Handbook of Religion and the Asian City : Aspiration and Urbanization in the Twenty-First Century

__Handbook of Religion and the Asian City__ highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities—in short, that public religion is politics. The essays in this book show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Questioning the limits of cities like Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai, the authors assert that Asian cities have to be understood not as global models of futuristic city planning but as larger landscapes of spatial imagination that have specific cultural and political trajectories. Religion plays a central role in the politics of heritage that is emerging from the debris of modernist city planning. Megacities are arenas for the assertion of national and transnational aspirations as Asia confronts modernity. Cities are also sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, employment, and salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet. __Handbook of Religion and the Asian City__ makes the comparative case that one cannot study the historical patterns of urbanization in Asia without paying attention to the role of religion in urban aspirations. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction PART 1. GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY 1. In Place of Ritual: Global City, Sacred Space, and the Guanyin Temple in Singapore 2. The City and the Pagoda: Buddhist Spatial Tactics in Shanghai 3. Territorial Cults and the Urbanization of the Chinese World: A Case Study of Suzhou 4. Global and Religious: Urban Aspirations and the Governance of Religions in Metro Manila 5. The Muharram Procession of Mumbai: From Seafront to Cemetery 6. Urban Processions: Colonial Decline and Revival as Heritage in Postcolonial Hong Kong PART 2. SPACE, SPECULATION, AND RELIGION 7. Urban Megachurches and Contentious Religious Politics in Seoul 8. Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good (Trust) Deeds: Parsis, Risk, and Real Estate in Mumbai 9. The Urban Development and Heritage Contestation of Bangkok’s Chinatown 10. Dealing with the Dragon: Urban Planning in Hanoi 11. Contested Religious Space in Jakarta: Negotiating Politics, Capital, and Ethnicity 12. Urban Buddhism in the Thai Postmetropolis PART 3. RELIGIOUS PLACE MAKING IN THE CITY 13. From Village to City: Hinduism and the “Hindu Caste System” 14. The Politics of Desecularization: Christian Churches and North Korean Migrants in Seoul 15. Parallel Universes: Chinese Temple Networks in Singapore, or What Is Missing in the Singapore Model? PART 4. SELF-FASHIONING IN URBAN SPACE 16. The Flexibility of Religion: Buddhist Temples as Multiaspirational Sites in Contemporary Beijing 17. Cultivating Happiness: Psychotherapy, Spirituality, and Well-Being in a Transforming Urban China 18. Other Christians as Christian Others: Signs of New Christian Populations and the Urban Expansion of Seoul 19. Aspiring in Karachi: Breathing Life into the City of Death 20. Can Commodities Be Sacred? Material Religion in Seoul and Hanoi PART 5. MEDIA AND MATERIALITY 21. Cinema and Karachi in the 1960s: Cultural Wounds and National Cohesion 22. The Cinematic Soteriology of Bollywood 23. Media, Urban Aspirations, and Religious Mobilization among Twelver Shiʻites in Mumbai 24. Internet Hindus: Right-Wingers as New India’s Ideological Warriors List of Contributors Index Handbook of Religion and the Asian City highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities—in short, that public religion is politics. The essays in this book show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena.

Questioning the limits of cities like Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai, the authors assert that Asian cities have to be understood not as global models of futuristic city planning but as larger landscapes of spatial imagination that have specific cultural and political trajectories. Religion plays a central role in the politics of heritage that is emerging from the debris of modernist city planning.

Megacities are arenas for the assertion of national and transnational aspirations as Asia confronts modernity. Cities are also sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, employment, and salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet. Handbook of Religion and the Asian City makes the comparative case that one cannot study the historical patterns of urbanization in Asia without paying attention to the role of religion in urban aspirations. "Handbook of Religion and the Asian City highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It points out that urban politics and governance are often about religious boundaries and processions--in short, that public religion is politics. The essays show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Asian cities are sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, for employment, and for salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet. Handbook of Religion and the Asian City makes the comparative case that one cannot study the historical patterns of urbanization in Asia without paying attention to the role of religion in urban aspirations"--Résumé de l'éditeur "Handbook of Religion and the Asian City highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It points out that urban politics and governance are often about religious boundaries and processions--in short, that public religion is politics. The essays show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Asian cities are sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, for employment, and for salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet. Handbook of Religion and the Asian City makes the comparative case that one cannot study the historical patterns of urbanization in Asia without paying attention to the role of religion in urban aspirations"--Provided by publisher This handbook highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities-in short, that public religion is politics. The essays show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena