Nation and Religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia

(Paperback)

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This collection of essays on nationalism and religion in Europe and Asia challenges the prevailing view that Western modernism favours secularism and relegates religion to the purely private realm. It argues that religion and politics are mixed together in vital and complex ways in both East and West. The book focuses on four societies: India, Japan, Britain and the Netherlands. It argues that religion and nationalism in these societies combined to produce such notions as imperialism, the possibility of national revival, and political leadership as a form of salvation. The text also examines the qualities of religious discourse and practice that can be used for nationalist purposes, paying special attention to how religion can help to give meaning to sacrifice in national struggle.

Reviews

"Nation and Religion urges us to rethink the received historical interpretation that associates the onset of western modernity with the separation of the private world of religion from the public domain of politics."Gyan Prakash, Princeton University
"Van der Veer and Lehmann have collected eminent scholars to focus on the manifold connections between religion and nationalism. . . . There are keen scholarly insights here that will appeal to a wide readership."Prasenjit Duara, University of Chicago

Author Bio

Peter van der Veer is Professor of Comparative Religion and Director of the Research Center for Religion and Society at the University of Amsterdam. Hartmut Lehmann is Director of the Max Planck Institute for History in Gttingen.