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Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict
The inception of the Ghost Dance religion in 1890 marked a critical
moment in Lakota history. Yet, because this movement alarmed
government officials, culminating in the infamous massacre at
Wounded Knee of 250 Lakota men, women, and children, historical
accounts have most often described the Ghost Dance from the
perspective of the white Americans who opposed it. In A Whirlwind
Passed through Our Country, historian Rani-Henrik Andersson instead
gives Lakotas a sounding board, imparting the multiplicity of
Lakota voices on the Ghost Dance at the time. Whereas early
accounts treated the Ghost Dance as a military or political
movement, A Whirlwind Passed through Our Country stresses its
peaceful nature and reveals the breadth of Lakota views on the
subject. The more than one hundred accounts compiled here show that
the movement caused friction within Lakota society even as it
spurred genuine religious belief. These accounts, many of them
never before translated from the original Lakota or published,
demonstrate that the Ghost Dance's message resonated with Lakotas
across artificial ""progressive"" and ""nonprogressive"" lines.
Although the movement was often criticized as backward and
disconnected from the harsh realities of Native life, Ghost Dance
adherents were in fact seeking new ways to survive, albeit not
those that contemporary whites envisioned for them. The Ghost
Dance, Andersson suggests, might be better understood as an
innovative adaptation by the Lakotas to the difficult situation in
which they found themselves - and as a way of finding a path to a
better life. By presenting accounts of divergent views among the
Lakota people, A Whirlwind Passed through Our Country expands the
narrative of the Ghost Dance, encouraging more nuanced
interpretations of this significant moment in Lakota and American
history.
This book takes the long-view by analysing Islamic State's
beginnings in Iraq to their involvement in the Arab Spring and
through to the present day. The world is watching IS's advance
through the Middle East. The US risks being drawn into another war
in the region despite its experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. IS
are creating catastrophic waves across the region, but it is still
unclear what lies behind its success. Michael Griffin uncovers the
nature of IS through investigating the myriad of regional players
engaged in a seemingly endless power game: Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Turkey and Iraq, which have all contributed to the success of IS by
supplying arms and funds. He foregrounds the story of the uprising
against President Assad of Syria, the role played by the Free
Syrian Army, Islamist groups, Iran, Hezbollah and Russia, the
chemical weapons attacks in 2013 and the House of Commons vote not
to impose a no-fly zone over the country.
Chronic Hindu-Muslim rioting in India has created a situation in
which communal violence is both so normal and so varied in its
manifestations that it would seem to defy effective analysis. Paul
R. Brass, one of the world's preeminent experts on South Asia, has
tracked more than half a century's riots in the north Indian city
of Aligarh. This book is the culmination of a lifetime's thinking
about the dynamics of institutionalized intergroup violence in
northern India, covering the last three decades of British rule as
well as the entire post-Independence history of Aligarh. Brass
exposes the mechanisms by which endemic communal violence is
deliberately provoked and sustained. He convincingly implicates the
police, criminal elements, members of Aligarh's business community,
and many of its leading political actors in the continuous effort
to "produce" communal violence. Much like a theatrical production,
specific roles are played, with phases for rehearsal, staging, and
interpretation. In this way, riots become key historical markers in
the struggle for political, economic, and social dominance of one
community over another. In the course of demonstrating how riots
have been produced in Aligarh, Brass offers a compelling argument
for abandoning or refining a number of widely held views about the
supposed causes of communal violence, not just in India but
throughout the rest of the world. An important addition to the
literature on Indian and South Asian politics, this book is also an
invaluable contribution to our understanding of the interplay of
nationalism, ethnicity, religion, and collective violence, wherever
it occurs.
Traditionally, Christian martyrdom is a repetition of the story of
Christ's suffering and death: the more closely the victim
replicates the Christological model, the more legible the
martyrdom. But if the textual construction of martyrdom depends on
the rehearsal of a paradigmatic story, how do we reconcile the
broad range of individuals, beliefs, and persecutions seeking
justification by claims of martyrdom? Observing how martyrdom is
constituted through the interplay of historical event and literary
form, Alice Dailey explores the development of English martyr
literature through the period of intense religious controversy from
the heresy executions of Queen Mary to the regicide of 1649.
Through close study of texts ranging from late medieval passion
drama and hagiography to John Foxe's Acts and Monuments,
martyrologies of the Counter-Reformation, Charles I's Eikon
Basilike, and John Milton's Eikonoklastes, The English Martyr from
Reformation to Revolution traces the shifting constructions of the
martyr figure across Reformation England. By putting history and
literary form in dialogue, Dailey describes not only the
reformation of one of the oldest, most influential genres of the
Christian West but a revolution in the very concept of martyrdom.
