Vol. 28, Sigma, Journal of Political and International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies Volume 28 Article 8 1-1-2011 Vol. 28, Sigma, Journal of Political and International Studies Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sigma Recommended Citation Studies, Sigma: Journal of Political and International (2011) "Vol. 28, Sigma, Journal of Political and International Studies," Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies: Vol. 28 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sigma/vol28/iss1/8 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the All Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact , . SIGMA JOURNAL OF POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES VOLUME XXVIll . 2011 CONTENTS David Romney-Middle Eastern studies and Arabic Comparing Fundamentalisms: A Social Movement Theory Approach Sean Kelly-political science; Allison Holmes-political science The Role of Party Identification in a Nonpartisan Election: A Case Study in Provo, Utah John David Oark-international relations Cash, Schools, and Immigrants: The Effects of Income and Education on Xenophobia in South Africa David Gerard-political science The Rise of the Chinese Navy: What the World can Expect from Asia's Emerging Maritime Power Kirk Snider-political science; Haley McCormickpolitical science Branded: The Importance of Names in Politics Sead Osmani-political science and Italian NATO's Credibility in the Kosovo War SIGMA JOURNAL OF POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES VOLUME XXVIII . 2011 CONTENTS David Romney-Middle Eastern studies and Arabic Comparing Fundamentalisms: A Social Movement Theory Approach .............................. 1 Sean Kelly-political science; Allison Holmes-political science The Role of Party Identification in a Nonpartisan Election: A Case Study in Provo, Utah ...................................................................................................................... 9 John David Clark-international relations Cash, Schools, and Immigrants: The Effects of Income and Education on Xenophobia in South Africa ............................................................................................... 25 David Gerard-political science The Rise of the Chinese Navy: What the World can Expect from Asia's Emerging Maritime Power ................................................................................................ 43 Kirk Snider-political science; Haley McCormick-political science Branded: The Importance of Names in Politics ................................................................ 53 Sead Osmani-political science and Italian NATO's Credibility in the Kosovo War ............................................................................. 65 Comparing Fundamentalisms: A Social Movement Theory Approach David Romney In the last forty years, the emergence of a number of Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist groups has resulted in a number of comparative studies that try to explain this phenomenon (e.g., Antoun and Hegland 1987; Sivan and Friedman 1990). Although scholars have argued varying reasons for this recent religious resurgence, most have recognized the importance of the 1967 Israeli War (Six-Day War) to both Jewish and Islamist fundamentalist movements. Some of these scholars see the religious resurgence following this war as a continuation of religious sentiments expressed by pre-1967 Zionist and fundamentalist Islamic groups rather than as a new movement (Davis 1987, 149-52). Others, while stressing the importance of previous Islamic revivalism, note the 1967 war marked a turning point for both Islamist and Jewish groups (Esposito 2005, 160-65). Some also see global trends that unite not just Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist groups but all fundamentalist groups (Keddie 1998). Others take a different tack, claiming Islamic and Jewish fundamentalist movements are actually quite different from each other and only superficially mirror each other. For instance, Hunter asserts that when compared to Islamic fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism focuses more on the possibility of future failures and the importance of preventing these failures rather than on past grievances or experiences (1993,31-32). In spite of this research, two basic questions about Islamism and Jewish fundamentalism remain unanswered: 1) What effect has the 1967 War had on the Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist movements, and 2) Do these movements mirror each other or have they developed independently? Using a social movement theory (SMT) approach, I will argue that post-1967 Jewish and Islamic fundamentalist movements mirror each other in a number of crucial SIGMA ways. According to SMT, individual political desires are translated into group-based social movements through the presence of appropriate social movement organizations (SMOs; Wiktorowicz 2004). As outlined by Robinson (2004), the presence and use of three factors can enhance the viability of an SMO: changes in political opportunity structures, effective mobilizing structures, and correct cultural framing. Robinson and Wiktorowicz have shown how Islamist activist groups can be analyzed under a social movement theory framework, but aside from Munson (2008), no one has applied this framework to explain Jewish activist groups. In this paper, I will show post-1967 fundamentalist Jewish movements, like their Islamist counterparts, can be better understood through SMT. By applying SMT, three ideas are made apparent: 1) The political opportunity structures for both Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist groups changed as a result of the 1967 war, stimulating the appearance of new SMOs on both sides after this war, 2) SMOs of both sides have used similar mobilizing structures since the 1967 war, and 3) since the 1967 War, SMOs of both sides have used cultural framing to address three similar issues: unfaithful coreligionists, the status of the land of Palestine, and past failures or tragedies. I will use a purposefully broad definition of fundamentalism for this study. For the purposes of this paper, I define religious fundamentalist groups as those striving for religious orthodoxy. Although this definition is not specific, it allows me to look broadly at different fundamentalist movements. In this study, I will focus on examples from the fundamentalist movements of Hamas, Gush Emunim, and Kach, all of which conform to this definition of fundamentalism. The 1967 Israeli War changed the political opportunity structures for Islamist and Jewish fundamentalist movements. For this study, changes in political opportunity structures are defined according to Robinson's definition: political changes that alter the opportunities available for an SMO (2004, 123). For Islamist movements, the capture of the (...truncated)