Sara Savage and Jose Liht
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548781
- eISBN:
- 9780191720673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548781.003.0025
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living ...
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This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living in Europe and Britain. Key structural features of Islamist radical religious speech include: a three-part narrative, promoting low levels of complexity, rhetorical strategies, the closed way in which the belief system is organized, and the ‘rationalistic’ word-based emphasis. The chapter discusses the social psychological tendencies to which the extreme speech appeals: self-definitional uncertainty among young Muslims, intensified perceptions of ingroup and outgroups, and perceptions of the world-wide status hierarchy that is deemed unstable and liable to change (post 9/11). Extreme speech is most powerfully ‘activated’ under totalist group conditions.Less
This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living in Europe and Britain. Key structural features of Islamist radical religious speech include: a three-part narrative, promoting low levels of complexity, rhetorical strategies, the closed way in which the belief system is organized, and the ‘rationalistic’ word-based emphasis. The chapter discusses the social psychological tendencies to which the extreme speech appeals: self-definitional uncertainty among young Muslims, intensified perceptions of ingroup and outgroups, and perceptions of the world-wide status hierarchy that is deemed unstable and liable to change (post 9/11). Extreme speech is most powerfully ‘activated’ under totalist group conditions.
Ogbu Kalu
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195340006
- eISBN:
- 9780199867073
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340006.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter begins with a discussion of the relationship between African Pentecostalism and fundamentalism. It then discusses prosperity theology, prosperity in African imagination and theology, ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the relationship between African Pentecostalism and fundamentalism. It then discusses prosperity theology, prosperity in African imagination and theology, healing, and hermeneutics and homiletics.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the relationship between African Pentecostalism and fundamentalism. It then discusses prosperity theology, prosperity in African imagination and theology, healing, and hermeneutics and homiletics.
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300207125
- eISBN:
- 9780300231458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300207125.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter focuses on religious discourse, specifically the approach of the state's official religious establishment as represented by al-Azhar and by certain men of religion who are usually ...
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This chapter focuses on religious discourse, specifically the approach of the state's official religious establishment as represented by al-Azhar and by certain men of religion who are usually classified as “the religious opposition.” Those who take this approach think that the phenomenon is positive overall, that is, as far as its meaning and significance are concerned, although they think that the movement might need some guidance and counsel. The chapter treats this approach part of the phenomenon itself, since the two of them are based on the same intellectual constants and rely on the same strategies for producing their discourse.Less
This chapter focuses on religious discourse, specifically the approach of the state's official religious establishment as represented by al-Azhar and by certain men of religion who are usually classified as “the religious opposition.” Those who take this approach think that the phenomenon is positive overall, that is, as far as its meaning and significance are concerned, although they think that the movement might need some guidance and counsel. The chapter treats this approach part of the phenomenon itself, since the two of them are based on the same intellectual constants and rely on the same strategies for producing their discourse.
Ulrike Schröder
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812295
- eISBN:
- 9780199919390
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812295.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter deals with the Indian ritual of Hook-swinging as an example for the negotiation of ritual space in the colonial society of South India during the 19th century and after. “Ritual” is ...
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This chapter deals with the Indian ritual of Hook-swinging as an example for the negotiation of ritual space in the colonial society of South India during the 19th century and after. “Ritual” is considered here as a discursive formation that provides a dynamic resource for the negotiation of social, cultural and religious forms of identity for various groups within a society. The debate about Hook-swinging and its prohibition is analyzed in two ways. First, it is asked how colonial policy determines the field of social and religious discourse about rituals. This had a massive impact on the performance and contents of the ritual as well as on the participants and the socio-religious setting of Hook-swinging. But, second, it can be shown that within this transformation the ritual itself serves as a space of subaltern agency and resistance to colonial and social suppression within the colonial society.Less
This chapter deals with the Indian ritual of Hook-swinging as an example for the negotiation of ritual space in the colonial society of South India during the 19th century and after. “Ritual” is considered here as a discursive formation that provides a dynamic resource for the negotiation of social, cultural and religious forms of identity for various groups within a society. The debate about Hook-swinging and its prohibition is analyzed in two ways. First, it is asked how colonial policy determines the field of social and religious discourse about rituals. This had a massive impact on the performance and contents of the ritual as well as on the participants and the socio-religious setting of Hook-swinging. But, second, it can be shown that within this transformation the ritual itself serves as a space of subaltern agency and resistance to colonial and social suppression within the colonial society.