In late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England, she
argues, martyrdom develops from medieval notions of strict
typological repetition into Charles I's defense of individual
conscience-an abstract, figurative form of martyrdom that survives
into modernity. Far from static or purely formulaic, martyrology
emerges in Dailey's study as a deeply nuanced genre that discloses
the mutually constitutive relationship between the lives we live
and the stories we tell.
Over the last decade or so Salafism has become one of the West's
new political bogey-men. Many regard the movement as the
antechamber of violent groups such as al-Qaeda, and as the
by-product of a centralized foreign-policy platform shaped by
so-called Saudi interests. Based on extensive research conducted
throughout Yemen between 2001 and 2009, and particularly in the
southern province of Y?fi', this book offers an original approach
to Salafism and draws a necessary counter-narrative that takes into
account the dynamics of the Salafi movement as well as its
relationship to its evolving environment, either local, regional
and international.
Having studied over a hundred recorded sermons and conferences
and dozens of books, and carried out interviews with numerous
clerics, intellectuals and activists, Laurent Bonnefoy focuses on
the allegedly apolitical Salafi doctrine promoted by the renowned
Yemeni Salafi figure, Muqbil al-Wadi'i, who died in 2001. Building
on IR theory and political sociology, he references the everyday
practices of al-Wadi'i's dedicated followers, their rivalries as
well as their own evolving trajectories. He demonstrates that,
rather than resulting from specifically planned policies, Yemeni
Salafism has, since the early 1980s, evolved through a series of
spontaneous, grassroots mechanisms, many of which are shaped by
transnational flows, that embed this movement in the complex Yemeni
context.
Turmoil still grips the Middle East, and fear can still paralyze
post-9/11 America. The comforts and challenges of this book are
thus as timely as when it was first published in 1987. With new
reflections on the future of Judaism and Israel, Ellis underscores
the enduring problem of justice. Ellis' use of liberation theology
to make connections between the Holocaust and contemporary
communities from the Third World reminds both Jews and oppressed
Christians that they share common ground in the experiences of
abandonment, suffering, and death. The connections also reveal that
Jews and Christians share a common cause in the battle against
idolatry - represented now by obsessions for personal affluence,
national security, and ethnic survival. According to Ellis, Jews
and Christians must never allow the reality of anti-Semitism to
become an excuse for evading solidarity with the oppressed peoples
- be they African, Asian, Latin American or, especially,
Palestinian.
Does religion cause war? It is often claimed that religion is
responsible for more wars, more global conflicts and more deaths
than any other factor. After all, the world has seen its share of
crusades, inquisitions and jihads. Enlightened, modern people
assume that if we could only discard primitive religious belief,
the world would be a better place. Alas, the picture is not quite
so simple. "Indeed," writes Meic Pearse, "there is only one thing
that bears a heavier responsibility than religion as a principal
cause of war. And that is, of course, irreligion." In this
provocative book, historian Meic Pearse debunks the common
misconception that religion causes war. He argues that while
religion is often a significant generator of armed conflict both in
the past and in the present, the two principal causes of human
warfare are in fact culture and greed for territory, resources or
power. Since culture and greed often clothe themselves in religion,
wars fought for culture often appear to be fought for religion.
With keen analysis of global history and current events, Pearse
shows how irreligion has produced far bloodier wars than religion,
and how global secularism itself does violence to religion and
traditional cultures. Ultimately, throughout history warfare has
been waged over the shape of society itself. A crisis in meaning
leads people to fight for what they fear may be lost. For a world
weary of war, Pearse points beyond both cultural and secular
metanarratives to an alternative hope.
Many of the critical political issues of our time--from the
1992-1995 Balkan Wars to the continuing crisis in the Middle East
to the role of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe--revolve around
issues of religion and tolerance. The predominant approach to these
concerns is to espouse the doctrines of liberal humanistic virtue.
These doctrines, however, fail to resonate in communities that
maintain more traditional religious definitions of self and
society. Modest Claims, which features essays by Seligman and
dialogues between scholars representing the three monotheistic
faiths, provides the beginnings of a very different set of
arguments on tolerance and tradition. In so doing it seeks to
uncover the sources of toleration and pluralism that exist within
the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Most
contemporary approaches leave these sources largely unexplored and
often marginalize them in current public debates and social
agendas. Seligman and his dialogue partners seek to engage
traditional understandings to uncover internal components that make
dialogue between different religions and cultures possible.
