Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity

Talal Asad

Published by Stanford University Press 2003

Formations of the Secular

Christianity, Islam, Modernity

Talal Asad

In the series Cultural Memory in the Present

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804783095

Overview
Contents

About this book

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. The focus is on major historical shifts that have shaped secular sensibilities and attitudes towards Islam in the modern West and the Middle East.

Author / Editor information

Talal Asad is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of Genealogies of Religion.

Reviews

The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences:
"...Asad's brilliant study remains a defining piece of intellectual and scholarly contribution for all of those interested in exploring the religious and the secular in the modern era."

Christian Scholar's Review:
"...one of the most interesting scholars of religious writing today."

Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature:
"Formations of the Secular is also a difficult if stunningly eloquent book, a response both elusive and forthright to the many shelves of 'books on terrorism' which this country's trade publishers are rushing into print."

Religion:
"This wonderfully illuminating book should be read alongside the author's Genealogies of Religion . . ."

H-Net Reviews:
"A dark but brilliantly original work, Formations of the Secular is one of the most important books on religion and the modern in recent years."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Thinking about Secularism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
SECULAR
1 What Might an Anthropology of Secularism Look Like? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2 Thinking about Agency and Pain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
3 Reflections on Cruelty and Torture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
SECULARISM
4 Redeeming the “Human” Through Human Rights Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
5 Muslims as a “Religious Minority” in Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
6 Secularism, Nation-State, Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
SECULARIZATION
7 Reconfigurations of Law and Ethics in Colonial Egypt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257

Language: English
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 280

eBook

Published: February 3, 2003
ISBN: 9780804783095