Contemporary Democracy and the Sacred: Rights, Religion and Ideology (Political Theory and Contemporary Philosophy) - Softcover

Wittrock, Jon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1350146668 ISBN 13: 9781350146662

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020

Synopsis

Debates on the impact of religious traditions upon secular politics have raged throughout the last century and continue today. Exposing the ambiguity of secularity in political life, Jon Wittrock investigates the contemporary relevance of the scared beyond established religious communities and within wider civic society. In the context of globalization, characterized by the spread of capitalist commodification and new technologies of transportation and communication, determining the legitimacy of democratic nation-states is particularly urgent.

Questioning ontological challenges to democracy, this book confronts the public narratives, symbols and rituals of the political domain. It analyses modern scholarship on the impact of eschatological figures of thought on government and political ideologies, what hopes there are for universal rights or justice, and the "public worship" of contemporary democracies.

Bridging the analytical and continental sides of the philosophical divide, this book draws upon conceptual analysis as well as phenomenology and deconstruction. It advocates neither a left- nor a right-wing political approach, but seeks to outline what political secularization could and should mean.

About this title

About the Author

Jon Wittrock is Senior Lecturer at Södertörn University and Stockholm University, Sweden.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1350146668
• ISBN 13: 9781350146662
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192