Abstract

This work aims at constructing a theory of intellectual reform that accounts for cultural and structural factors, and the way they interact.  Taking a dynamic approach, this paper focuses on the processes of reform and how each process has bearing on and is contingent upon other processes.

Key factors of intellectual reform are identified, which include sophistication of vision, intellectual vitality, perspective elaboration, diffusion into educational institutions, and literal versatility.  In addition, they include institutional autonomy, organizational capacity, and financial resources.  The paper identifies the internal dynamics within each of these factors, then shows how these dynamics interact with each other.  The paper concludes with an application of the model to the Islamization of Knowledge effort, pointing to critical factors and bottlenecks that affected its course of development.