ABSTRACT
The relationship between universality and relativity is one of the central issues in contemporary social thought. It raises the question of the plausibility of applying similar criteria to the analysis and evaluation of different societies. This introductory chapter attempts to look at the Islamic revival, and the rise of radical Islam in post-Soviet Muslim Eurasia, in the context of Islamic revivalism in the wider Muslim world. It provides a concise historical background for Islam in various ex-Soviet Muslim areas, which accounts for some distinctive features of the Islamic revival that occurred in those areas in the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The chapter examines the causes and patterns of Islamic radicalisation in different post-Soviet Muslim localities. It is particularly concerned with the implications of offi cial domestic and international discourse on Islamic-inspired political extremism and terrorism for Islam and Muslims in post-communist Muslim Eurasia.
