New Texts Out Now: Thomas Pierret, Religion and State in Syria

 Thomas Pierret: "The conclusions I draw from my book lead me to take issue with widespread narratives about the current rise of Sunni Islamism, and in particular of Salafism in Syria. This phenomenon is usually perceived in a negative way, that is, as an expression of sectarian radicalization against religious communities. There is undeniably some truth in that, but it is a partial view of the problem. There is also a "positive" dimension to it: the expression of an identity that has been suppressed for decades, notably, as I show in the book, by imposing severe restrictions on religious practices and symbols that are considered as perfectly harmless in most other Muslim countries."
More precision comment from the author can been found via [http://pulsemedia.org/…/thomas-pierret-on-the-syrian-revol…/]