A Secular Age beyond the West: Religion, Law and the State in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics)

"This book traces religion and secularity in eleven countries not shaped by Western Christianity (Japan, China, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and Morocco), and how they parallel or diverge from Charles Taylor's grand narrative of the North Atlantic world, 'A secular age' (2007). In all eleven cases, the state - enhanced by post-colonial and post-imperial legacies - highly determines religious experience, by variably regulating religious belief, practice, property, education, and/or law. Taylor's core condition of secularity - namely, legal permissibility and social acceptance of open religious unbelief (Secularity III) - is largely absent in these societies. The areas affected by state regulation, however, differ greatly. In India, Israel and most Muslim countries, questions of religious law are central to state regulation. But it is religious education and organization in China and church property and public practice in Russia that bear the brunt. This book explains these differences using the concept of 'differential burdening" (ed.) 01.0_pp_i_ii_A_Secular_Age_beyond_the_West 02.0_pp_iii_iv_Cambridge_Studies_in_Social_Theory_Religion_and_Politics 03.0_pp_v_v_A_Secular_Age_beyond_the_West_Religion_Law_and_the_State_in_Asia_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa 04.0_pp_vi_vi_Copyright_page 05.0_pp_vii_viii_Dedication 06.0_pp_ix_x_Contents 07.0_pp_xi_xi_Tables_and_Figures 08.0_pp_xii_xvi_Contributors 09.0_pp_xvii_xviii_Preface 10.0_pp_1_32_Introduction 11.0_pp_33_60_Secularity_I_Varieties_and_Dilemmas 12.0_pp_61_85_The_Origins_of_Secular_Public_Space_Religion_Education_and_Politics_in_Modern_China 13.0_pp_86_106_The_Formation_of_Secularism_in_Japan 14.0_pp_107_127_Law_Legitimacy_and_Equality_The_Bureaucratization_of_Religion_and_Conditions_of_Belief_in_Indonesia 15.0_pp_128_151_Secularity_and_Hinduisms_Imaginaries_in_India 16.0_pp_152_184_Secularity_without_Secularism_in_Pakistan_The_Politics_of_Islam_from_Sir_Syed_to_Zia 17.0_pp_185_212_Charles_Taylors_A_Secular_Age_and_Secularization_from_Below_in_Iran 18.0_pp_213_233_The_Politics_of_Jewish_Secularization_in_Israel 19.0_pp_234_264_A_Kemalist_Secular_Age_Cultural_Politics_and_Radical_Republicanism_in_Turkey 20.0_pp_265_294_Enigmatic_Variations_Russia_and_the_Three_Secularities 21.0_pp_295_316_Piety_Politics_and_Identity_Configurations_of_Secularity_in_Egypt 22.0_pp_317_341_The_Commander_of_the_Faithful_and_Moroccan_Secularity 23.0_pp_342_384_Conclusions_The_Continued_Prevalence_of_the_Marker_State 24.0_pp_385_394_Afterword_and_Corrections 25.0_pp_395_413_A_Quantitative_Take_on_the_Incidence_of_Taylors_Three_Secularities_in_the_Eleven_Country_Studies 26.0_pp_414_422_Index "This book traces religion and secularity in eleven countries not shaped by Western Christianity (Japan, China, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and Morocco), and how they parallel or diverge from Charles Taylor's narrative of the North Atlantic world, 'A secular age' (2007). In all eleven cases, the state (enhanced by post-colonial and post-imperial legacies) highly determines religious experience, by variably regulating religious belief, practice, property, education, and/or law. Taylor's core condition of secularity, namely, legal permissibility and social acceptance of open religious unbelief (Secularity III), is largely absent in these societies. The areas affected by state regulation, however, differ greatly. In India, Israel and most Muslim countries, questions of religious law are central to state regulation. But it is religious education and organization in China and church property and public practice in Russia that bear the brunt. This book explains these differences using the concept of 'differential burdening'"--Publisher's description Are societies outside the West secular? What precisely would that entail? This book examines notions of religion and secularity in eleven countries not shaped by Western Christianity and how they parallel or diverge from Charles Taylor's grand narrative of the North Atlantic world, A Secular Age (2007). Edited By Mirjam Künkler, John Madeley, Shylashri Shankar. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.