Working in four scholarly teams focused on different global regions—North America, the European Union, the Middle East, and China—the contributors to Religion, Secularism, and Political Belonging examine how new political worlds intersect with locally specific articulations of religion and secularism. The chapters address many topics, including the changing relationship between Islam and politics in Tunisia after the 2010 revolution, the influence of religion on the sharp turn to the political right in Western Europe, understandings of Confucianism as a form of secularism, and the alliance between evangelical Christians and neoliberal business elites in the United States since the 1970s. This volume also provides a methodological template for how humanities scholars around the world can collaboratively engage with sweeping issues of global significance.
Contributors. Markus Balkenhol, Elizabeth Bentley, Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, David N. Gibbs, Ori Goldberg, Marcia Klotz, Zeynep Kurtulus Korkman, Leerom Medovoi, Eva Midden, Mohanad Mustafa, Mu-chou Poo, Shaul Setter, John Vignaux Smith, Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Ernst van den Hemel, Albert Welter, Francis Ching-Wah Yip, Raef Zreik
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Translated Secularisms, Global Humanities / Leerom Medovoi and Elizabeth Bentley 1
Part I. Secularism
Keyword: Neutrality / Elizabeth Bentley 35
Keyword: Science / John Vignaux Smyth 43
1. Strict Neutrality Reconsidered: Religion and Political Belonging in the Netherlands / Pooyan Tamimi Arab 49
2. Confucian Secularism in Theoretical and Historical Perspective / Albert Welter 69
3. From Exclusive to Inclusive Secularity: Religion, State, and the Public Space in Tunisia after the Revolution / Mohanad Mustafa 85
4. Neoliberal Political Theology / Marcia Klotz and Leerom Medovoi 107
5. "Christian Atheism" on Twitter: Dutch Populism and/as Culturalized Religion / Ernst van den Hemel 125
Part II. Religion
Keyword: Nationalism / Ernst van den Hemel and Markus Balkenhol 139
Keyword: Fundamentalism / Leerom Medovoi 147
6. Religion, Politics, and Nationalism, a Case Study: The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement / Raef Zreik and Mohanad Mustafa 155
7. Trains on Time: Faith, Political Belonging, and Governability in Israel / Ori Goldberg 175
8. Making Sense by Comprehending Sensibility: A View of Chinese Religions / Mu-chou Poo 191
9. Evangelical Christianity, Big Business, and the Resurgenc of American Conservatism during the 1970s / David N. Gibbs 207
10. Among New Believers: Religion, Gender, and National Identity in the Netherlands / Eva Midden 223
Part III. Political Belonging
Keyword: Faith / Ori Goldberg 239
Keyword: Civil Religion / Mu-chou Poo 243
11. Muslim Migration, Citizenship, and Belonging in U.S. Politics of Secularism / Kambiz GhaneaBassiri 251
12. Commemorating the African Ancestors: Entanglements of Citizenship, Colonialism, and Religion in the Netherlands / Markus Balkenhol 265
13. Transsecular Incarnations: Destabilizing the (Cis)Gender Politics of Secularism / Zeynap Kurtuluş Korkman 283
14. Christianity and the Political Religion of China / Francis Ching-Wah Yip 305
15. Critical Israel: Toward a Contemporary Political Theology of the Particular / Shaul Setter 325
Contributors 343
Index 347