Espousing the idea of translation as a metaphor for the tolerant
act, Modest Claims takes difference seriously as an aspect of
existence that can be neither trivialized nor ignored. It explores
and develops specifically religious arguments for tolerance and
acceptance of others, as well as new strategies for understanding
difference that are not rooted in individualist worldviews. This
important and timely book breathes new life into the search for
peace and toleration in an increasingly fractured world.
The scope of this collection of original essays covers the years
1050 to 1215, but it really begins in the summer of 1096, when
marauding crusaders attacked Jewish communities in three Rhineland
cities. These violent episodes disrupted what had been a fairly
peaceful history of coexistence between Jews and Christians for
more than two centuries. Although the two groups inhabited
fundamentally different religious universes, Jews and Christians
lived in the same towns, on the same streets, and pursued their
lives with minimal mutual interference and often with considerable
cooperation. The events of 1096 destroyed that status quo.
Relations between the two communities deteriorated, and the Jewish
communities suffered as a result.
The contributors' careful analyses of people, events, and texts
provide a balanced perspective on the fate of twelfth-century
Jewish communities. They reveal that there is considerable evidence
that old routines and interactions between Christians and Jews
persisted throughout this period. From the perspective of the
editors and contributors, this sense of complementarity, of
interaction or action and reaction, needs to better inform the
medieval story. The essays in this volume therefore intentionally
highlight areas of common or parallel activity: in vernacular
literature, in biblical exegesis, in piety and mysticism, in the
social context of conversion, in relations with prelates and
monarchs, in coping in a time of change, renewal, and upheaval.
Most importantly, the editors and contributors insist on
integrating both Jewish and Christian perspectives into the larger
history of a very complex and increasingly urban twelfth-century
Europe.
After isolated terrorist incidents in 2015, the Chinese leadership
has cracked down hard on Xinjiang and its Uyghurs. Today, there are
thought to be up to a million Muslims held in 're-education camps'
in the Xinjiang region of North-West China. One of the few Western
commentators to have lived in the region, journalist Nick Holdstock
travels into the heart of the province and reveals the Uyghur story
as one of repression, hardship and helplessness. China's Forgotten
People explains why repression of the Muslim population is on the
rise in the world's most powerful one-party state. This updated and
revised edition reveals the background to the largest known
concentration camp network in the modern world, and reflects on
what this means for the way we think about China.
"The book is a readable, terse, theoretically developed
treatment of an important episode in African history." Journal of
African History
"It is original and authoritative, certainly the best book we
have on the heritage of Umar s conquests." African History
..". lucid analysis of a changing jihad society. This study
enlarges understanding not only of the Umarian empire but also of
the jihad movements generally." Choice
John Hanson s thoroughly researched study revises
late-19th-century colonialist assumptions about a West African
Muslim social movement. Using indigenous Arabic manuscripts, travel
narratives, and oral materials, Hanson assesses the meaning of a
series of revolts against Islamic authority."
Radicalization has become a serious global problem. Groups and
nations are increasingly embroiled in escalating conflicts with one
another that are defined by pathological hatred and ideological
polarization, with devastating consequences including terrorism and
war. Social psychologist Fathali M. Moghaddam calls this process
mutual radicalization. In this groundbreaking book, he explores its
causes and potential solutions. Drawing from well-established
psychological principles, Moghaddam presents a dynamic, cyclical
three-stage model of mutual radicalization that explains how groups
gather under extremist ideologies, establish rigid norms under
authoritarian leadership, and develop antagonistic worldviews that
exaggerate the threats posed by each other. This process leads to
intensifying aggressive actions that can even reach the point of
mutual destruction. Moghaddam applies his model to ten real-world
case studies of mutual radicalization that focus on three main
areas: the conflict between Islamist radicals and extreme
nationalists in the West; nations that are mired in longstanding
hostilities, including North Korea and South Korea; and the
increasingly toxic atmosphere in American politics. Moghaddam also
offers practical solutions for achieving deradicalization and
highlights historical successes, such as German reunification.
Foreigners and Their Food explores how Jews, Christians, and
Muslims conceptualize us" and them" through rules about the
preparation of food by adherents of other religions and the act of
eating with such outsiders. David M. Freidenreich analyzes the
significance of food to religious formation, elucidating the ways
ancient and medieval scholars use food restrictions to think about
the other." Freidenreich illuminates the subtly different ways
Jews, Christians, and Muslims perceive themselves, and he
demonstrates how these distinctive self-conceptions shape ideas
about religious foreigners and communal boundaries. This work, the
first to analyze change over time across the legal literatures of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, makes pathbreaking contributions
to the history of interreligious intolerance and to the comparative
study of religion.
