Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization

Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization
ISBN-10
1139504290
ISBN-13
9781139504294
Series
Fundamentalism
Category
Religion
Pages
906
Language
English
Published
2011-12-26
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Torkel Brekke

Description

This book investigates the origins of fundamentalism, outlining its characteristics and the history of key fundamentalist movements around the world, considering examples from Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. The book argues that fundamentalism develops when modern lay religious leaders challenge the authority of secular states and traditional religious establishments. These new leaders and their followers seek to infuse religious values and practices into all spheres, especially law, politics, education and science. The patterns of religious authority and leadership that characterize fundamentalism have their roots in a Christian context but were globalized through intense intercultural contacts after the mid-nineteenth century. Fundamentalism is a thoroughly modern and global phenomenon because it presupposes the globalization of ideas and practices concerning religious leadership and organization, as well as universal changes in the relationship of religion to modern societies and states.

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