Sectarianism in Iraq: Antagonistic Visions of Unity (Columbia/Hurst)

By Fanar Haddad

Book Overview

We often view Iraqis through a sectarian prism: they are either Shi'as or Sunnis. But how accurate or useful are such broad terms, and what is the relevance of sectarian identity in Iraqi society, history and politics? What are we to make of the common Iraqi injunction that "we are all brothers," when viewed against the fact of sectarian civil war in 2006 and 2007? What role does sectarian identity play in Iraq? Providing the first comprehensive examination of sectarian identity in Iraq, Fanar Haddad examines the relationship between Sunnis and Shi'as and questions the role that these distinctions play in Iraqi society. Rather than organize his subjects into categories, Haddad respects the inherent ambiguities of group identity by recognizing that the salience of sectarian identity and attitudes toward self and other are neither fixed nor constant. Instead, they belong to a continuously fluctuating dynamic in which the relevance of sectarian identity ebbs and flows in response to context and socioeconomic and political conditions. Investigating the forces that drive sectarian identity and its relationship to national identity, Haddad focuses on two crucial turning points in modern Iraqi history: the uprisings of March 1991 and the fall of the Ba'ath in 2003. Striking at the core of what shapes sectarian identities over time, Haddad puts to rest both alarmist and reductionist accounts that seek to either portray Iraq in solely sectarian terms or to dismiss the importance of sectarian identity altogether.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231702329
• ISBN13: 9780231702324
• Release Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher