The new sciences,self‐organization and democracy

Social scientists have argued recently that the theory and findings of the new sciences (quantum mechanics, chaos theory, and new evolutionary biology) corroborate the essences of liberal democracy. Specifically, scholars have argued that the new sciences’ principle of self‐organization is closely associated with the idea of individual liberty. This article traces the evolution of the new sciences’ self‐organization theory. It then argues that the effort to anchor liberal democracy in self‐organization is misleading; that is to say self‐organization behaviour neither depends on democracy nor does it culminate in democracy. It is also dangerous, because it absolves human agency from the need to protect the vulnerable institutions of liberal democracy.     

Muslim identity and Islamic practice in post-Soviet Central Asia

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the newly independent countries of Central Asia had the opportunity to endorse religious freedom. Nevertheless, they chose for the most part to continue the policy of monitoring religious activity, on the pretext of protecting their countries from radical Islam. This study focuses on Islamic praxis in post-Soviet Central Asia. Based on a survey conducted in four Central Asian successor states (excluding Turkmenistan), it examines everyday Islam – observance of precepts, life-cycle rites, prayer and mosque attendance – as well as people's perceptions about the role of Islam in their lives and in the evolution of their societies and the place of Islam in local identity. The authors' findings have not always corresponded to usually accepted hypotheses and they have sought to analyse the reasons for this. Undoubtedly, the exigencies of the current political situation both act as a restraint on respondents in addressing the questions put to them and restrict their religious praxis outside the home. It is difficult to assess how far responses would have differed had the survey been conducted under more favourable circumstances; indeed, some of the questions may have been genuinely misinterpreted as a result of differences in outlook and the use of concepts.