Resistance, Power and Conceptions of Political Order in Islamist Organizations: Comparing Hezbollah and Hamas (Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics)

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Islamist organizations' conceptions of political order based on a comparative case study of the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah and the Sunni Palestinian Hamas.Connecting Islamism research, Critical Constructivist norm research, and resistance studies from the field of International Relations Theory, it demonstrates that resistance constitutes both organizations' core norm and is relevant for their conceptions of political order.Based on primary Arabic data the book illustrates that the core norm of resistance, deeply intertwined with both organizations' interactions towards power preservation and the specific political context they are engaged in, characterizes Hezbollah's and Hamas' respective conceptions of political order and explains the differences between them.In contrast to common perceptions presented in research, politics, and the media, the book shows that in the case of both Hezbollah and Hamas the religious orientation, i.e.Shiite a