For my final research paper on Post-Colonial Comparative Religions, I want to study the make up of what can be loosely called the “Jihad Movements” through the lens of Post-Colonialism and give a view of their alternate structure.

This draws off of a number of curiosities I have.

1. When talking about Islam, Islamic Terror, the Moderate Muslim, the various sects in Islam, ect, it is very important to get one’s terms right. In this paper, I want to survey the religion and try to sort out all of the terms that get jumbled together.
2. I want to explore how the situations the common people throughout the world interplay with the varying theologies and political aspirations of Islam present to them.
3. In the Post-Colonial critique of the current Western Heavy power structure of the world, much is said about the evils, past and present of the West towards the Rest. What I have trouble finding are alternate views of how the world should be set up. The few western voices I have read give a West-lite view while denouncing any attempt of imposing values on other cultures. I find that to be a bit hypocritical and weak-sounding.
4. I get a sense of the a alternate view of the world power structure in some of the claims of various Islamic groups, claims of the Caliphate. I want to look at this as a viable alternative to the “satellite-west” that the West is trying to impose on the rest of the world.
5. Often one slips into dichotomies when trying to talk about the West, Islam, the Third World, ect… I want to try to navigate some of these dichotomies and see how far they are true and how far they can be fragmented.