maghreb
End of Week 3 Quiz
Saudi Arabia & The Gulf
4.1 People, Place and Patterns
4.2 Ottoman and Colonial History
4.3 Patrimonialism and Religion
4.4 Rentier Economies and Administration
4.5 Impact of Rents
4.6 Paradoxical Alliance
4.7 Unresolved Contradictions
Readings Week 4: Saudi Arabia and The Gulf
End of Week 4 Quiz
Iran & The Shiites
5.1 People, Place and Patterns
5.2 Imperial and Colonial History
5.3 Constitutional Revolution and Reaction
5.4 Nationalist Revolution and Reaction
5.5 Islamic Revolution and Reaction
5.6 Khomeini's Theory of Velayat-e Faqih
5.7 Unresolved Contradictions
Readings Week 5: Iran & The Shiites
The Levant (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq)
6.1 Taking Stock and Midway Summary
6.2 People, Place and Patterns
6.3 French Mandates
6.4 British Mandates
6.5 Order and Fractured Societies
6.6 Failure of Arab Socialism
6.7 Unresolved Contradictions
Readings Week 6: The Levant
End of Week 6 Quiz
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh
7.1 People, Place and Patterns
7.2 Colonial History of British India
7.3 Post-Independence: Pakistan and Bangladesh
7.4 Afghanistan: Creation of the State and ?Golden Years?
7.5 Afghanistan: Jihadi Gangsters
7.6 Failure of State-Building and Islamisation
7.7 Unresolved Contradictions
Readings Week 7: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh
End of Week 7 Quiz
Malaysia & Indonesia
8.1 People, Place and Patterns
8.2 Colonial History Malaysia
8.3 Colonial History Indonesia
8.4 Post-Independence Malaysia
8.5 Post-Independence Indonesia
8.6 Unresolved Contradictions
Readings for Week 8: Malaysia and Indonesia
End of Week 8 Quiz
Sub-Saharan Africa
9.1 People, Place and Patterns
9.2 Colonial History Muslim Africa
9.3 Neo-Colonial Legacies
9.4 Weak States and Institutions
9.5 Post-Independence Instability
9.6 Fractured Constitutional Bargains
Reading Week 9: Sub-Saharan Africa
Conclusion and Outlook
10.1 Commonality and Diversity
10.2 Unity and Friction
10.3 Minorities
10.4 Legal and Social Reality
10.5 Practical Tensions
10.6 Popular Dissatisfaction
10.7 Good Bye
Readings Week 10: Conclusion and Outlook
End of Week 10 Quiz
Other courses offered by Coursera
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?
Useful Links
Know more about Coursera
Know more about Programs
- Teaching & Education
- Middle School
- Physical Education
- Pre Primary & Primary School
- Nursery & Primary Teacher Training (NPTT)
- Secondary & Sr. Secondary School
- Nursery Teacher Training (NTT)
- Special Education
- Pre Primary Teacher Training (PPTT)
- Vocational Education
- Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE)
- Primary Teacher Training (PTT)