Promotional Information

A highly sophisticated, original, sobering (as opposed to saber-rattling) intervention into the debate on religion and world affairs. International relations theorists have tended to reduce the study of religion to either religious organizations, sometimes understood as moralizing interest groups or as terrorist organizations, or to generic principles that are synonymous with international norms. By investigating different lived and historically shifting conceptions of the secular in different cultural contexts, Hurd provides an original path for understanding the role of religion in modern international affairs. -- Michael Barnett, University of Minnesota Elizabeth Shakman Hurd has written an incisive and imaginative book that packs a big theoretical punch. Varieties of secularisms in the plural, not secularism in the singular, define contemporary world politics. The relations between the United States and Iran and Europe and Turkey offer the author politically important grounds on which she develops her compelling argument. Among a small list of books on religion and international politics, this is a standout. -- Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University Assumptions about the secular organization of public life have sunk deeply into the structure of the academy in general and international relations theory in particular. Elizabeth Hurd excavates and challenges those assumptions; in doing so she opens the door to new developments in global theory and politics. Her comparisons between Euro-American secularism and the politics of Turkey and Iran are particularly apt. -- William E. Connolly, author of "Pluralism" This book is, first of all, provocative. Its edgy, gutsy argument takes on the very foundations of international relations theory. Second, it is persuasive, with its claims made admirably clear from the outset and defended throughout. Third, it is pertinent. Religion is rapidly becoming an important part of international relations, and the choice of case studies dealing with Islam in particular will propel this book right into the center of contemporary debates. Clearly and compellingly written, the book is, moreover, accessible to a large intellectual audience. -- Daniel Philpott, University of Notre Dame

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO: Varieties of Secularism 23 CHAPTER THREE: Secularism and Islam 46 CHAPTER FOUR: Contested Secularisms in Turkey and Iran 65 CHAPTER FIVE: The European Union and Turkey 84 CHAPTER SIX: The United States and Iran 102 CHAPTER SEVEN: Political Islam 116 CHAPTER EIGHT: Religious Resurgence 134 CHAPTER NINE: Conclusion 147 Notes 155 Select Bibliography 213 Index 237

About the Author

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd is assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University.

Reviews

Co-Winner of the 2011 Hubert Morken Award for the Best Publication in Religion and Politics, Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association "This book is a timely and sobering discussion of important theoretical, as well as practical, issues of IR theorizing and how religion relates to politics in general. It is a first-rate read and can be recommended to all scholars interested in the interplay of religion and politics."--Ragnhild Nord?s, Journal of Peace Research "Hurd has produced a timely and compelling book that will be of interest to a wide range of scholars well beyond the discipline of international relations theory."--Dianne Kirby, H-Net Reviews "Hurd's study deserves praise for its original slant on the role of secularism in international relations. Its rich and well-written discussion in both case studies will also attract academics in related areas."--Hakki Tas, Political Studies Review "[T]his is a useful and provocative work that should be read carefully. Its analysis should be applied to other contexts, because without an adequate understanding of religion--or even of our own misconceptions about religion--we will continue to mismanage our relations with states and communities shaped in part by faith identities."--John Anderson, International Affairs "There is much to like about this exhaustively researched book. Its innovative argument calls on those who study the relationship of religion to international relations to rethink how they view their subject at the most fundamental level. I would recommend it to anyone doing research in this field, especially those working on the responses of the West to political Islam."--Patrick Callahan, Journal of Politics and Religion "Elizabeth Hurd presents a valuable analysis that ... contains a wide bibliography, makes use of interdisciplinary theoretical insights, and illuminates contemporary political events."--Ali Yasar Sanbay, Turkish Journal of Islamic Studies