Search results

This paper examines the role religion plays in Machiavelli's political theory. The Prince was groundbreaking for its subordination of religious doctrine to political considerations, paving the way for a new intellectual force: realism.

An era has ended. The political expression that most galvanized evangelicals during the past quarter-century, the Religious Right, is fading. What's ahead is unclear. Millions of faith-based voters still exist, and they continue to care deeply about hot-button issues like abortion and gay marriage, but the shape of their future political engagement remains to be formed. Into this uncertainty, former White House insiders Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner seek to call evangelicals toward a new kind of political engagement -- a kind that is better both for the church and the country, a kind that cannot be co-opted by either political party, a kind that avoids the historic mistakes of both the Religious Left and the Religious Right. Incisive, bold, and marked equally by pragmatism and idealism, Gerson and Wehner's new book has the potential to chart a new political future not just for values voters, but for the nation as a whole

Introduction -- Studying anti-gender mobilizations: structural opportunities or contextual entanglements? -- Italy as a paradigmatic case study -- Make Catholics contentious again -- The Manif pour tous operation: a turning point -- The political collocation of anti-gender mobilization -- The political instrumentation of religion -- Conclusion.

Artist Halgurd A. Baram reflects on two of his own works of art, "Iraqi Flag" and "Militarizing the Word of God," which were presented in the show Catalyst and which sought to explore and expose the cultural and political meanings embedded in the iconic aspects of Islamic calligraphy and its relationship to Arabic language. Baram's exploration goes beyond a simple understanding of the Arabic alphabet as being essential to calligraphy and linked to religious notions in order to uncover the other meanings that are brought to the Arabic language in its written form. This essay goes on to explore how the Arabic language has become intimately affiliated with Islam as a religion, to the extent that they are an inseparable unity, and how this relationship potentially impacts national identity, particularly for non-Arab Muslims.

Abstract. The paper will examine the dramatic rise of the right-wing Hindu organisations in India, especially since the 1990s. Most prominent among these organisations are RSS, BJP, VHP, Bajang Dal and Shiv Sena. However, they all work together under the philosophy of Hindutva (i.e. Hindu-ness) and are rabidly anti-minority in their stance. They appear to need an 'enemy' in the form of a religious minority to unite Hindus and consolidate their support. This study is important because RSS is too politically significant to be ignored. Since the BJP (BhartiyaJanta Party) came to power in May 2014, its ministers and senior party leaders have been coming out in support of Hindutva. Attacks against Muslims have risen sharply. Cultural issues such as cow slaughter and the building of the Ram temple at Ayodhya have been raised again by the RSS as a means of dividing communities and keeping Muslims in a state of constant fear and insecurity. This study argues that the failure of India's economic development to remove socio-economic constraints leading to slow and uneven development has intensified rivalry between castes and religious communities. Under such conditions, it became possible for extremist Hindu organisations to target people on the basis of religion.Keywords. India, Hindus, Muslims, RSS, BJP, Hindutva, Communalism, and Violence.JEL. N30, N35, N40.