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The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism

The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism

The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism

James R. Lewis , Universitetet i Tromsø, Norway
July 2017
Available
Hardback
9781107140141

    There is currently much discussion regarding the causes of terrorist acts, as well as the connection between terrorism and religion. Terrorism is attributed either to religious 'fanaticism' or, alternately, to political and economic factors, with religion more or less dismissed as a secondary factor. The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism examines this complex relationship between religion and terrorism phenomenon through a collection of essays freshly written for this volume. Bringing varying approaches to the topic, from the theoretical to the empirical, the Companion includes an array of subjects, such as radicalization, suicide bombing, and rational choice, as well as specific case studies. The result is a richly textured collection that prompts readers to critically consider the cluster of phenomena that we have come to refer to as 'terrorism,' and terrorism's relationship with the similarly problematic set of phenomena that we call 'religion.'

    • Unlike other volumes on the subject, this book provides overviews of a series of select theories of religion and terrorism to give readers a clear sense of contrasting approaches to the issue of religion and terrorism
    • Features contrasting case studies of religion and terrorism to give readers a clear sense that neither is confined just to Muslims
    • Contributors persuasively argue against the thesis that religion can cause violence while others posit that many terrorists are religiously motivated to prompt readers to confront opposing approaches to the controversial issue of religion and terrorism

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… these essays bring diverse and provocative angles of vision to anyone who would want to investigate the complex relationships between religion and terrorism or the broader field of religion and violence.' Nova Religio

    'The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism is an excellent addition to the literature on religion and terrorism. Its theoretical sophistication alone makes it worth recommendation, but its disciplinary and methodological breadth makes it particularly impressive. It is perhaps the best existing book for an introductory course on the topic of contemporary religious violence.' Reading Religion

    ‘… this is an excellent collection … will be attractive to a general readership interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of terrorism and, especially, of the religion-terrorism nexus.’ Zhang Xinzhang, Numen: International Review for the History of Religions

    See more reviews

    Product details

    July 2017
    Hardback
    9781107140141
    278 pages
    235 × 158 × 19 mm
    0.51kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Does religion cause terrorism? Mark Juergensmeyer
    • 2. Religion, violence, nonsense, and power William T. Cavanaugh
    • 3. Discounting religion in the explanation of homegrown terrorism: a critique Lorne L. Dawson
    • 4. Religion, radicalization, and the causes of terrorism Tom Mills and David Miller
    • 5. The role of the devoted actor in war, revolution, and terrorism Scott Atran
    • 6. Girard on apocalypse and terrorism Espen Dahl
    • 7. Rational choice and religious terrorism: its bases, applications, and future directions Stephen Nemeth
    • 8. Terror as sacrificial ritual? A discussion of (neo-) Durkheimian approaches to suicide bombing Lorenz Graitl
    • 9. Imitations of terror: applying a retro style of analysis to the religion-terrorism nexus James R. Lewis
    • 10. The LTTE: a non-religious, political, martial movement for establishing the right of self-determination of Īlattamils Peter Schalk
    • 11. The role of religion in al-Qaeda's violence Pieter Nanninga
    • 12. Meanings of savagery: terror, religion, and the Islamic State Pieter Nanninga
    • 13. Where's Charlie? The discourse of religious violence in France post 7/1 2015 Per-Erik Nilsson
    • 14. Understanding the threat of the Islamic State in contemporary Kyrgyzstan Meerim Aitkulova
    • 15. Terror and the screen: keeping the relationship of good and bad virtual Christopher Hartney
    • 16. Understanding Falun Gong's martyrdom strategy as spiritual terrorism James R. Lewis and Nicole S. Ruskell.
      Contributors
    • Mark Juergensmeyer, William T. Cavanaugh, Lorne L. Dawson, Tom Mills, David Miller, Scott Atran, Espen Dahl, Stephen Nemeth, Lorenz Graitl, James R. Lewis, Peter Schalk, Pieter Nanninga, Per-Erik Nilsson, Meerim Aitkulova, Christopher Hartney, Nicole S. Ruskell

    • Editor
    • James R. Lewis

      James R. Lewis is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø, Norway. A scholar of New Religious Movements, he currently edits or co-edits three book series and is the general editor for the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review. Recent publications include Violence and New Religious Movements (2011), Sacred Suicide (2014, with Carole Cusack), Cults: A Reference and Guide (2014), The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II (2015, with Inga B. Tøllefsen), and The Invention of Satanism (2016, with Asbjørn Dyrendal and Jesper Petersen).

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