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Résumé :
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The movement of nation building in Islamic societies away from the secular on Pan-Arab models of the early twentieth century toward a variety of nationalisms was accompanied by growing antagonism between the Muslim majority and ethnic or religious minorities. This book offers a comparative analysis of how these minorities developed their own distinctive identities within the modern Islamic nation-state. The essays focus on identity formation in five minority groups - Copts in Egypt, Baha'is and Christians in Pakistan, Berbers in Algeria and Marocco, and Kurds in Turkey and Iraq. While every minority community is distinct, the experiences of these groups show that a state's authoritarian rule, uncompromising attitude towards expressions of particularism, and failure to offer tools for inclusion are all responsible for the politicization and radicalization of minority identities. The place of Islam in this process is complex: while its initial pluralistic role was transformed through the creation of the modern nation-state, the radicalization of society in turn radicalized and politicized minority identities. Minority groups, through at times possessing a measure of political autonomy, remain intensely vulnerable
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