William J. Wainwright (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195138092
- eISBN:
- 9780199835348
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195138090.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
The philosophy of religion as a distinct discipline is an innovation of the last 200 years, but its central topics—the existence and nature of the divine, humankind’s relation to it, the nature of ...
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The philosophy of religion as a distinct discipline is an innovation of the last 200 years, but its central topics—the existence and nature of the divine, humankind’s relation to it, the nature of religion, and the place of religion in human life—have been with us since the inception of philosophy. Philosophers have long critically examined the truth of and rational justification for religious claims, and have explored such philosophically interesting phenomena as faith, religious experience, and the distinctive features of religious discourse. The second half of the twentieth century was an especially fruitful period, with philosophers using new developments in logic and epistemology to mount both sophisticated defenses of, and attacks on, religious claims. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion contains newly commissioned chapters by twenty-one prominent experts who cover the field in a comprehensive but accessible manner. Each chapter is expository, critical, and representative of a distinctive viewpoint. The Handbook is divided into two parts. The first, “Problems,” covers the most frequently discussed topics, among them arguments for God’s existence, the nature of God’s attributes, religious pluralism, the problem of evil, and religious epistemology. The second, “Approaches,” contains four essays assessing the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of practicing philosophy of religion—analytic, Wittgensteinian, continental, and feminist.Less
The philosophy of religion as a distinct discipline is an innovation of the last 200 years, but its central topics—the existence and nature of the divine, humankind’s relation to it, the nature of religion, and the place of religion in human life—have been with us since the inception of philosophy. Philosophers have long critically examined the truth of and rational justification for religious claims, and have explored such philosophically interesting phenomena as faith, religious experience, and the distinctive features of religious discourse. The second half of the twentieth century was an especially fruitful period, with philosophers using new developments in logic and epistemology to mount both sophisticated defenses of, and attacks on, religious claims. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion contains newly commissioned chapters by twenty-one prominent experts who cover the field in a comprehensive but accessible manner. Each chapter is expository, critical, and representative of a distinctive viewpoint. The Handbook is divided into two parts. The first, “Problems,” covers the most frequently discussed topics, among them arguments for God’s existence, the nature of God’s attributes, religious pluralism, the problem of evil, and religious epistemology. The second, “Approaches,” contains four essays assessing the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of practicing philosophy of religion—analytic, Wittgensteinian, continental, and feminist.
John H. Evans
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226222653
- eISBN:
- 9780226222707
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226222707.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
Scholars have long been concerned that specifically religious discourse in the public sphere would have a particularly negative impact on willingness to deliberate. This concern is reflected in ...
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Scholars have long been concerned that specifically religious discourse in the public sphere would have a particularly negative impact on willingness to deliberate. This concern is reflected in Hunter's culture wars theory, which is based on other long-standing intellectual traditions. The liberal theorists' solution is that people should use “public reason” in the public sphere—arguments that can be justified using discourse that everyone shares. A good portion of the public clearly believes in using religious discourse in the public sphere. Religious discourse is used by religious people to both legitimate their secular claims and to make themselves better understood, since they cannot create separate religious and secular selves. Examination of the interviews shows, first, that people want to talk with people from other religious traditions about reproductive genetic technologies (RGTs), as well as about the religious presuppositions behind their views about RGTs.Less
Scholars have long been concerned that specifically religious discourse in the public sphere would have a particularly negative impact on willingness to deliberate. This concern is reflected in Hunter's culture wars theory, which is based on other long-standing intellectual traditions. The liberal theorists' solution is that people should use “public reason” in the public sphere—arguments that can be justified using discourse that everyone shares. A good portion of the public clearly believes in using religious discourse in the public sphere. Religious discourse is used by religious people to both legitimate their secular claims and to make themselves better understood, since they cannot create separate religious and secular selves. Examination of the interviews shows, first, that people want to talk with people from other religious traditions about reproductive genetic technologies (RGTs), as well as about the religious presuppositions behind their views about RGTs.
