Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity

Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity (Cultural Memory in the Present)
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Opening with the provocative query â€œwhat might an anthropology of the secular look like?â€ this book explores the concepts, practices, and political formations of secularism, with emphasis on the major historical shifts that have shaped secular sensibilities and attitudes in the modern West and the Middle East. Talal Asad proceeds to dismantle commonly held assumptions about the secular and the terrain it allegedly covers. He argues that while anthropologists have oriented themselves to the study of the â€œstrangeness of the non-European worldâ€ and to what are seen as non-rational dimensions of social life (things like myth, taboo, and religion),the modern and the secular have not been adequately examined. The conclusion is that the secular cannot be viewed as a successor to religion, or be seen as on the side of the rational. It is a category with a multi-layered history, related to major premises of modernity, democracy, and the concept of human rights. This book will appeal to anthropologists, historians, religious studies scholars, as well as scholars working on modernity.
Country USA
Brand Stanford University Press
Manufacturer Stanford University Press
Binding Paperback
ReleaseDate 2003-02-03
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780804747684

Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity (Cultural Memory in the Present)