The Shi'i clergy are amongst the most influential political players
in the Middle East. For decades, scholars and observers have tried
to understand the balance of power between, Shi'i 'quietism' and
'activism'. The book is based on exclusive interviews with
high-profile Shi'i clerics in order to reveal how the Shi'i
clerical elite perceives its role and engages in politics today.
The book focuses on three ground-breaking events in the modern
Middle East: the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the 2003 Iraq
War, and the 2006 July war in Lebanon. By examining the nature and
evolution of a Shi'i clerical network the book finds that, far from
there being strategic differences between 'quitest' and 'activist'
clerics, Shi'i mujtahid statesmen matured, from 1979 in Iran to
2003 Iraq, by way of a pragmatism which led to a strong form of
transnational and associated whole in Lebanon in 2006. In doing so,
the book breaks down the established, and misleading,
dichotomisation of the Shi'i clergy into 'quietists' and
'activists' and discovers that the decision of Shi'i clerical
elites to become politically active or to stay out of politics are
attributable to their ability to adapt to their political
environments.
Azmi Bishara's book on the Syrian Revolution is one of the most
comprehensive and profound works on the subject published to date.
Translated here into English for the first time, the study examines
the complex roots of Syria's political and sectarian conflicts from
the day revolution erupted on 15th March 2011 to its descent into
civil war in the two years that followed. The book unearths and
discusses the very first signs of protests from across Daraa, Hama,
Aleppo, Damascus, Raqqa, Deir El Zour, Edlib and Homs, and it deals
with Syria's ruralization process and the subsequent economic
'liberalization', which eventually led to the revolt against the
Baath party. The work is based on high-level interviews, analysis
of the country's socio-economic background, and examination of the
Syrian regime's strategy and its political and media discourse.
Syria's revolution is chronicled in two stages: the peaceful civil
stage and the armed stage. Bishara's analysis first centres on the
regime's strategy, unveiling despotism, massacres, kidnapping,
sectarian tendencies, jihadist violence, the emergence of warlords,
and the chaotic spread of arms. He then turns to the role of the
opposition to narrate in detail the events that broke out and
exactly how a peaceful protest turned into an armed struggle. The
book provides a roadmap to how revolution broke out and is a
comprehensive analysis of what drove those early events. Its
publication brings renowned Arabic-language scholarship to the
English-speaking world.
Facing persecution in early modern England, some Catholics chose
exile over conformity. Some even cast their lot with foreign
monarchs rather than wait for their own rulers to have a change of
heart. This book studies the relationship forged by English exiles
and Philip II of Spain. It shows how these expatriates, known as
the "Spanish Elizabethans," used the most powerful tools at their
disposal-paper, pens, and presses-to incite war against England
during the "messianic" phase of Philip's reign, from the years
leading up to the Grand Armada until the king's death in 1598.
Freddy Cristobal Dominguez looks at English Catholic propaganda
within its international and transnational contexts. He examines a
range of long-neglected polemical texts, demonstrating their
prominence during an important moment of early modern
politico-religious strife and exploring the transnational dynamic
of early modern polemics and the flexible rhetorical approaches
required by exile. He concludes that while these exiles may have
lived on the margins, their books were central to early modern
Spanish politics and are key to understanding the broader narrative
of the Counter-Reformation. Deeply researched and highly original,
Radicals in Exile makes an important contribution to the study of
religious exile in early modern Europe. It will be welcomed by
historians of early modern Iberian and English politics and
religion as well as scholars of book history.
Deadly Clerics explains why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology
of militant jihadism while most do not. The book explores multiple
pathways of cleric radicalization and shows that the interplay of
academic, religious, and political institutions has influenced the
rise of modern jihadism through a mechanism of blocked ambition. As
long as clerics' academic ambitions remain attainable, they are
unlikely to espouse violent jihad. Clerics who are forced out of
academia are more likely to turn to jihad for two reasons: jihadist
ideas are attractive to those who see the system as turning against
them, and preaching a jihad ideology can help these outsider
clerics attract supporters and funds. The book draws on evidence
from various sources, including large-scale statistical analysis of
texts and network data obtained from the Internet, case studies of
clerics' lives, and ethnographic participant observations at sites
in Cairo, Egypt.
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