Lanita Jacobs-Huey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304169
- eISBN:
- 9780199866939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304169.003.03
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
Based on findings from a two-year study of a non-profit organization called Cosmetologists for Christ (CFC), this chapter shows how African American Christian cosmetologists use religious discourse ...
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Based on findings from a two-year study of a non-profit organization called Cosmetologists for Christ (CFC), this chapter shows how African American Christian cosmetologists use religious discourse in their everyday lives to craft moral selves, spiritual practices, and sacred and professional workplaces. Their testimonials, prayers, and fellowship provide explicit examples of hair salons as gendered sites of moral and professional socialization, and spirituality as one of many lenses through which black hair-care is framed. In monthly Bible studies held in an affluent Beverly Hills salon, African American women members of the CFC advocated the laying on of hands and the use of spoken prayer in their workplaces to minimize conflict between themselves, their clients, and their colleagues. Some hair stylists also blended spiritual and scientific genres to socialize clients and stylists alike into a greater appreciation of the “truth” about salon hair care and cosmetology.Less
Based on findings from a two-year study of a non-profit organization called Cosmetologists for Christ (CFC), this chapter shows how African American Christian cosmetologists use religious discourse in their everyday lives to craft moral selves, spiritual practices, and sacred and professional workplaces. Their testimonials, prayers, and fellowship provide explicit examples of hair salons as gendered sites of moral and professional socialization, and spirituality as one of many lenses through which black hair-care is framed. In monthly Bible studies held in an affluent Beverly Hills salon, African American women members of the CFC advocated the laying on of hands and the use of spoken prayer in their workplaces to minimize conflict between themselves, their clients, and their colleagues. Some hair stylists also blended spiritual and scientific genres to socialize clients and stylists alike into a greater appreciation of the “truth” about salon hair care and cosmetology.
Michael C. Banner
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240198
- eISBN:
- 9780191680113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240198.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science
This chapter discusses and expounds on an expressive understanding of religious discourse. A number of examples of how certain ‘beliefs’ may be construed as expressions of value are stated in the ...
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This chapter discusses and expounds on an expressive understanding of religious discourse. A number of examples of how certain ‘beliefs’ may be construed as expressions of value are stated in the discussion as well. The justifications that are presented in this chapter are based on the arguments from the strong and the weak principles of charity.Less
This chapter discusses and expounds on an expressive understanding of religious discourse. A number of examples of how certain ‘beliefs’ may be construed as expressions of value are stated in the discussion as well. The justifications that are presented in this chapter are based on the arguments from the strong and the weak principles of charity.
Ussama Makdisi
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520218451
- eISBN:
- 9780520922792
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520218451.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Focusing on Ottoman Lebanon, this book shows how sectarianism was a manifestation of modernity that transcended the physical boundaries of a particular country. It challenges those who have viewed ...
