The Invocation of Postmodernism in the Rejection of Political Modernity: A Critical Study of the Contributions of Abd al–Wahhab al–Messiri and Ali Harb

Abstract

This study examines the employment of postmodern thought in contemporary Arab intellectual discourse, not merely as a tool for critiquing Western modernity, but as a method for rejecting political modernity – namely democracy, citizenship, and human rights. It focuses on two major contributions: that of ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Messiri, representing the conservative trend, who drew on postmodern critiques to justify a return to pre-modern, religious, quasi-medieval forms of governance; and of ʿAli Harb, representing the Westernizing trend, who adopted postmodernism as an epistemological framework for liberating Arab thought yet ultimately reproduced the dilemmas of Western theory without addressing the Arab demand for political modernity. Thus, despite their apparent divergence, both trends converge on hindering the realization of political modernity within the Arab context.