This book shows religion and politics to be a key connecting link between European and global affairs. Debates on religion and politics have often focused on contrasts between Europe and other parts of the world, because modernity and secularism seem to go together in Europe. But if European modernity represents an exit from religion, this historical process and its implications have not yet been fully understood. This volume discusses both the growing Islamic presence in Europe - a reminder that religious pluralism still remains - and Christian-motivated extremism and religious nationalism. Against this background, the contributors combine theoretical and empirical research to explore the role of religion in non-European countries including China, Japan, Russia and the MENA region.
1 Introduction; Johann P. Arnason and Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski; 2 The religio-political nexus: historical and comparative reflections; Johann P. Arnason; 3 Politics and religion in a Global Age; Jeffrey Haynes; 4 Comparative secularisms and the politics of modernity; Elizabeth Hurd and Linnell Cady; 5 Europe in the global rise of religious nationalism; Mark Juergensmeyer; 6 European civil religion in the making?; Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski; 7 Democracy, secularism and Islam in Turkey; Ayhan Kaya; 8 Orthodox religion and politics in post-Soviet Russia; Mikhail Maslovskiy and Nikita Shangin; 9 Religion and politics, church and state in Chinese history; John Lagerwey; 10 Religion and the state in contemporary Japan; Elisabetta Porcu; 11 Arab revolutions and political Islam: a structural approach; Karel Cerny; 12 Beyond post-secularism: religion in political analysis (review article); Michal Matlak; Notes on the contributors; Index.
