Book Presentation: “Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment”, Ahmet Kuru

Ahmet T. Kuru will talk about his new book "Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A 
Global and Historical Comparison" (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Why do Muslim-majority 
countries have high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socio-economic development in 
comparison to world averages? Kuru elaborates an argument about the ulema-state alliance as 
the cause of these problems in the Muslim world from the eleventh century to the present.
Criticizing essentialist, post-colonialist, and new institutionalist alternative explanations, Kuru 
focuses on the relations between intellectual, economic, religious, and political classes in his own 
explanation.

The presentation will be held online, please register at
https://scientificnet.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wBjdnmaqT-CJjJAxWtDQiw

Ahmet T. Kuru is Porteous Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. Kuru 
received his PhD from the University of Washington and held a post-doc position at 
Columbia University. He is the author of award-winning Secularism and State Policies toward 
Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (Cambridge UP). His works have been translated 
into Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Persian, and Turkish. His 2019 
book, Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical 
Comparison (Cambridge UP) became the co-winner of the American Political Science Association's 
International History and Politics Section Best Book Award.

Rewatch Ahmet T. Kuru's presentation of his book "Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment” on YouTube.