Religious fundamentalism : global, local and personal / Peter Herriot.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herriot, Peter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religious fundamentalism.

Physical Description:

325 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2009.

Summary:

Fundamentalism can be analysed from a variety of perspectives. It is a type of belief system that enables individuals to make sense of their lives and provides them with an identity. It is a social phenomenon, in which strictly religious people act according to the norms, values, and beliefs of the group to which they belong. It is a cultural product, in the sense that different cultural settings result in different forms of fundamentalism. And it is a global phenomenon, in the obvious sense that it is to be found everywhere, and because it is both a reaction against, and also a part of, the globalising modern world.

Religious Fundamentalism deals with all of these four levels of analysis, uniquely combining sociological and psychological perspectives, and relating them to each other. Each chapter is followed by an in-depth case study, and these range from a close textual analysis of President George W. Bush's second inaugural speech through to a treatment of al-Qaida as a global media event.

This book provides a comprehensive social scientific perspective on a subject of immense contemporary significance, and should be of interest to both university students and to students of the contemporary world.

Contents:

Fundamentalism is global. case study: al-qaida: a global fundamentalist movement

Cultures and fundamentalisms. case study: civil and fundamentalist religion in Bush's America

Fundamentalisms as social movements. case study: Gush Emunim: a nationalist fundamentalist movement

Fundamentalist organisations. case study: the home school movement and its organisations

Groups of fundamentalists. case study: Islamic terrorist cells

A central identity. case study: Sayeed Qutb: ideologue and martyr

Fundamentalist beliefs: process and contents. case study: reconstructionism: the theology of dominion

Fundamentalist values and attitudes. case study: friends of their enemy's enemy: The Neturei Karta

Fundamentalist behaviour: its effect on them and us. case study: different perspectives: Jack Straw and the niqab

Fundamentalism is very different.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-311) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780415422086

0415422086

9780415422093

0415422094

OCLC:

176946049