This nuanced book considers the role of religion and religiosity in modern Mexico, breaking new ground with an emphasis on popular religion and its relationship to politics. The contributors highlight the multifaceted role of religion, illuminating the ways that religion and religious devotion have persisted and changed since Mexican independence. They explore such themes as the relationship between church and state, the resurgence of religiosity and religious societies in the post-reform period, the religious values of the liberals of the 1850s, and the ways that popular expressions of religion often trumped formal and universal proscriptions. Focusing on individual stories and vignettes and on local elements of religion, the contributors show that despite efforts to secularize society, religion continues to be a strong component of Mexican culture. Portraying the complexity of religiosity in Mexico in the context of an increasingly secular state, this book will be invaluable for all those interested in Latin American history and religion. Contributions by: Silvia Marina Arrom, Adrian Bantjes, Alejandro Cortazar, Jason Dormady, Martin Austin Nesvig, Matthew D. O'Hara, Daniela Traffano, Paul J. Vanderwood, Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Pamela Voekel, and Edward Wright-Rios

Peter D. Beaulieu examines the challenge posed by-and to-modernity and historic Islam as they encounter one another. He compares the Western separation of Church and state with the unitary Islamic State, and explores the proposed cultural and societal principles of the Second Vatican Council as potentially influencing long-term events in both arenas. Beaulieu's research is comprehensive and richly documented, yet offers an accessible triangular inquiry into the mosque, the manger, and modernity. By restoring a place at the table for Trinitarian Christianity alongside the engulfing monotheism of Islam and the alternative skepticism of Western rationalism, this inquiry broadens the pallet of inter-religious and intercultural contact points. Beyond Secularism and Jihad? provides balanced attention to the differences as well as the similarities between Christianity, Islam, and modernity. An emerging theme is natural law, which is universal and intrinsic to all mankind and not confined to competing theologies. Neglected in the West that it helped create, natural law might contribute to the needed "grammar" for dialogue between the citizens in the West and the followers of Islam.

This book analyses the relation between state and religion in Indonesia, considering both the philosophical underpinning of government intervention on religious life but also cases and regulations related to religious affairs in Indonesia. Examining state regulation of religious affairs, it focuses on understanding its origin, history and consequences on citizens' religious life in modern Indonesia, arguing that while Indonesian constitutions have preserved religious freedom, they have also tended to construct wide-ranging discretionary powers in the government to control religious life and oversee religious freedom. Over more than four decades, Indonesian governments have constructed a variety of policies on religion based on constitutional legacies interpreted in the light of the norms and values of the existing religious majority group. A cutting edge examination of the tension between religious order and harmony on one hand, and protecting religious freedom for all on the other, this book offers a cutting edge study of how the history of regulating religion has been about the constant negotiation for the boundaries of authority between the state and the religious majority group.

Wahhabism is often understood as a radical version of Islam responsible for inspiring and motivating Islamic terrorism. Western Imaginings: The Intellectual Contest to Define Wahhabism is an inquiry into how Wahhabism has been understood and represented by Western intellectuals, particularly those belonging to the neo-conservative and liberal traditions. In contrast to the existing literature that treats Wahhabism as a historical phenomenon or a monolithic theological ideology, a literature often written by authors keen to promote geopolitical interests or with ideological axes to grind, Davis's work considers Wahhabism as a discursive construct crafted and popularized by a Western intellectual elite. This comprehensive study speaks to how and why Western intellectuals have chosen to represent Wahhabism in specific ways, ranging from an analysis of the particular rhetorical techniques employed by these intellectuals to a consideration of the religious and political beliefs that inspire and motivate their decisions. Western Imaginings is aimed at students of political philosophy, intellectual traditions, and sociology; media and policy professionals; and anyone interested in how Islamic doctrines like Wahhabism have been represented in an international context framed by a heightened anxiety about radical Islam.

This book traces how religion could have originated in prehistory and antiquity, out of natural human and prehuman behaviour. Religion is defined here as beliefs, conceptions, practices and roles concerned with the 'supernatural'. A variety of elements of religion can be identified. These include: spirits, ghosts, life after death, heaven, shamans. To try to reduce religion to a single original element is a mistake. There may be no single origin. But the individual elements have separate origins, and these can be traced. The common subjective component of religious elements is the numinous, which is commonly ascribed to external sources identified as 'supernatural' and 'spiritual'. The numinous sense is explained by means of certain neural processes with a focus in the temporal lobes. Probably for the first time, evidence is brought to bear from primatology, palaeoanthropology, ethnography, ancient history and history of religions, as well as theology, neurology and psycho-pharmacology. The field of origins of religion has been neglected by anthropology since the 1930s, but has enjoyed renewed interest from the 1990s. This wide-ranging interdisciplinary book makes an important contribution to the field.

Women as Ritual Experts reveals how in gender segregated religions like Orthodox Judaism women develop their own autonomous religious sphere and activities that sacralize female roles. Until recently, this female world of religion has been all but invisible to both anthropologists and scholars of religion, who typically speak as though the male sphere of religion were the only definition of religion or the sacred. By exploring this separate sphere of women's religion and demonstrating its variety, depth, and dynamism, Susan Sered here attempts to expand the definition of religion, ritual and the sacred. Sered's research was conducted among uneducated, illiterate Kurdish women. She uncovers the strategies these women have used to circumvent the patriarchal institutions of Judaism, the techniques by which they have made their lives meaningful within an androcentric culture, and how they have developed their own `little tradition' within and parallel to the `great tradition' of Torah Judaism.

This book provides insight into how flamenco travels, the forms it assumes in new locales, and the reciprocal effects on the original scene. Utilising a postnational approach to cultural identity, Martin explores the role of non-native culture brokers in cultural transmission. This concept, referred to as 'cosmopolitan human hubs', builds on Kiwan and Meinhof's 'hubs' theory of network migration to move cultural migration and globalisation studies forwards. Martin outlines a post-globalisation flamenco culture through analysis of ethnographic research carried out in the UK, Sevilla and Madrid. Insight into these glocal scenes characterises flamenco as a historically globalized art complex, represented in various hubs around the world. This alternative approach to music migration and globalisation studies will be of interest to students and scholars across leisure studies, musicology, sociology and anthropology.

Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the political roles of religious institutions and groups have captured inernational attention. This book examines how religious institutions and organizations in various Asian countries are influencing democratic development and the shaping of government policies. Religious Organizations and Democratization covers Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. The chapters specifically address the engagement of Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and other religious organizations in the advancement and/or hindrance of democratization in the region. The contributors consider such questions as: Why have some religious organizations played a decisive role in democratic transitions, while others remained politically dormant, and other still acted in conservative alliances to block democratic development? Why did some religious organizations that once were active and instrumental to democratic change lose their political vitality as soon as civil liberties were successfully introduced? And why did other religious organizations, irrespective of their roles in the process of democratic transition, emerge as key political forces in the civil society?

Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the political roles of religious institutions and groups have captured inernational attention. This book examines how religious institutions and organizations in various Asian countries are influencing democratic development and the shaping of government policies. Religious Organizations and Democratization covers Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. The chapters specifically address the engagement of Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and other religious organizations in the advancement and/or hindrance of democratization in the region. The contributors consider such questions as: Why have some religious organizations played a decisive role in democratic transitions, while others remained politically dormant, and other still acted in conservative alliances to block democratic development? Why did some religious organizations that once were active and instrumental to democratic change lose their political vitality as soon as civil liberties were successfully introduced? And why did other religious organizations, irrespective of their roles in the process of democratic transition, emerge as key political forces in the civil society?

Through detailed in-depth exegeses of Proust's literary texts (A la Recherche du temps perdu, Jean Santeuil, and Contre Sainte-Beuve), Judaism in Marcel Proust: Anti-Semitism, Philo-Semitism, and Judaic Perspectives in Art explains anti-Semitism and philo-Semitism as present in actual French literary texts. Unlike other studies about Proust and Judaism, the narrative in this book is in English; the focus is on the actual French texts, not on Proust's biography. Primary Judaic sources such as the Hebrew Bible, the Babylonian Talmud, Moses Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, and Rashi's commentaries illuminate Proust's texts and skillfully demonstrate their anti-Semitic and philo-Semitic subtexts. The principal Proustian themes that are examined in depth include, first of all, the anti-Semitism and philo-Semitism of the characters as informed by Jean-Paul Sartre's Reflexions sur la queston juive; second, Christian interpretations of Judaic biblical references and their anti-Semitic connotations as well as the philo-Semitic references to the Hebrew Bible and to Judaic culture and ritual contained in the Proust texts; third, the importance of references to art in Proust's texts and their Judaic significance. Written in a lively, clear, and accessible style, Judaism in Marcel Proust engages the reader, both Proustophile and Proust scholar alike. It would be an excellent choice for the reading list of courses on Proust as well as for French history and social psychology courses on anti-Semitism and philo-Semitism relating to the Dreyfus case and the Belle Epoque.

Robes and Honor is a fascinating exploration of the possible common origin and subsequent developments of investiture across medieval Christianity and medieval Islam. The ceremony in all of its cultural variety was much more than the public adoption of a high-value textile as symbol of office; within a culture, robing established a personal link "from the hand" of the giver--king, pope, head of a sect, ambassador--to the receiver--noble, general, official, nun, or acolyte. This volume challenges current thinking on religious and regional boundaries of "cultures," raises semiotic issues about imagined communities, and addresses problems of kingship.

The National Border Patrol Museum (NBPM) in El Paso, Texas, presents a view of the history, culture, and life along the U.S.-Mexico border that is not offered in any other museum in the world. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to study and understand people and life along the border through the different forms in which they represent themselves and how they are viewed by others. Mean Green: Nation Building in the National Border Patrol Museum presents an analysis of the museum that deploys theoretical approaches in the disciplines of visual and cultural studies, border studies, ethnic studies, discourse analysis, museology, and spatial theory. The objectives of this book are to study the varied representations, that is, the hypermasculine male and the disenfranchised "illegal" immigrant, that reinforce and challenge the dominant discourse present in the hegemonic state; to analyze why the museum represents a homotopia within the limits of a heterotopia; to learn how the museum creates imagined communities through the use of its historical patrimony; to observe the practices in relations of power by employing the notion of a panopticon; and, lastly, to understand how the museum is providing a commodification of symbols to promote the hegemonic state.

One of the fundamental questions of Middle Eastern, and Lebanese studies in particular, is the history of the relationship between the Druze community and the state in modern Lebanon. Arguing that the Druze community has been politically alienated from the Lebanese state, this book explores the historical and political origins of this alienation. The Druze Community and the Lebanese State contends that the origins of this alienation lie in the state's national ideology, its political confessional system, and the Druze's historical background during the medieval period. Moreover, this book examines the extent to which the Druze's attitude vis-a-vis the Lebanese state has been influenced by their historical rivalry with the Maronites. Particular emphasis is placed on the political and ideological practices adopted by the Druze leadership and intelligentsia as they dealt with the changes taking place in their community's political status following the political settlements of 1920 and 1943 (the establishment of Greater Lebanon and the National Pact, respectively). A welcome addition to existing literature on Lebanon, this book will be an essential reference tool for students and researchers with an interest in nationalism, identity and Middle East Politics more broadly.

