Fundamentalisms: Threats and Ideologies in the Modern World

by Leo Zeilig

What is fundamentalism and what does it really amount to? How do uncompromising counter-cultural movements make ordinary people behave in extraordinary ways? Arguing that an adherence to scriptural literalism and biblical inerrancy is at root a reaction to modernism, these are among the key questions with which this timely book grapples. But it goes further. Other studies have concentrated above all on Christian and Islamic fundamentalism. This volume, while exploring the origins and articulations of the fundamentalist mindset, addresses the subject from the comparative perspective of different religions, including Judaism and Hinduism. It is innovative in yet another respect. Contending that notions of certainty and infallibility are not just a religious phenomenon, the book argues that fundamentalism can be detected also in science when scientists use scientific authority to pronounce on areas outside their competence. With contributors who include Karen Armstrong, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Malise Ruthven and Ed Husain, this is a bold and incisive assessment of a crucial yet often oversimplified topic

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2015

About the author

Leo Zeilig is a researcher and writer of books on African politics and history. His books include a biography of Patrice Lumumba, Africa's Lost Leader (Haus Books, 2008) and a history of social movements on the continent, Revolt and Protest (I. B. Tauris, 2012). His most recent non-fiction book is a biography of Frantz Fanon, Philosopher of Third World Liberation (I.B Tauris, 2016). Leo is currently working on a study of Thomas Sankara. Eddie the Kid is his first novel and his second, An Ounce of Practice. has just been published by HopeRoad.