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23 - Religion and Nationhood

from Part III - Intersections: National(ist) Synergies and Tensions with Other Social, Economic, Political, and Cultural Categories, Identities, and Practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2023

By
Peter van der Veer
Edited by
Cathie Carmichael ,
Matthew D'Auria  and
Aviel Roshwald
Cathie Carmichael
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Matthew D'Auria
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia
Aviel Roshwald
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

The nation-state is undoubtedly the most important political formation in modern world history. It is universally recognized and aspired to, but not universally realized. The nation is never a finished project, and nationalism, which is understood here as the cultural politics that has the nation as its subject and its object, derives its energy and motivating force from perceived threats from within and without. While nationalism is a modern phenomenon, religion is often regarded as either ancient or transcending history. Before the nineteenth century, religion everywhere in the world was an integral part of statecraft. The legitimation of rulers came from heaven and was mediated by priestly and monastic classes. This is true in Christendom, but also in other major religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism.

Keywords

imperialismreligious cleansingrefugeesconversionGermanyIndiaChina
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism , pp. 503 - 522
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Further Reading

Asad, Talal, Genealogies of Religion (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilgrami, Akeel (ed.), Beyond the Secular West (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017).Google Scholar
Casanova, José, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masuzawa, Tomoko, The Invention of World Religions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paramore, Kiri, Ideology and Christianity in Japan (London: Routledge, 2009).Google Scholar
Taylor, Charles, A Secular Age (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005).Google Scholar
Terpstra, Nicholas, Religious Refugees in the Early Modern World: An Alternative History of the Reformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Veer, Peter, The Modern Spirit of Asia: The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014).Google Scholar

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