Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity“A dark but brilliantly original work . . . one of the most important books on religion and the modern in recent years.” —H-Net Reviews Opening with the provocative query “what might an anthropology of the secular look like?” 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 “strangeness of the non-European world” 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. “A difficult if stunningly eloquent book, a response both elusive and forthright to the many shelves of ‘books on terrorism’ which this country’s trade publishers are rushing into print.” —Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature “This wonderfully illuminating book should be read alongside the author’s Genealogies of Religion.” —Religion “One of the most interesting scholars of religious writing today.” —Christian Scholar’s Review “Asad’s brilliant study remains a defining piece of intellectual and scholarly contribution for all of those interested in exploring the religious and the secular in the modern era.” —The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences |
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Abduh action agency agent American anthropology Arab argue authority behavior belief body Cambridge chapter Christian citizens civil claim colonial concept constituted contemporary courts critics cruelty culture defined discipline discourse divine doctrine domain Egypt Egyptian Enlightenment essential ethics Europe European experience fiqh freedom Hent de Vries human rights Ibid Ibn Taymiyya idea identity individual inflicted Islamic law Islamists language liberal democracies Malcolm X matter means modern moral Muhammad Muhammad Abduh Muslims myth mythic narratives nation-state natural rights nineteenth century niyya object Oedipus Oxford pain particular passion poetry political practices precisely principle Prophet punishment question Qur'an R. G. Collingwood reason redemption reform regarded relations religion religious represented responsibility Richard Tuck sacred Safwat secular secularist sense shamans shar shar'a simply social society sovereign space suffering sufism theological theory thought torture University Press violence Western