{"id":5192,"date":"2024-12-18T12:36:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T12:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/veranstaltung\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T07:28:38","slug":"islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment","status":"publish","type":"kreisky_event","link":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/veranstaltung\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment","title":{"rendered":"Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Ahmet T. Kuru: ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gCRAeqZWVwU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"about:blank\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Ahmet T. Kuru: ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/2sX2vy0pq9bGk7whDXp5Jf?si=7f3830fa269a42d0&amp;utm_source=oembed\" src=\"about:blank\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Cengiz G\u00fcnay in conversation with Ahmet T. Kuru<\/p>\n<h4>Islam, Authoritarianism and Underdevelopment<\/h4>\n<h4>A Global and Historical Comparison<\/h4>\n<p>Why are Muslim-majority countries often associated with authoritarianism and underdevelopment? <strong>Ahmet T. Kuru<\/strong> delves into this question, challenging conventional explanations and uncovering fascinating historical insights.<\/p>\n<p>Kuru argues that the roots of today's challenges lie not in Islam itself nor in Western colonialism, but in a pivotal shift during the 11th century. The alliance between orthodox Islamic scholars (ulema) and military rulers marginalised intellectuals and economic innovators, stifling creativity and progress-a legacy that still shapes politics and development in Muslim societies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ahmet T. Kuru<\/strong>, Director of the Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies and Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. Kuru is the author of <em>Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey <\/em>(Cambridge University Press, 2009). He is also the co-editor (with Alfred Stepan) of <em>Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey\u00a0<\/em>(Columbia University Press, 2012).  His recent book, <em>Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison <\/em>(Cambridge University Press, 2019) won academic awards and was included in <em>Times Literary Supplement<\/em>'s Books of the Year. It has been translated into thirteen languages, most recently into <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/book\/10.1007\/978-3-658-46067-9\">German by Springer VS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cengiz G\u00fcnay,<\/strong> Director of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip), lecturer at the University of Vienna. His research focuses on Turkey and the MENA region, author of <em>The History of Turkey<\/em> and <em>From Islamists to Muslim Democrats?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cengiz G\u00fcnay in conversation with Ahmet T. Kuru ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT A Global and Historical Comparison Why are Muslim-majority countries often associated with authoritarianism and underdevelopment? Ahmet T. Kuru delves into this question, challenging conventional explanations and uncovering fascinating historical insights. Kuru argues that the roots of today\u2019s challenges lie not in Islam itself [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5193,"template":"","format":[29],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"schwerpunkt":[43],"class_list":["post-5192","kreisky_event","type-kreisky_event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schwerpunkt-internationale-politik-europa-und-sicherheit","format-podiumsdiskussion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT - Kreisky Forum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT - Kreisky Forum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cengiz G\u00fcnay in conversation with Ahmet T. Kuru ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT A Global and Historical Comparison Why are Muslim-majority countries often associated with authoritarianism and underdevelopment? Ahmet T. Kuru delves into this question, challenging conventional explanations and uncovering fascinating historical insights. Kuru argues that the roots of today\u2019s challenges lie not in Islam itself [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kreisky Forum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T07:28:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Collage-1-26.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"566\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment\",\"name\":\"ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT - Kreisky Forum\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Collage-1-26.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-18T12:36:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-20T07:28:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Collage-1-26.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Collage-1-26.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":566},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\\\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veranstaltungen\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/veranstaltung\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bruno Kreisky Forum\",\"description\":\"Bruno Kreisky Forum f\u00fcr internationalen Dialog\",\"alternateName\":\"BRUNO KREISKY FORUM f\u00fcr internationalen Dialog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.kreisky-forum.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT - Kreisky Forum","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/islam-authoritarianism-and-underdevelopment","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"ISLAM, AUTHORITARIANISM AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT - Kreisky Forum","og_description":"Cengiz G\u00fcnay in conversation with Ahmet T. 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