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Focusing on Ottoman Lebanon, this book shows how sectarianism was a manifestation of modernity that transcended the physical boundaries of a particular country. It challenges those who have viewed sectarian violence as an Islamic response to Westernization or simply as a product of social and economic inequities among religious groups. The religious violence of the nineteenth century, which culminated in sectarian mobilizations and massacres in 1860, was a complex, multilayered, subaltern expression of modernization, not a primordial reaction to it. The author argues that sectarianism represented a deliberate mobilization of religious identities for political and social purposes. The Ottoman reform movement, launched in 1839, and the growing European presence in the Middle East, contributed to the disintegration of the traditional Lebanese social order based on a hierarchy that bridged religious differences. The book highlights how European colonialism and Orientalism, with their emphasis on Christian salvation and Islamic despotism, and Ottoman and local nationalisms, each created and used narratives of sectarianism as foils to their own visions of modernity, and to their own projects of colonial, imperial, and national development. It is important to our understanding of Lebanese society today, but also makes a significant contribution to the discussion of the importance of religious discourse in the formation and dissolution of social and national identities in the modern world.Less
Focusing on Ottoman Lebanon, this book shows how sectarianism was a manifestation of modernity that transcended the physical boundaries of a particular country. It challenges those who have viewed sectarian violence as an Islamic response to Westernization or simply as a product of social and economic inequities among religious groups. The religious violence of the nineteenth century, which culminated in sectarian mobilizations and massacres in 1860, was a complex, multilayered, subaltern expression of modernization, not a primordial reaction to it. The author argues that sectarianism represented a deliberate mobilization of religious identities for political and social purposes. The Ottoman reform movement, launched in 1839, and the growing European presence in the Middle East, contributed to the disintegration of the traditional Lebanese social order based on a hierarchy that bridged religious differences. The book highlights how European colonialism and Orientalism, with their emphasis on Christian salvation and Islamic despotism, and Ottoman and local nationalisms, each created and used narratives of sectarianism as foils to their own visions of modernity, and to their own projects of colonial, imperial, and national development. It is important to our understanding of Lebanese society today, but also makes a significant contribution to the discussion of the importance of religious discourse in the formation and dissolution of social and national identities in the modern world.
Febe Armanios
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199744848
- eISBN:
- 9780199894963
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744848.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book explores Coptic religious life in Ottoman Egypt (1517–1798), focusing closely on manuscripts from Coptic archives. Ottoman Copts frequently turned to religious discourses, practices, and ...
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This book explores Coptic religious life in Ottoman Egypt (1517–1798), focusing closely on manuscripts from Coptic archives. Ottoman Copts frequently turned to religious discourses, practices, and rituals as they dealt with various transformations in the first centuries of Ottoman rule. These included the establishment of a new political regime, changes within communal leadership structures (favoring lay leaders over clergy), the economic ascent of the archons (lay elites), and developments in the Copts’ relationship with other religious communities, particularly with Catholics. The book explores how Copts, as a minority living in a dominant Islamic culture, identified themselves and distinguished themselves from other groups by turning to an impressive array of religious traditions. Among these were the reproduction of martyrdom narratives, the visitation of saints’ shrines, the relocation of major festivals to remote destinations, the development of new pilgrimage practices, and the writing of sermons that articulated a Coptic religious ethos in reaction to Catholic missionary discourses. Central to this analysis is the Copts’ relationship to local political rulers, military elites, the Muslim religious establishment, and other non-Muslim communities. The book aims to recognize and document the Coptic experience within the Egyptian context while focusing on new documentary sources and on a historical era that has long been neglected.Less
This book explores Coptic religious life in Ottoman Egypt (1517–1798), focusing closely on manuscripts from Coptic archives. Ottoman Copts frequently turned to religious discourses, practices, and rituals as they dealt with various transformations in the first centuries of Ottoman rule. These included the establishment of a new political regime, changes within communal leadership structures (favoring lay leaders over clergy), the economic ascent of the archons (lay elites), and developments in the Copts’ relationship with other religious communities, particularly with Catholics. The book explores how Copts, as a minority living in a dominant Islamic culture, identified themselves and distinguished themselves from other groups by turning to an impressive array of religious traditions. Among these were the reproduction of martyrdom narratives, the visitation of saints’ shrines, the relocation of major festivals to remote destinations, the development of new pilgrimage practices, and the writing of sermons that articulated a Coptic religious ethos in reaction to Catholic missionary discourses. Central to this analysis is the Copts’ relationship to local political rulers, military elites, the Muslim religious establishment, and other non-Muslim communities. The book aims to recognize and document the Coptic experience within the Egyptian context while focusing on new documentary sources and on a historical era that has long been neglected.
Baqer S. Alnajjar
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789774166587
- eISBN:
- 9781617975912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166587.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Given the importance of religion in social interaction and identity formation in the Middle East as whole, this chapter explores several questions in the area of Arab religious devotion and religious ...
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Given the importance of religion in social interaction and identity formation in the Middle East as whole, this chapter explores several questions in the area of Arab religious devotion and religious discourse. How does religion contribute to building and shaping society? To what extent does the role of religion re?ect theory and history? How are clerics trained, and what challenges do they face? To what extent does religion express identity? What mechanisms have Muslim communities developed to preserve their identity? What role did religion play in the Arab Spring? What does the future relationship between religion and politics look like? The main issue this chapter addresses is whether the contexts that in?uence the formation of religious ?gures and ordinary people in the Arab region provide incentives that positively and effectively contribute to human development. The increasing voices in the media and from well-established religious institutions such as al-Azhar or al-Zeitouna demanding renewal of religious discourse confirm the basic premise of this chapter.Less
Given the importance of religion in social interaction and identity formation in the Middle East as whole, this chapter explores several questions in the area of Arab religious devotion and religious discourse. How does religion contribute to building and shaping society? To what extent does the role of religion re?ect theory and history? How are clerics trained, and what challenges do they face? To what extent does religion express identity? What mechanisms have Muslim communities developed to preserve their identity? What role did religion play in the Arab Spring? What does the future relationship between religion and politics look like? The main issue this chapter addresses is whether the contexts that in?uence the formation of religious ?gures and ordinary people in the Arab region provide incentives that positively and effectively contribute to human development. The increasing voices in the media and from well-established religious institutions such as al-Azhar or al-Zeitouna demanding renewal of religious discourse confirm the basic premise of this chapter.
Gregory Starrett
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520209268
- eISBN:
- 9780520919303
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520209268.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This chapter introduces Egyptian religious culture, focusing on one aspect of this culture, namely the use of a modern public-school system to teach children about Islam and introduce them to God's ...
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This chapter introduces Egyptian religious culture, focusing on one aspect of this culture, namely the use of a modern public-school system to teach children about Islam and introduce them to God's official public persona. It argues that the increasing control of religious discourse in Egyptian public life since the 1970s is a basic result of Egypt's institutional transformation instead of an accidental by-product of its present political and economic difficulties. The chapter studies the anthropology of Islam and the relevance of social reproduction and cultural production to understanding broader anthropological questions, also looking at the history and typology of religion/secularism and tradition/modernity.Less
This chapter introduces Egyptian religious culture, focusing on one aspect of this culture, namely the use of a modern public-school system to teach children about Islam and introduce them to God's official public persona. It argues that the increasing control of religious discourse in Egyptian public life since the 1970s is a basic result of Egypt's institutional transformation instead of an accidental by-product of its present political and economic difficulties. The chapter studies the anthropology of Islam and the relevance of social reproduction and cultural production to understanding broader anthropological questions, also looking at the history and typology of religion/secularism and tradition/modernity.
Michael Gaddis
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520241046
- eISBN:
- 9780520930902
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520241046.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Focusing on the fourth and fifth centuries, this book tries to investigate what religious violence meant to those involved, both actors and victims, how it was experienced, represented, justified, or ...