Religion is considered a key predictor of volunteering: the more religious people are, the more likely they are to volunteer. This positive association enjoys significant support in current research; in fact, it could be considered the 'default perspective' on the relationship between both phenomena. In this book, the authors claim that, although the dominant approach is legitimate and essential, it nonetheless falls short in grasping the full complexity of the interaction between religion and volunteering. It needs to be recognized that there are tensions between religion and volunteering, and that these tensions are intensifying as a result of the changing meaning and role of religion in society. Therefore, the central aim and contribution of this book is to demonstrate that the relationship between religion and volunteering is not univocal but differentiated, ambiguous and sometimes provocative. By introducing the reader to a much wider landscape of perspectives, this volume offers a richer, more complex and variable understanding. Apart from the established positive causality, the authors examine tensions between religion and volunteering from the perspective of religious obligation, religious change, processes of secularization and notions of post-secularity. They further explore how actions that are considered altruistic, politically neutral and motivated by religious beliefs can be used for political reasons. This volume opens up the field to new perspectives on religious actors and on how religion and volunteering are enacted outside Western liberal and Christian societies. It emphasizes interdisciplinary perspectives, including theology, philosophy, sociology, political science, anthropology and architecture.

Can West and East ever understand each other? In this extraordinary book one of the world's leading Muslim scholars explores an area which has been almost entirely neglected by scholars in the field - the area of postmodernism and Islam. This landmark work is startling and constantly perceptive in its exploration of Western and Islamic culture. Emphasizing the role of the mass media in shaping our understanding of East-West relations, Akbar S. Ahmed analyses the ways in which the media turned events like the Salmon Rushdie affair and the Gulf war into a carnival of spectacle and entertainment. He makes use of the postmodern theme of the displaced, circulating image to show how images are used to tell stories - stories which are not always helpful or accurate. In this new, revised edition, Akbar S. Ahmed includes a remarkable and stimulating new preface, in which he reconsiders this topic in the light of the contemporary, post September 11th, world.

Can West and East ever understand each other? In this extraordinary book one of the world's leading Muslim scholars explores an area which has been almost entirely neglected by scholars in the field - the area of postmodernism and Islam. This landmark work is startling and constantly perceptive in its exploration of Western and Islamic culture. Emphasizing the role of the mass media in shaping our understanding of East-West relations, Akbar S. Ahmed analyses the ways in which the media turned events like the Salman Rushdie affair and the Gulf war into a carnival of spectacle and entertainment. He makes use of the postmodern theme of the displaced, circulating image to show how images are used to tell stories - stories which are not always helpful or accurate. In this new, revised edition, Akbar S. Ahmed includes a remarkable and stimulating new preface, in which he reconsiders this topic in the light of the contemporary, post September 11th, world.

Part of the 'Religion and Citizenship' series, this book is an ethnographic study of marginality of Muslims in urban India. It explores the realities and consequences of socio-spatial segregation faced by Muslim communities and the various ways in which they negotiate it in the course of their everyday lives. By narrating lived experiences of ordinary Muslims, the author attempts to construct their identities as citizens and subjects. What emerges is a highly variegated picture of a group (otherwise viewed as monolithic) that resides in very close quarters, more as a result of compulsion than choice, despite wide differences across language, ethnicity, sect and social class. The book also looks into the potential outcomes that socio-spatial segregation spelt on communal lines hold for the future of the urban landscape in South Asia. Rich in ethnographic data and accessible in its approach, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of sociology, social anthropology, human geography, political sociology, urban studies, and political science.

The book reveals the nexus between religion and politics today and shows that we live in an interdependent world where one global civilization is emerging and where the world's peoples are continuing to coalesce around a series of values that contain potent Western overtones. Both Putin's Orthodox Russia and regions under the control of such Islamist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda resent and attempt, in a largely languishing effort, to frustrate this series of values. The book explains the current tension between the West and Russia and parts of the Muslim world and sheds light on the causes of such crises as the Syrian Civil War, Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and acts of terrorism such as 9/11 and the ISIS-inspired massacres in Paris. It shows that religion continues to affect global order and that knowledge of its effect on political identity and global governance should guide both government policy and scholarly analysis of contemporary history.

This book serves as a conversational, colourful, engaging, and provocative introduction to the sociology of religion for undergraduates. Written in lively prose, this volume introduces students to the major themes, problems and goals of the sociological study of religion while also summoning the sense of wonder and curiosity for the enterprise itself.

