Abdou Filali-Ansary, Research Professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London, UK will deliver a lecture on “Democratisation in Muslim Contexts: The Return to the Question of Legitimacy,” Wednesday, April 24th, 2013, 4-6 pm 208 Knox Hall, 606 West 122nd St, Columbia University, NYC., USA.
Martin Seymour Lipset stressed, more than fifty years ago, that ‘prerequisites’ for democracy include economic development and political legitimacy. Since the beginning of the so called Arab Spring, aspects of political legitimacy dominate discussions, while economic development seems to have been put on the back burner, if not forgotten altogether. In this talk, Dr. Filali-Ansary will revisit the way in which issues of legitimacy are linked to discussions of religious and cultural traditions. He will explore how this leads us to raise fresh questions about the on-going transitions in Muslim contexts and the prospects of democratisation in the Third World, more generally. More information on Dr. Filali-Ansari and the event is available at the website.