Afshin Eshkevar Kiaei
Abstract
In this research, according to Michel Foucault's methodology to understand the nature and dimensions of the state, we analyze the Seljuk state. In this method, instead of starting with the theories of the state and also putting the state in the center, we have started our work by considering the state ...
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In this research, according to Michel Foucault's methodology to understand the nature and dimensions of the state, we analyze the Seljuk state. In this method, instead of starting with the theories of the state and also putting the state in the center, we have started our work by considering the state as the microphysics of power and then we have placed the state in a technology and field of power. This technology of power was formed from the strategies and tactics specific to its time (not from reductionist theories). The main question of the article is, based on Foucault's view of the state, what power relations and technology were actualized in the Seljuk state? According to the historical and concrete needs of this period, the Seljuk Sultan had to provide the conditions to maintain justice and peace in all Islamic lands and on the other hand, considering that the institution of religion was the link between the sultan, the caliph, the bureaucrats and the people, it should be preserved; Therefore, the Seljuk state became the arena for actualizing the power technology of "security, religion and caliphate". This technology consists of various elements and strategies, such as knowledge/power relations, religion/power relations, Sultan/Caliph relations, and bureaucratic institutions, which this article deals with in its various dimensions.
Seyed Asghar Keyvan Hoseini; tayebeh Mohamadikia
Abstract
ISIS could put into reality an idealistic and old-fashioned concept of Caliphate for the first time after the collapse of its last version, Ottoman caliphate. It also tried to turn the theory into an ideology by which the group was excepting to establish a state with the main aim of overcoming the dominancy ...
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ISIS could put into reality an idealistic and old-fashioned concept of Caliphate for the first time after the collapse of its last version, Ottoman caliphate. It also tried to turn the theory into an ideology by which the group was excepting to establish a state with the main aim of overcoming the dominancy of western civilization both over the region and the world. Based on this, the group tried to purpose a new approach toward political Islam idealism and Arab-Sunni fundamentalism in order to make it suitable for an effective fight with its enemy not as partisans but as a state. It shows that the study of the phenomena of ISIS not only as a practice in the range of real politics, but also as an ideological effort in the theoretical sphere is important and notable. There is a theoretical benefit in doing research on the way ISIS state (as an alternative for the westernized states) is formed. Based on this, this paper intended to study the concept of state in ISIS through the application of discourse methodology. After the explanation of the method, it focused on Salafi discourse as a source of ISIS ideology. Then the concept of power in this discourse is explained. Finally it showed how this concept is formulated and articulated within the framework of ISIS discourse to justify both its legitimacy and actions as a state actor.