This book proposes a radical shift in the way the world thinks about itself by highlighting the significance of Cross-Cultural Conversations. Moving beyond conventional boundaries, it examines the language in which histories are written; analyzes how scientific technology is changing the idea of identity; and highlights the need for a larger identity across nationality, race, religion, gender, ethnicity and class. It asks for a concerted effort to engage each other in open conversational forums on a range of contemporary global issues, alter our attitudes toward self and the other, and unlearn prejudices that perpetuate the practice of divisive identities. The book also explores critical themes such as political actions, solidarity-in-diversity, clash of social identities, tensions between nationalism and globalism, the quest for global peace and authentic meeting of world religions. Further, it discusses the evolving connection between science and religion, focusing on key philosophical ideas that have permeated the Indian cultural soil. The book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of philosophy, religious studies, science and technology studies, and cultural studies.

The emergence of religious fundamentalism in a globalized, post-colonial world poses a significant challenge to the "End of History" narratives common in academic and non-academic literature alike. Globalization, Modernity and the Rise of Religious Fundamentalism proposes that we must seek new explanations for this phenomenon that recasts the relationship between globalization, modernity and religion. One model through which this possible is that of a dialectical kaleidoscopic methodology - one that applies a variety of theoretical tools and takes a truly multi-dimensional perspective. Through the overlapping and complementary approaches of systems theory, field theory and network theory, this book redefined the concepts of globalization, modernity and religion itself by challenging the inherent misconceptions of ethnocentric biases. It also provides a thorough historical analysis of religious systems from antiquity to the present to show the integration of modern and archaic elements within the structure of religious fundamentalism. Interdisciplinary in nature, Globalization, Modernity and the Rise of Religious Fundamentalism will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as geopolitics, history of race and ethnicity, postcolonialism, globalization and sociology of religion.

Asian and Pacific Islander Americans constitute the fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are also one of the most religiously diverse. Through them Asian traditions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism, and Buddhism have been introduced into every major American city and across a wide swath of Middle America. The contributors to this volume provide an essential inter-disciplinary resource for the study of Asian and Pacific Islander American religion.

The new immigrants coming to the United States and establishing ethnic congregations do not abandon religious ties in their home countries. Rather, as they communicate with family and friends left behind in their homelands, they influence religious structures and practices there. Religion Across Borders examines both personal and organizational networks that exist between members in U.S. immigrant religious communities and individuals and religious institutions left behind. Building upon Religion and the New Immigrants (2000) their previous study of immigrant religious communities in Houston sociologists Ebaugh and Chafetz ask how religious remittances flow between home and host communities, how these interchanges affect religious practices in both settings, and how influences change over time as new immigrants become settled. The study's unique comparative perspective looks at differing faith groups (Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist) from Argentina, Mexico, Guatamala, Vietnam and China. Data on ways in which historic, geographic, economic and religious factors influence transnational religious ties makes necessary reading for students of immigration, religion and anyone interested in the increasingly global aspects of American religion.

Congolese Social Networks: Living on the Margins in Muizenberg, Cape Town is a closely researched ethnography that focuses predominantly on the lives of three Congolese transmigrants (self-identified as such). This monograph situates them in a cosmopolitan South African space amongst dissimilar South African others, and similar national others. Unlike other contemporary international texts on transnational migrants, this book discusses entree into the immigration country, and the diverse attempts of Congolese men to situate themselves within social networks. In the intellectual move to focus on transnational spaces and transnationality, the reality of migration in a specific socio-political context-a focus on place-has been ignored. Migration on the African continent is more similar to the early migrations of Italian, Polish, and Jewish immigrants to the United States in the initial phases of arrival, adaptation, and reproduction of the national self. While these Congolese transmigrants maintain contact with those back home through various social media applications, their very real survival needs force a day-to-day living that secures survival needs, whilst those of a higher class maintain a focus on lola (paradise)-onward migration out of South Africa. An important aspect of securing one's survival needs is the creation of diverse social networks. Through these networks, Congolese transmigrants access information regarding employment, information on appropriate educational opportunities for children, information regarding safe residential areas, and a number of other forms of information that support their existence in an oftentimes alienating South African space.