Book Descriptions:

How does religious fundamentalism operate in modern global society? This two-volume work analyses the dynamics of fundamentalism and its relationship to the modern state, the public sphere and globalisation. In this first volume, fundamentalism is approached from the perspective of state and community building, ideology and practices within the context of global society, and the ways in which fundamentalism is intertwined with issues of politics, state power, democracy, globalisation, political activism and political ideology. Expert scholars in the field address specific contemporary and past fundamentalist movements that have emerged from within mainstream Islam, Christianity, Baha’ism, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism._x000D_ _x000D_ Although the term ‘fundamentalism’ arose from the particular context and ideology of American Protestants, mostly Baptists, at the beginning of the twentieth century, this volume draws from the ‘family’ of fundamentalisms to examine the ways in which different groups operate along similar narratives, using the belief in the inexorable truth of their text and a vision of millennialism in order to shape and guide their communities. It takes a rigorous and in-depth approach to various fundamentalist movements that have arisen from diverse contexts, from the Serbian Orthodox church under Miloševic ́, to the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, from the Roman Catholic Church to the Twelver Shi’a of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, and from the Baha’is to the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood._x000D_ _x000D_ This book examines the way in which the concepts of the ‘state’, ‘nation’, ‘community’ and ‘truth’ are defined by these movements, and what impact this has, not just on the faithful, but on neighbouring communities, and the state itself. It explores the ways in which these ideologies are related to the creation, shaping and reformulation of nations, states and communities. This is an important study of an increasingly significant and controversial aspect of modern society, and will be essential reading in the fields of Religion, Politics and International Relations.




Designed by Macrovector