Formations of the Secular

Christianity, Islam, Modernity

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Reference, Comparative Religion
Cover of the book Formations of the Secular by Talal Asad, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Talal Asad ISBN: 9780804783095
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: February 3, 2003
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Talal Asad
ISBN: 9780804783095
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: February 3, 2003
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

Opening with the provocative query “what might an anthropology of the secular look like?” this book explores the concepts, practices, and political formations of secularism, with emphasis on the major historical shifts that have shaped secular sensibilities and attitudes in the modern West and the Middle East. Talal Asad proceeds to dismantle commonly held assumptions about the secular and the terrain it allegedly covers. He argues that while anthropologists have oriented themselves to the study of the “strangeness of the non-European world” and to what are seen as non-rational dimensions of social life (things like myth, taboo, and religion),the modern and the secular have not been adequately examined. The conclusion is that the secular cannot be viewed as a successor to religion, or be seen as on the side of the rational. It is a category with a multi-layered history, related to major premises of modernity, democracy, and the concept of human rights. This book will appeal to anthropologists, historians, religious studies scholars, as well as scholars working on modernity.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Opening with the provocative query “what might an anthropology of the secular look like?” this book explores the concepts, practices, and political formations of secularism, with emphasis on the major historical shifts that have shaped secular sensibilities and attitudes in the modern West and the Middle East. Talal Asad proceeds to dismantle commonly held assumptions about the secular and the terrain it allegedly covers. He argues that while anthropologists have oriented themselves to the study of the “strangeness of the non-European world” and to what are seen as non-rational dimensions of social life (things like myth, taboo, and religion),the modern and the secular have not been adequately examined. The conclusion is that the secular cannot be viewed as a successor to religion, or be seen as on the side of the rational. It is a category with a multi-layered history, related to major premises of modernity, democracy, and the concept of human rights. This book will appeal to anthropologists, historians, religious studies scholars, as well as scholars working on modernity.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book State and Agents in China by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Genocide in the Carpathians by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Privacy in Context by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Race and Upward Mobility by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Worlds Within by Talal Asad
Cover of the book The Kingdom and the Glory by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Squandered Opportunity by Talal Asad
Cover of the book How India Became Territorial by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Brothers Apart by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Copy, Archive, Signature by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Live and Die Like a Man by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Blinded by Sight by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Georges Bataille by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Building the Responsible Enterprise by Talal Asad
Cover of the book Having It All in the Belle Epoque by Talal Asad
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy