12076. ROLE OF THE URBAN LOWER MIDDLE CLASS IN THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. Discusses the two main arguments that explain why the urban lower middle class is the social basis for Islamic movements: the culturalist perspective (behavior is caused by cultural beliefs) and the political economy perspective (behavior is caused by socio-economic factors). Argues that both of these factors have contributed to the rise of Islamic movements. 9 pages, 33 footnotes, 10 bibliographic sources.