The Politics of Secularism in International Relations

by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd

Conflicts involving religion have returned to the forefront of international relations. And yet political scientists and policymakers have continued to assume that religion has long been privatized in the West. This secularist assumption ignores the contestation surrounding the category of the "secular" in international politics. The Politics of Secularism in International Relations shows why this thinking is flawed, and provides a powerful alternative.


Elizabeth Shakman Hurd argues that secularist divisions between religion and politics are not fixed, as commonly assumed, but socially and historically constructed. Examining the philosophical and historical legacy of the secularist traditions that shape European and American approaches to global politics, she shows why this matters for contemporary international relations, and in particular for two critical the United States and Iran, and the European Union and Turkey.



The Politics of Secularism in International Relations develops a new approach to religion and international relations that challenges realist, liberal, and constructivist assumptions that religion has been excluded from politics in the West. The first book to consider secularism as a form of political authority in its own right, it describes two forms of secularism and their far-reaching global consequences.

Genres: Politics

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2007

About the author

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd is associate professor of politics at Northwestern University.

Professor Hurd teaches on the intersections of religion, law, and global politics at Northwestern University. She has a courtesy appointment in the religious studies department. Hurd directs the Buffett Faculty Research Group on Global Politics and Religion, is co-organizer of the new research project “Politics of Religion at Home and Abroad,” and directs the graduate certificate in religion and politics. She chairs the Religion & Politics section at the American Political Science Association.

(from http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/...)

Reviews

[Christopher Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks at the state of secularism in international relations. It draws upon the tension between western (Judeo-Christian and laicist) perspectives of secularism and their historical elements. The book weaves a narrative of these concepts incompatibility with non-Western perceptions of secularism and modernity. The book closes by noting that the spheres of religion and politics are not fixed concepts but rather shaped through history and cultural narratives. Overall this book provides thought-provoking arguments into how scholars view the secularism consensus and its applicability when faced with a global resurgence of religion in the political sphere.

[Osama Saadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books I read on secularism. It is eye-opening on the reality of the political order found in the world. It is a book that perceives secularism as mere social construct, and not a truth that is found but made. Essential read for carriers of da'wah around the globe.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Argues that there are informative parallels between Christian fundamentalism and Islamism, and between Islamism in Turkey and Islamism in Iran, among other points of interest at the intersection of religion and geopolitics. Unfortunately, the text is neither well-written nor convincing.