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Since the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, religious fundamentalism has dominated public debate as never before. Policymakers, educators and the general public all want to know: Why do fundamentalist movements turn violent? Are fundamentalisms a global threat to human rights, security and democratic forms of government? What is the future of fundamentalism? To answer questions like these, "Strong Religion" draws on the results of the Fundamentalism Project, a decade-long interdisciplinary study of antimodernist, antisecular militant religious movements on five continents and within seven religious traditions. The authors of this study analyze the various social structures, cultural contexts and political environments in which fundamentalist movements have emerged around the world, from the Islamic Hamas and Hizbullah to the Catholic and Protestant paramilitaries of Northern Ireland, and from the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition of the United states to the Sikh radicals and Hindu nationalists of India. Offering a vividly detailed portrait of the cultures that nourish such movements, "Strong Religion" describes different modes of fundamentalism and identifies the kinds of historical events that can trigger them. For anyone who wants to understand why fundamentalist movements arise and what makes them turn violent, "Strong Religion" should be essential reading.

This study, based on an extensive program of interviewing former American, British, French, and Italian Communists, provides many answers to these questions and gives a convincing insight into the motivations, tensions, and loyalties of Party members. First, the book examines Communist literature (the Lenin and Stalin classics and current Party media) to see what the Communists themselves expect of their movement. Then it shows whether this ideal is realized by the people who have "been through it." The final sections, which follow the interviews closely, reveal what actually happens to people when they join, while they are in the Party, and after they leave. Originally published in 2050. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905

This paper is a written version of a research colloquia presented at the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Department of Politics and Society, University of California, Irvine, November 1995. Almond discusses the development of the "Civic Culture" study and his views of political culture research since this landmark study

PART 1: The Structure of Communist Communication -- The Communist Militant: Ends and Means -- The Power-oriented Tactician -- Esoteric and Exoteric Communication -- PART 2: How the Movement is Perceived and Experienced -- The Perception of Goals and Theory -- The Perception of Tactical Aspects -- Doctrine and Practice -- PART 3: Social and Psychological Characteristics -- Social Characteristics -- Political Characteristics -- Susceptibility to Communism -- Types of Neurotic Susceptibility -- PART 4: The Process of Defection -- Types and Patterns of Dissatisfaction -- Defection and Readjustment