The watcher and the watched: the role of intellectuals and representations of 'Wahhabism'

In an international context framed by heightened anxiety about ‘radical Islam’, this thesis inquires into how one kind of ‘radical Islam’ often referred to as ‘Wahhabism’ has been represented by liberal, neo-conservative and Marxist intellectuals especially, though not exclusively, in the US. The thesis begins by establishing that ‘Wahhabism’ itself is a contested category associated with how scholars have represented ‘Wahhabism’ in the literature. This opens up into a consideration of problems to do with how intellectuals represent complex social and political phenomena and issues like how competing truth claims are adjudicated and how these issues have been addressed in the sociology of intellectuals. <br><br>This matters given the roles intellectuals play as mediators or producers of knowledge in a modern political context characterised by a heightened sense of anxiety about Islamic terrorism. These representations have the ability to influence things like public opinion and the policy and decision making process including foreign policy. With a view to understanding how and why these intellectuals have represented ‘Wahhabism’ in particular ways, the thesis outlines an approach based on critical discourse analysis. In this way the thesis shows how different kinds of intellectuals use devices like metaphors and analogies as well as draw on themata to generate their ‘representations’ of ‘Wahhabism’.<br><br>The thesis argues that liberal, neo-conservative and Marxist intellectuals adopt the roles of ‘Movement intellectuals’ and treat ‘Wahhabism’ as a threat albeit in quite different ways to provide mostly negative representations of ‘Wahhabism’. For liberals influenced about ideas about ‘progress’ and individualism, ‘Wahhabism’ is typically seen as denying freedom, a threat to secular society and an obstacle to progress. For neo-conservatives influenced by religious ideas about Israel and fated endless conflict between ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’, the ‘Wahhabi’ is a savage and ‘Wahhabism’ is an enemy of Israel. For Marxists influenced by ideas about ‘progress’, atheism and man’s relationship with nature, ‘Wahhabism’ is typically seen as a ‘natural’ part of Capitalism, a tool used by the ruling class to maintain their positions of influence and as indicative of ‘backwardness’.