Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- 1 Faith-Based Organizations at the United Nations -- 2 Religious Resurgence and Postsecular International Relations -- 3 Faith-Based Organizations at the United Nations: Th eory and Practice -- 4 Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights -- 5 International Development and the Millennium Development Goals -- 6 Human Rights and "Defamation of Religion" -- 7 Conclusion -- Notes -- Index

One of the most resilient ideas about societal development after World War II was that nations would inevitably secularise as they modernised. However, as we come to the end of the ''secular'' twentieth century, it is obvious that religion continues to be an important factor in politics around the world. The author examines the continuing importance of religion, focusing upon the regions of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

A unique focus on the relationship between religion and political culture in the Third World using a comparative and thematic approach. Specific issues of religion-politics interaction in the Third World in recent times include: the rise of Islamic fundamentalist groups throughout the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world; the political effects of the decline of Catholicism and the rapid growth of Protestant evangelical sects in Latin America; communal conflict between Hindu nationalist groups, and the politicisation of Buddhism in South East Asia. The common effect of such developments is to challenge existing forms of relationship between states and societies with religion used as a political resource

Examples of religion's recent political impact abound in states at varying levels of economic and political development. The paper examines the relationship between religion and politics over the last quarter century in a variety of countries; in effect, a global survey. What was new and became 'news' in the 1980s was the widespread and simultaneous refusal of the so-called 'world religions' - Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism - to restrict them selves to the private sphere. Religious organizations of various kinds seem openly to be rejecting the secular ideals dominating most national policies, appearing as champions of alternative, confessional options. In keeping faith with what they interpret as divine decree, increasingly they refuse to render to nonreligious power either material or moral tribute. They are also refusing to restrict themselves to the pastoral care of individual souls, instead raising questions about, inter alia, the interconnections of private and public morality and the claims of states and markets to be exempt from extrinsic normative considerations.

Mainuddin, Rolin G.: Religion and politics in the developing world: explosive interactions. - Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002. - 159 S. + Enthält Rezensionen von: Petito, F. ; Hatzopoulos, P.: Religion in international relations. The return from exil. - New York: Palgrave, 2003. - 286 S. + Compton, R. W. Jr.: Transforming East Asia domestic and international politics. The impact of economy and globalization. - Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002. - 204 S

Two main issues form the focus of attention in this study. The first is the relationship of senior religious figures to the state in Africa and the role of the former in the region's democratization in the 1990s. The second is the political importance of "popular" religions in Africa. The overall aim is to examine the relationship of religion and politics in Africa in the context of democratization, to: (1) establish the nature of the links between senior religious figures and state elites in Africa, (2) make some preliminary observations about the political nature of popular religions in the region, and (3) comment on the overall impact of religious actors on Africa's democratization. (Democratization - www.frankcass.com/DÜI)