Table of Contents

Part I. Religion and Politics in the New Global Paradigm: 1. A new paradigm for world politics?; 2. A political perspective on religion and politics; 3. A religious perspective on religion and politics; 4. The religions of the book, meditative experience, and public life; Part II. Religion in Contemporary World Politics: 5. The West: Christianity, secularization, and immigration; 6. East Asia: modernization and ideology; 7. South and Central Asia: the legacies of Gandhi and Khomeini and the bomb; 8. The Middle East and North Africa: Jewish and Islamic politics; 9. Latin America: indigenous religions, Christianity, and globalization; 10. Religion and politics for the next millennium.

Promotional Information

This book explains the roles of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Maoist Marxism in politics.

About the Author

Eric O. Hanson is Patrick A. Donohoe S.J. Professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University. He studied in East Asia for five years, including graduate work at National Taiwan University, before receiving his doctorate from Stanford University. He has been a fellow at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control. He is the author of Catholic Politics in China and Korea and The Catholic Church in World Politics (Princeton University Press).

Reviews

"The horrific images of suicide bombs and subway attacks make us all aware that the power of religious politics in the 21st century cannot be ignored. This carefully reasoned book shows that it also should not be ignored. It explores how and where a religious dimension can be infused with political order throughout the world. In a comprehensive manner, it moves from region to region, exploring the diverse forms of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhism formulations of religious politics. What it shows, in a thorough and thoughtful way, is that the possibilities of religious politics are richer and more enduring than the momentary flashes of the extremists' bombs would lead us to believe." Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence