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17 páginas ; This paper explores the origins of the religious/secular cleavage in Spanish modern politics. Such cleavage emerged within a broader historical process, namely the response of the Catholic Church to political secularization. 'Political Catholicism' appeared in this c ontext as a reaction against modernity and as an attempt to create a new social and political environment for the Catholic worldview. Here, this term does not merely refer to the involvement of Catholics in political activities, but to the political strategies that have consistently and steadily claimed a Catholic inspiration for their a ims and values. The paper concludes that the historical status of the Catholic Church in Spain reflects the changing cleavages of Spanish society and the corresponding weight of organized religion in it. Although Catholicism is still a prevailing cultural force in the country, it has lost much of its former clout as a political lever. Nonetheless, the organizational expertise of the Catholic Church and its mobilization vis a vis the state, combined with the inertia of its historical hegemony, have compensated for this loss of influence. This is a doubled-faced process though, since it also reveals the deep-rooted dependency of the Church on public resources and state cooperation ; European Science Foundation ; Peer reviewed

The steady centralisation that is generally held to be a characteristic feature of Australian federalism has occasioned thorough description and regular comment but much less attempt at explanation or theorisation. This paper reviews the way we account for centralisation in federal systems in general and Australian federalism in particular. In doing so, it considers institutional and societal modes of explanation in the context of patterns of difference between the leading federations. It concludes that as far as those broader patterns, or secular trends, are concerned, there is no avoiding a societal explanation — one that highlights the balance between forces of modernisation and the existence of a "federal society".

A review essay on a book by Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (The Belknap Press, 2007).

ABSTRACT.Because of their failure to distinguish enough between interpretation and creation, scholars of nationhood have tended to neglect the role of creativity in both the genesis and persistence of national communities. Giving creativity its due leads us to question the standard conception of nations, and of the states that recognise them, as secular. This, in turn, suggests that we need to interpret the significance that language has for nationalists in a new way. After showing how, the paper concludes with an argument about what this new interpretation should mean for language politics.

Argues that patriarchy is the reason that human civilization has not succumbed to fertility declines & is resurging. The implications of the relationship between patriarchy, population, and power are looked at. The characteristics of patriarchal societies are identified before looking at some of the system's pitfalls. With the fall of patriarchy, it is contended that civilization does not fail, but rather transforms. Further, societies that are the most secular & most generous with underfunded welfare states are most prone to religious revivals & reemergence of the patriarchal family.

Contends that postmodernism favors the expansion of popular religion as an ideology of mobilization & opposition in certain Third World settings. Theories on the relationship between religion & politics are discussed as background, & theses that the late 20th century has been characterized either by a resurgence of religion or by secularization are weighed against each other. It is argued that, although religion may have declined in importance in the industrialized world, various postmodern conditions (eg, socioeconomic displacement, globalization of communication, relativization of meaning) favor the replacement of secular oppositional ideologies (eg, socialism, liberal democracy) with politicized religion in many poor & developing countries. Its forms vary, but can generally be classified as either antimodern fundamentalism (eg, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, & Buddhist) or cultural/ethnic religiosity, found in difference variants in East Timor (Indonesia), Sudan, the former Yugoslavia, & Tibet. 1 Figure. E. Blackwell