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Focusing on the fourth and fifth centuries, this book tries to investigate what religious violence meant to those involved, both actors and victims, how it was experienced, represented, justified, or contested. It devotes great attention to the representation of violence, and argues that discourse about violence affected the ways in which violence could be used in practice. It highlights the significance of considering emotions and attitudes, reactions as well as actions. It provides a brief discussion of existing scholarship on late antique violence. Additionally, it examines the representations of violence as a clue to how such acts were received and understood within the moral framework of late antique observers both supportive and hostile. Furthermore, it evaluates the ways in which religious discourses created a variety of new constraints on the state's ability to make effective use of its violent power. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is presented.Less
Focusing on the fourth and fifth centuries, this book tries to investigate what religious violence meant to those involved, both actors and victims, how it was experienced, represented, justified, or contested. It devotes great attention to the representation of violence, and argues that discourse about violence affected the ways in which violence could be used in practice. It highlights the significance of considering emotions and attitudes, reactions as well as actions. It provides a brief discussion of existing scholarship on late antique violence. Additionally, it examines the representations of violence as a clue to how such acts were received and understood within the moral framework of late antique observers both supportive and hostile. Furthermore, it evaluates the ways in which religious discourses created a variety of new constraints on the state's ability to make effective use of its violent power. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is presented.
Kerwin Lee Klein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268814
- eISBN:
- 9780520948297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268814.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter discusses the emergence of new uses for an old word, memory. It notes that during the 1980s and 1990s, a term abandoned by the mid-century academy returned as a keyword for history and ...
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This chapter discusses the emergence of new uses for an old word, memory. It notes that during the 1980s and 1990s, a term abandoned by the mid-century academy returned as a keyword for history and theory. It explains that many of the justifications for the new usage turned upon the term's utility for articulation the experience or subject positions of minority and colonized peoples in a traumatic, postmodern age. It argues that memory carries with it a host of associated words drawn from predominantly religious discourses that could resonate in mysterious and possibly dangerous ways.Less
This chapter discusses the emergence of new uses for an old word, memory. It notes that during the 1980s and 1990s, a term abandoned by the mid-century academy returned as a keyword for history and theory. It explains that many of the justifications for the new usage turned upon the term's utility for articulation the experience or subject positions of minority and colonized peoples in a traumatic, postmodern age. It argues that memory carries with it a host of associated words drawn from predominantly religious discourses that could resonate in mysterious and possibly dangerous ways.
Ewa D. Zakrzewska
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9789774167775
- eISBN:
- 9781617978203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774167775.003.0021
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter examines the function of the Acts of the Martyrs preserved in Bohairic, which played a very influential role in the life of the Church at times, despite their historical inaccuracies. It ...
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This chapter examines the function of the Acts of the Martyrs preserved in Bohairic, which played a very influential role in the life of the Church at times, despite their historical inaccuracies. It takes a closer look at the social practices in which these texts functioned and interprets them as manifestations of religious discourse, where the term “discourse” is used in a broad sense to refer to human linguistic behavior appropriate in given social circumstances regardless of the mode (oral or written). It suggests that that the Acts of the Martyrs, which were intended to be read aloud during the liturgical commemoration of a martyr, were essentially persuasive texts: their main function was to influence the attitudes and behavior of their intended audience. The purpose of the present analysis is to reconstruct the strategies by which the realization of this persuasive aim was made possible.Less
This chapter examines the function of the Acts of the Martyrs preserved in Bohairic, which played a very influential role in the life of the Church at times, despite their historical inaccuracies. It takes a closer look at the social practices in which these texts functioned and interprets them as manifestations of religious discourse, where the term “discourse” is used in a broad sense to refer to human linguistic behavior appropriate in given social circumstances regardless of the mode (oral or written). It suggests that that the Acts of the Martyrs, which were intended to be read aloud during the liturgical commemoration of a martyr, were essentially persuasive texts: their main function was to influence the attitudes and behavior of their intended audience. The purpose of the present analysis is to reconstruct the strategies by which the realization of this persuasive aim was made possible.
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300207125
- eISBN:
- 9780300231458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300207125.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter deals with text in the project of the Islamic left. It begins by defining two approaches for dealing with and interpreting texts. It then presents an interpretation of the Islamist ...
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This chapter deals with text in the project of the Islamic left. It begins by defining two approaches for dealing with and interpreting texts. It then presents an interpretation of the Islamist left's project as it appears in the writings of Hassan Hanafi in general and in his encyclopedic work From Doctrine to Revolution in particular. Since the Islamist left offers a reading of Islam that is different from that of the religious right and has a lively perspective on the intellectual heritage in Islam, the discussion in the chapter naturally focuses on the strategies used in that reading and the legitimacy of its interpretation.Less
This chapter deals with text in the project of the Islamic left. It begins by defining two approaches for dealing with and interpreting texts. It then presents an interpretation of the Islamist left's project as it appears in the writings of Hassan Hanafi in general and in his encyclopedic work From Doctrine to Revolution in particular. Since the Islamist left offers a reading of Islam that is different from that of the religious right and has a lively perspective on the intellectual heritage in Islam, the discussion in the chapter naturally focuses on the strategies used in that reading and the legitimacy of its interpretation.
Katherine Steele Brokaw
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501703140
- eISBN:
- 9781501705915
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501703140.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This book reveals how the relationship between drama, music, and religious change across England’s long sixteenth century moved religious discourse to more moderate positions. It did so by ...
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This book reveals how the relationship between drama, music, and religious change across England’s long sixteenth century moved religious discourse to more moderate positions. It did so by reproducing the complex personal attachments, nostalgic overtones, and bodily effects that allow performed music to evoke the feeling, if not always the reality, of social harmony. The book demonstrates how theatrical music from the late fifteenth to the early seventeenth centuries contributed to contemporary discourses on the power and morality of music and its proper role in religious life, shaping the changes made to church music as well as people’s reception of those changes. In representing social, affective, and religious life in all its intricacy, and in unifying auditors in shared acoustic experiences, staged musical moments suggested the value of complexity, resolution, and compromise rather than oversimplified, absolutist binaries worth killing or dying for. The theater represented the music of the church’s present and past. By bringing medieval and early Tudor drama into conversation with Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, the book uncovers connections and continuities across diverse dramatic forms and demonstrates the staying power of musical performance traditions. In analyzing musical practices and discourses, theological debates, devotional practices, and early staging conditions, the book offers new readings of well-known plays well as Tudor dramas.Less
This book reveals how the relationship between drama, music, and religious change across England’s long sixteenth century moved religious discourse to more moderate positions. It did so by reproducing the complex personal attachments, nostalgic overtones, and bodily effects that allow performed music to evoke the feeling, if not always the reality, of social harmony. The book demonstrates how theatrical music from the late fifteenth to the early seventeenth centuries contributed to contemporary discourses on the power and morality of music and its proper role in religious life, shaping the changes made to church music as well as people’s reception of those changes. In representing social, affective, and religious life in all its intricacy, and in unifying auditors in shared acoustic experiences, staged musical moments suggested the value of complexity, resolution, and compromise rather than oversimplified, absolutist binaries worth killing or dying for. The theater represented the music of the church’s present and past. By bringing medieval and early Tudor drama into conversation with Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, the book uncovers connections and continuities across diverse dramatic forms and demonstrates the staying power of musical performance traditions. In analyzing musical practices and discourses, theological debates, devotional practices, and early staging conditions, the book offers new readings of well-known plays well as Tudor dramas.
Grace Yukich
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199988662
- eISBN:
- 9780199346318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199988662.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter 5 highlights the differences between early New Sanctuary activists and the activists they increasingly needed to recruit for their specialized knowledge of either immigration politics or ...
