Faking Liberties : Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan / Jolyon Baraka Thomas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, Jolyon Baraka, Author.

Series:

Class 200. New studies in religion.

Chicago scholarship online.

Class 200: New Studies in Religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Freedom of religion--Japan--History--20th century.

Freedom of religion.

Japan--History--Allied occupation, 1945-1952.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (371 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Religious freedom is a founding tenet of the United States, and it has frequently been used to justify policies towards other nations. Such was the case in 1945 when Americans occupied Japan following World War II. Though the Japanese constitution had guaranteed freedom of religion since 1889, the United States declared that protection faulty, and when the occupation ended in 1952, they claimed to have successfully replaced it with "real" religious freedom. Through a fresh analysis of pre-war Japanese law, Jolyon Baraka Thomas demonstrates that the occupiers' triumphant narrative obscured salient Japanese political debates about religious freedom. Indeed, Thomas reveals that American occupiers also vehemently disagreed about the topic. By reconstructing these vibrant debates, Faking Liberties unsettles any notion of American authorship and imposition of religious freedom. Instead, Thomas shows that, during the Occupation, a dialogue about freedom of religion ensued that constructed a new global set of political norms that continue to form policies today.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Prologue: The Drums of War

Conventions

Introduction: The Universal Particularity of Religious Freedom

A Preoccupation with Religious Freedom

The Occupation of Religious Studies

Conclusion: The Bellicose Pacifism of Religious Freedom

Epilogue: Songs of Freedom

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Also issued in print: 2019.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780226618968

022661896X

OCLC:

1085349078