Muslim social theory - is there an adequate understanding of Muslim social change?

Over the last few years a great deal may be deemed to have changed in the Iraq. Too much has been dropped on Iraq by the West - democracy may make sense to us but it is not necessarily a system that should be implemented there and parachuting the system in may not make the least sense within the nation. Journalists may have been critical of the methods used, for example, the BBC are pro self-forming democracies but they should generally question the need even to keep Iraq as one nation when the UK may in some ways be three nations struggling to stay together.

While there has been a democratic government installed into the Iraqi infrastructure almost entirely ensuring that there was a break with existing convention to a point which led a great many to become insurgents, there does need to be a question asked over the suitability of the British and American approach in influencing the changes that have been made.

There has been a great emphasis on managing change in the UK’s business fraternity over the last few decades. Although there could be questions asked about the transferability of the methods used in this type of process, or for instance the settings approach to health promotion developed by Prof. Leo Baric, the backlash against the ‘liberating’ forces has been so strong that there may not be another conflict like this again. There may be imperatives to carry out duties of military operations which are aimed at facilitating autonomy of government in that nation to consider all action of the forces and how that will fit into a plan of managing change within that nation. Should every possible element of a nation’s culture be considered in the change process undertaken?

There could be a great many contributions from a host of academic perspectives which could contribute to the ‘closure’ of the warring currently taking place within Iraq, although again that may be too westernised a concept to employ. Surely the terms used for the closure of the period should be driven by Iraqi culture and reflect durable peace. I assumed at earlier points that there could have been contributions made from Muslim sociologists as a strong field of Jewish sociology which may be a necessary level of discourse to engage in for any culture that wishes for cultural equality. Social change within Iraq and managing the process effectively are likely to be key terms for the military to consider – especially if the exit strategy is to be peaceful. It may be ironic to state but some forms of Islamic government may have utilised more of the essence of democracy than are demonstrated in the democracies of the west.

It is almost a stable enough comment to become an adage, stated by Mike McKay (Phil Collins lookalike and political philosopher) that politicians are popular at home or abroad but rarely both, especially not at the same time. Are we going to see a politician with a cross-cultural appeal beginning to make their marks in the west in the near future? At present Mr George W Bush does not seem to fit the bill.