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Chapter 5 highlights the differences between early New Sanctuary activists and the activists they increasingly needed to recruit for their specialized knowledge of either immigration politics or religious institutions. Activists’ discourses on religion and politics revealed that early New Sanctuary activists, mostly clergy and experienced religious activists, tended to speak of religion and politics as integrated phenomena, suggesting that any changes in either of them must be sought in conjunction with each other. Newer recruits were more likely to talk of religion and politics as distinct, primarily interested in and knowledgeable about either religious or political change. To maintain commitment to multiple targets as they grow, multi-target social movements need to recruit a delicate balance of actors with direct experience with and investment in each of its targeted institutions. In New Sanctuary, this translated into the need for a diverse group of immigrants and religious people.Less
Chapter 5 highlights the differences between early New Sanctuary activists and the activists they increasingly needed to recruit for their specialized knowledge of either immigration politics or religious institutions. Activists’ discourses on religion and politics revealed that early New Sanctuary activists, mostly clergy and experienced religious activists, tended to speak of religion and politics as integrated phenomena, suggesting that any changes in either of them must be sought in conjunction with each other. Newer recruits were more likely to talk of religion and politics as distinct, primarily interested in and knowledgeable about either religious or political change. To maintain commitment to multiple targets as they grow, multi-target social movements need to recruit a delicate balance of actors with direct experience with and investment in each of its targeted institutions. In New Sanctuary, this translated into the need for a diverse group of immigrants and religious people.
William H. Lawson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496816351
- eISBN:
- 9781496816399
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496816351.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Political History
Chapter Five finds the Freedom Vote in full swing and analyzes the final week of the campaign. Rather than analyzing isolated texts, this chapter critically examines entire rallies. Three major ...
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Chapter Five finds the Freedom Vote in full swing and analyzes the final week of the campaign. Rather than analyzing isolated texts, this chapter critically examines entire rallies. Three major rallies from the last four days of the campaign resemble a series of evangelistic revivals rather than strictly political events.Less
Chapter Five finds the Freedom Vote in full swing and analyzes the final week of the campaign. Rather than analyzing isolated texts, this chapter critically examines entire rallies. Three major rallies from the last four days of the campaign resemble a series of evangelistic revivals rather than strictly political events.
Narendra Subramanian
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804788786
- eISBN:
- 9780804790901
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804788786.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter discusses the laws governing India's two largest religious minorities, Muslims and Christians. Policy makers retained distinct minority laws to accommodate minorities, but their limited ...
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This chapter discusses the laws governing India's two largest religious minorities, Muslims and Christians. Policy makers retained distinct minority laws to accommodate minorities, but their limited engagement with minority initiatives and traditions and their stereotypes about Muslims being backward led them not to change minority laws after independence, even though support for personal-law reform was comparable among Muslims and Hindus. The growth of minority reformist mobilization and the engagement of more Hindu activists and policymakers with such initiatives enabled changes in minority law starting in the 1970s. Notably, alimony was required and unilateral male repudiation restricted among Muslims, and divorce rights increased for Christians and Parsis. Hindu-centered policy visions still limited the accommodation of demands to reform minority law (such as granting adoption rights to Christians), dissuaded legislation to increase Muslim women's rights (for example, to agricultural land), and kept Muslim law most distinctive.Less
This chapter discusses the laws governing India's two largest religious minorities, Muslims and Christians. Policy makers retained distinct minority laws to accommodate minorities, but their limited engagement with minority initiatives and traditions and their stereotypes about Muslims being backward led them not to change minority laws after independence, even though support for personal-law reform was comparable among Muslims and Hindus. The growth of minority reformist mobilization and the engagement of more Hindu activists and policymakers with such initiatives enabled changes in minority law starting in the 1970s. Notably, alimony was required and unilateral male repudiation restricted among Muslims, and divorce rights increased for Christians and Parsis. Hindu-centered policy visions still limited the accommodation of demands to reform minority law (such as granting adoption rights to Christians), dissuaded legislation to increase Muslim women's rights (for example, to agricultural land), and kept Muslim law most distinctive.
