MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 03132cam a2200409 i 4500
001 2013039833
003 DLC
005 20141028081419.0
008 140103s2014 nju b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2013039833
020 $a9780691144900 (hbk. : alk. paper)
020 $a0691144907 (hbk. : alk. paper)
040 $aDLC$beng$erda$cDLC
042 $apcc
050 00 $aBP173.7$b.C665 2014
082 00 $a297.2/72$223
084 $aREL017000$aREL037010$aREL084000$aSOC048000$aREL070000$aREL032000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aCook, Michael,$d1940-
245 10 $aAncient religions, modern politics :$bthe Islamic case in comparative perspective /$cMichael Cook.
264 1 $aPrinceton, New Jersey :$bPrinceton University Press,$c[2014]
300 $axx, 541 pages ;$c24 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 469-515) and index.
520 $a"Why does Islam play a larger role in contemporary politics than other religions? Is there something about the Islamic heritage that makes Muslims more likely than adherents of other faiths to invoke it in their political life? If so, what is it? Ancient Religions, Modern Politics seeks to answer these questions by examining the roles of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity in modern political life, placing special emphasis on the relevance--or irrelevance--of their heritages to today's social and political concerns. Michael Cook takes an in-depth, comparative look at political identity, social values, attitudes to warfare, views about the role of religion in various cultural domains, and conceptions of the polity. In all these fields he finds that the Islamic heritage offers richer resources for those engaged in current politics than either the Hindu or the Christian heritages. He uses this finding to explain the fact that, despite the existence of Hindu and Christian counterparts to some aspects of Islamism, the phenomenon as a whole is unique in the world today. The book also shows that fundamentalism--in the sense of a determination to return to the original sources of the religion--is politically more adaptive for Muslims than it is for Hindus or Christians.A sweeping comparative analysis by one of the world's leading scholars of premodern Islam, Ancient Religions, Modern Politics sheds important light on the relationship between the foundational texts of these three great religious traditions and the politics of their followers today"--$cProvided by publisher.
650 0 $aIslam and politics.
650 0 $aChristianity and politics.
650 0 $aHinduism and politics.
650 0 $aIslamic fundamentalism$xPolitical aspects.
650 0 $aReligious fundamentalism$xPolitical aspects.
650 7 $aRELIGION / Comparative Religion.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aRELIGION / Islam / History.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aRELIGION / Religion, Politics & State.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aSOCIAL SCIENCE / Islamic Studies.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aRELIGION / Christianity / General.$2bisacsh
650 7 $aRELIGION / Hinduism / General.$2bisacsh