Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization - Softcover

Brekke, Torkel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521149797 ISBN 13: 9780521149792

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book 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 traces the rise and trajectory of fundamentalist movements, as well as their historical development from the nineteenth century to the present.

About the Author

Torkel Brekke is a Professor of the History of Religions and South Asian Studies at the University of Oslo. Before being appointed to his current position, he completed his DPhil at Oxford and served as advisor in the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. Besides his university position he works for the think tank Civita. He has written and edited several books, including Makers of Modern Indian Religion and The Ethics of War in Asian Civilizations, and his articles have appeared in numerous journals.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0521149797
• ISBN 13: 9780521149792
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304