Does modernity make religion politically irrelevant? Conventional
scholarly and popular wisdom says that it does. The prevailing view
assumes that the onset of western modernity--characterized by the rise
of nationalism, the dominance of capitalism, and the emergence of
powerful state institutions--favors secularism and relegates religion to
the purely private realm. This collection of essays on nationalism and
religion in Europe and Asia challenges that view. Contributors show that
religion and politics are mixed together in complex and vitally
important ways not just in the East, but in the West as well.
The book focuses on four societies: India, Japan, Britain, and the
Netherlands. It shows that religion and nationalism in these societies
combined to produce such notions as the nation being chosen for a
historical task (imperialism, for example), the possibility of national
revival, and political leadership as a form of salvation. The volume
also examines the qualities of religious discourse and practice that can
be used for nationalist purposes, paying special attention to how
religion can help to give meaning to sacrifice in national struggle. The
book's comparative approach underscores that developments in colonizing
and colonized countries, too often considered separately, are subtly
interrelated.
In addition to the editors, the contributors are Benedict R. Anderson,
Talal Asad, Susan Bayly, Partha Chatterjee, Frans Groot, Harry
Harootunian, Hugh McLeod, Barbara Metcalf, and Peter van Rooden.
