When Politics are Sacralized: Comparative Perspectives on Religious Claims and Nationalism

Description

Over the years, there have been increasing intersections between religious claims and nationalism and their power to frame and govern world politics. When Politics Are Sacralized interdisciplinarily and comparatively examines the fusion between religious claims and nationalism and studies its political manifestations. State and world politics, when determined or framed by nationalism fused with religious claims, can provoke protracted conflict, infuse explicit religious beliefs into politics, and legitimize violence against racialized groups. This volume investigates how, through hegemonic nationalism, states invoke religious claims in domestic and international politics, sacralizing the political. Studying Israel, India, the Palestinian National Movement and Hamas, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Iran, and Northern Ireland, the thirteen chapters engage with the visibility, performativity, role, and political legitimation of religion and nationalism. The authors analyze how and why sacralization affects political behaviors apparent in national and international politics, produces state-sponsored violence, and shapes conflict. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables List of Contributors Preface and Acknowledgments 1 A Comparative Perspective on Religious Claims and Sacralized Politics: An Introduction Part I Israel 2 Religion and Nationalism in the Jewish and Zionist Context 3 Religious Claims and Nationalism in Zionism: Obscuring Settler Colonialism 4 On the Uses and Abuses of Tradition: Zionist Theopolitics and Jewish Tradition 5 The Relations between the Nationalization of Israel’s Politics and the Religionization of Its Military, 1948–2016 6 Sacralized Politics: The Case of Occupied East Jerusalem Part II India 7 Hindutva: The Dominant Face of Religious Nationalism in India Part III Sri Lanka 8 The Genesis, Consolidation, and Consequences of Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism Part IV Serbia 9 Serbian Jerusalem: Inventing a Holy Land in Europe’s Periphery, 1982–2019 Part V Iran 10 The Crossing Paths of Religion and Nationalism in Contemporary Iran Part VI Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism 11 Saudi Nationalism, Wahhabi Daʿwā, and Western Power Part VII Northern Ireland 12 Protestantism and Settler Identity: The Ambiguous Case of Northern Ireland 13 Does Religion Still Matter?: Comparative Lessons from the Ethno-national Conflict in Northern Ireland Part VIII Palestine 14 Palestinian Nationalism, Religious (Un)claims, and the Struggle against Zionism Index