Violence and the Sacred in the Modern World: 17 (Routledge Library Editions: Sociology of Religion) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0367030861 ISBN 13: 9780367030865

Publisher: Routledge, 2019

Synopsis

How is symbolic violence related to the real acts of religious violence around the modern world? The authors of this book, first published in 1992, explore this question with reference to some of the most volatile religious and political conflicts of the day: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Sikhs in India, militant Jewish groups in Israel, and Muslim movements from the Middle East to Indonesia. In addition to providing valuable insights into these important incidents, the authors – social scientists and historians of comparative religion – are responding to the theoretical issues articulated by René Girard in Violence and the Sacred (1977). The present volume is the first book of essays to test Girard’s theories about the social significance of religious symbols of violence against real, rather than symbolic, acts. In some cases his theories are found to be applicable; in other cases, the authors provide alternative theories of their own. In a concluding essay, co-authored by Mark Anspach, Girard provides a response.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Juergensmeyer

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0367030861
• ISBN 13: 9780367030865
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 164
• Editor: Juergensmeyer Mark