Research
Research
Projects · Interests · Publications · Presentations
Projects · Interests · Publications · Presentations
Theoretically, I am interested in action theory (why do people do what they do?), solidarity (why do people sometimes develop a sense of responsibility toward each other despite their differences, but at other times these differences lead to brutal conflicts?), and cultural change (why do people change ideologically and morally?). I often study these questions using empirical cases from the contemporary Middle East, with an emphasis on historical and global comparisons.
My PhD dissertation examines how political polarization becomes violent polarization. I study this empirically through the 2011 Egyptian Revolutionary coalition's trajectory from solidarity to violent polarization during the democratic transition. The dissertation uses qulitative and computational methods, drawing on an original dataset of official statements from Egyptian political groups, interviews with political actors, and a wide range of archival materials.
From 2018 to 2025, I studied religious intellectuals' political stances during the Arab Spring. My work argued that while self-interest may explain some intellectuals' political inconsistencies, moral dilemmas also play an important role. Thus, I propose a new theory to explain why actors experience dilemmas, especially political moral dilemmas between conviction and responsibility ethics. These dilemmas inform my PhD dissertation.
Subfields: Political sociology, Cultural sociology, Social theory, Morality and social solidarity, Sociology of religion, Global transnational sociology, Comparative historical sociology, Computational Social Science.
Topics: solidarity, polarization, democracy, intellectuals, dilemmas, morality, state, contentious politics, revolutions, violence, colonialism, Middle East, Islam, premodernity, action theory
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Amasha, Muhammad. 2026. “Why Solidarity, With Whom, by Whom? Mapping Debates in the Sociology of Solidarity.” Sociology Compass 20(10):e70256. doi:10.1111/soc4.70256.
Amasha, Muhammad. 2023. “Political Judgment, Fiqh al-Wāqiʿ, and the Egyptian ʿUlamāʾ’s Response to the Arab Spring (2011–2013).” Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies 8(2):49–86. doi: https://doi.org/10.2979/jims.00015.
Amasha, Muhammad. 2023. “The Ideals and Interests in Intellectuals’ Political Deliberations: The Arab Spring and the Divergent Paths of Egypt’s Shaykh al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyib and Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa.” American Journal of Islam and Society 40(3–4):41–76. doi: https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v40i3-4.3280.
Book Reviews
Amasha, Muhammad. 2025. “Book Review: Youth in Egypt: Identity, Participation, and Opportunity.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 66(5):801–2. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152251378978.
Amasha, Muhammad. 2023. “Rivals in the Gulf: Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and the Qatar-UAE Contest Over the Arab Spring and the Gulf Crisis (by David H. Warren)”. American Journal of Islam and Society 39(3-4): 184–188. https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v39i3-4.3132.
Amasha, Muhammad. 2021. “Saṭwat al-Naṣ: Khiṭāb al-Azhar wa Azmat al-Ḥukm (By Basma Abdel Aziz)”. American Journal of Islam and Society 38(1-2), 223-227. https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v38i1-2.2947.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS