Religion and Political Power

Abstract

The upheaval in contemporary world politics reveals a renewed interest in religion; similarly, the current anarchy in rehgious thought and institutions often demonstrates a not-so-subtle interest in politics. Hence, for political scientists, among others, new studies of religion and politics are always welcome. Except for two essays in this volume, all were presented in 1986 at a seminar on “Religion and Nationalism: held under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The two essays mentioned, those of Alexandre Benningsen and Stephen Feuchtwang (who did not attend the seminar) were commissioned separately. The editors of this collection are Gustavo Benavides, a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Villanova University; and M. W. Daly, an assistant professor in the Department of History at Memphis State University. The broad-ranging seminar explored the role played by religion in the emergence of the political life of modem states. From India and Sri Lanka to the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the resurgence of religious fundamentaism in the United States and its persistence in Israel, the participants discussed the many forms that the tension between religion and the modem state assumes. However, the thematic thread running through most of the discussions proved to be something more general than the state itself, although it is the state in which it is now manifested. That theme is the exercise of political power; more precisely, the exercise of political power in a context that mobilizes religious representations. This volume, then, examines the interaction between two of the most charged topics in the modem world: religion and politics. It shows the inextricable connection between religious attitudes and responsibilities and political activities. Following an introductory chapter which explores the religious articuiations of politid power, the authors examine the role played by religion in the current political situation in several countries. Approaching these cases as anthropologists, historians, sociologists, and political scientists, the authors make visible the dialectical relationship between religion and the pursuit of political power. On the one hand, they demonstrate the political significance ...