ISESCO and The International Knowledge Order Pro-action, Reaction or In-action

Abstract

This article is representative of the “culturalist” school of thought in
political science. Using a paradigm coined by Foucault, numerous faces
of power in the international knowledge order are explored. Starting
from the assumption that the burden of “cultural gate-keeping’’ rests
heavily upon UNESCO’s shoulder, it is analyzed whether ISESCO
can count as a counter-power. Once the flaws of the comparative
framework that posits ISESCO as a “second UNESCO’ are shown,
an Islamic methodology is used in order to see whether this Islamic
cultural institution represents Islam or simulates it. Such an inquiry
requires a discursive analysis of two institutions that share a common
cultural goal using either the framework of internationalism or that of
the Ummah.