Nationalism, Language, and Muslim Exceptionalism By Tristan James Mabry (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. 254 pages.)

Abstract

Tristan James Mabry’s research investigates whether Muslim populations
are exceptionally resistant to ethnonationalism, which he assumes to be more
conducive to a liberal democratic form of government than any concept of
community defined in terms of a shared religion. He concludes that Muslims
are not immune to it, and that the determining factor in whether a Muslim
community will organize itself according to ethnonationalism instead of Islamism
– Mabry apparently considers these the only modes worth mentioning
– is whether they develop a print culture in their local vernacular.
Ultimately, the author concludes that nationalism founded upon ethnic solidarity
is inherently superior to alternative sociopolitical models, and therefore
advocates promoting local ethnonationalisms as a strategy to prevent
Muslims from organizing themselves in terms of shared religious identity
(p. 202) ...