Religion and the Political Imagination

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511779510

The theory of secularisation became a virtually unchallenged truth of twentieth-century social science. First sketched out by Enlightenment philosophers, then transformed into an irreversible global process by nineteenth-century thinkers, the theory was given substance by the precipitate drop in religious practice across Western Europe in the 1960s. However, the re-emergence of acute conflicts at the interface between religion and politics has confounded such assumptions. It is clear that these ideas must be rethought. Yet, as this distinguished, international team of scholars reveal, not everything contained in the idea of secularisation was false. Analyses of developments since 1500 reveal a wide spectrum of historical processes: partial secularisation in some spheres has been accompanied by sacralisation in others. Utilising new approaches derived from history, philosophy, politics and anthropology, the essays collected in Religion and the Political Imagination offer new ways of thinking about the urgency of religious issues in the contemporary world.

'The studies making up the collection are motivated by a shared concern to question the unilinear understanding of secularization which forms the weighty heritage of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber to social theory. In pursuit of this revisionist approach the studies that make up the collection put forward many well informed readings of the understanding and the experience of religion in the collective life of societies. Some contributions fall squarely within the field of the history of political thought … Other studies in the collection focus on classic historical cases of secularization and the interplay of politics and religion in the life of great imperial polities.'

Paschalis M. Kitromilides Source: History of Political Thought

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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List of contributors
pp vii-viii
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Acknowledgements
pp ix-x
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Introduction: multiple secularities
pp 1-22
- By Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University, Gareth Stedman Jones, Professor of Political Thought and Fellow, King's College, Cambridge
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1 - Secularisation: religion and the roots of innovation in the political sphere
pp 23-45
- By Ingrid Creppell, Associate Professor of Political Science, George Washington University
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2 - Regarding toleration and liberalism: considerations from the Anglo-Jewish experience
pp 46-69
- By Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University
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3 - The Enlightenment, the late eighteenth-century revolutions and their aftermath: the ‘secularising’ implications of Protestantism?
pp 70-89
- By David M. Thompson, Emeritus Professor of Modern Church History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
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4 - In the lands of the Ottomans: religion and politics
pp 90-111
- By Karen Barkey, Professor of Sociology and History, Columbia University
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5 - The Russian Orthodox Church and secularisation
pp 112-131
- By Geoffrey Hosking, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, University College London
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6 - The American experience of secularisation
pp 132-149
- By Michael O'Brien, Professor of American Intellectual History, University of Cambridge
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7 - French Catholic political thought from the deconfessionalisation of the state to the recognition of religious freedom
pp 150-170
- By Emile Perreau-Saussine, Late Newton Trust Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge
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8 - Religion and the origins of socialism
pp 171-189
- By Gareth Stedman Jones, Professor of Political Thought and Fellow, King's College, Cambridge
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9 - From 1848 to Christian Democracy
pp 190-213
- By Christopher Clark, Professor of Modern European History and Fellow, St Catharine's College, Cambridge
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10 - The disciplining of the religious conscience in nineteenth-century British politics
pp 214-234
- By Jonathan Parry, Professor of Modern British History, University of Cambridge
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11 - Colonial secularism and Islamism in North India: a relationship of creativity
pp 235-253
- By Humeira Iqtidar, Research Fellow, Centre of South Asian Studies and King's College, Cambridge
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12 - The 1960s
pp 254-274
- By Hugh McLeod, Professor of Church History, University of Birmingham
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13 - Gendering secularisation: locating women in the transformation of British Christianity in the 1960s
pp 275-294
- By Callum G. Brown, Professor of Religious and Cultural History, University of Dundee
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14 - Does constitutionalisation lead to secularisation?
pp 295-313
- By Anat Scolnicov, Director of Studies and College Lecturer in Law, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge
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15 - Europe's uneasy marriage of secularism and Christianity since 1945 and the challenge of contemporary religious pluralism
pp 314-335
- By Jytte Klausen, Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation, Brandeis University Affiliate, Center for European Studies, Harvard University
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16 - On thick and thin religion: some critical reflections on secularisation theory
pp 336-355
- By Sudipta Kaviraj, Professor, South Asian Politics, Columbia University
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Index
pp 356-383
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Religion and the Political Imagination

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

List of contributors
pp vii-viii

Acknowledgements
pp ix-x

Introduction: multiple secularities
pp 1-22

1 - Secularisation: religion and the roots of innovation in the political sphere
pp 23-45

2 - Regarding toleration and liberalism: considerations from the Anglo-Jewish experience
pp 46-69

3 - The Enlightenment, the late eighteenth-century revolutions and their aftermath: the ‘secularising’ implications of Protestantism?
pp 70-89

4 - In the lands of the Ottomans: religion and politics
pp 90-111

5 - The Russian Orthodox Church and secularisation
pp 112-131

6 - The American experience of secularisation
pp 132-149

7 - French Catholic political thought from the deconfessionalisation of the state to the recognition of religious freedom
pp 150-170

8 - Religion and the origins of socialism
pp 171-189

9 - From 1848 to Christian Democracy
pp 190-213

10 - The disciplining of the religious conscience in nineteenth-century British politics
pp 214-234

11 - Colonial secularism and Islamism in North India: a relationship of creativity
pp 235-253

12 - The 1960s
pp 254-274

13 - Gendering secularisation: locating women in the transformation of British Christianity in the 1960s
pp 275-294

14 - Does constitutionalisation lead to secularisation?
pp 295-313

15 - Europe's uneasy marriage of secularism and Christianity since 1945 and the challenge of contemporary religious pluralism
pp 314-335

16 - On thick and thin religion: some critical reflections on secularisation theory
pp 336-355

Index
pp 356-383

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Religion and the Political Imagination

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