Governing the Sacred: Political Toleration in Five Contested Sacred Sites

Holy sites are often at the center of intense contestation between different groups regarding a wide variety of issues, including ownership, access, usage rights, permissible religious conduct, and many others. They are often the source of intractable long-standing conflicts and extreme violence. These difficulties are exemplified by the five sites profiled in Governing the Sacred: Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming, US), Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi (Uttar-Pradesh, India), the Western Wall (Jerusalem), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem). Telling the fascinating stories of these high-profile contested sites, the authors develop and critically explore five different models of governing such sites: "non-interference," "separation and division," "preference," "status-quo," and "closure." Each model relies on different sets of considerations; central among them are trade-offs between religious liberty and social order. This novel typology aims to assist democratic governments in their attempt to secure public order and mutual toleration among opposed groups in contested sacred sites.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: Basic concepts and strategies of inquiry Chapter 2: Devils Tower National Monument/Bear Lodge (Wyoming): on non-interference at contested sacred sites Chapter 3: Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri Masjid (Uttar Pradesh): 'separation and division' at contested sacred sites Chapter 4: The Western Wall: State Preference at Contested Sacred Sites Chapter 5: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem): status quo and closure at contested sacred sites Conclusion: Political toleration in contested sacred sites

About the Author :
Yuval Jobani,Senior Lecturer, Tel- Aviv University; Nahshon Perez, Senior Lecturer, Bar- Ilan University Yuval Jobani is a senior lecturer of Jewish Philosophy and Education at Tel Aviv University. His research interests include the variety of Jewish secularisms, religion and the public sphere as well as religion and education in contemporary society. He is the author of The Role of Contradictions in Spinoza's Philosophy: The God Intoxicated Heretic. Nahshon Perez is a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. His fields of research include toleration, pluralism, religion-state relations, and the rectification of past wrongs. He is the author of Freedom from Past Injustices: A Critical Evaluation of Claims for Inter-Generational Reparations. Yuval Jobani and Nahshon Perez previous co-authored book Women of the Wall: Navigating Religion in Sacred Sites was also published by Oxford University Press (2017).

Review :
"This book is a valuable and well-researched survey of the ways in which governance is applied in contested sacred sites. It aims to fill a gap in the available literature ... The extensive bibliography will be useful for those who wish to research in the area of governance and religions. It is worth celebrating that this helpful and positive book is published at a time when the Middle East needs fresh impetus towards conflict resolution at all levels." -- Alan John Amos, Theology "an enviable repertoire of arguments and authors which permeates the pages of this book, the substantial fruits of collaboration between a political scientist (Perez) and a philosopher (Jobani). In its clear organization, sharp conceptualization, and humble conclusions it is a model not only of an exceptional contribution to the literature on religion and international relations, but of social science generally" -- Robert J. Joustra, Review of Faith and International Affairs "Yuval Jobani and Nahshson Perez have blended politics and careful historical-sociological analysis to provide different models of state religion relations and modes of toleration at holy sites that are contested. Their analysis is not only elegant, convincing, and textured, but it shows that we cannot understand what is going on at contentious sites with one overarching theoretical framework. We need in-depth, thick descriptions and comparative analyses of what actors want, how states perceive their needs, and what is possible on the ground. Governing the Sacred will persist. It is excellent political science and it has significant policy implications. It needs to be read widely." -- Karen Barkey, Haas Distinguished Chair of Religious Diversity, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley "Jobani and Perez have written a wonderful book about how sacred sites should be treated in a liberal society. With insights from an unusually broad spectrum of fields-including philosophy, political theory, economics, history, sociology, and religious studies- and using five paradigm cases (and others), they weave together a bottom-up, contextualist theory that can help us better discuss contested sacred sites. In doing so, they remind us just how far from settled is the ideal church-state relationship in liberal thought and provide a much needed example of how to move from theoretical work to practical political thinking." -- Andrew J. Cohen, Professor of Philosophy, Georgia State University; author of Toleration and Freedom from Harm: Liberalism Reconceived "Governing the Sacred is a novel contribution to the understanding of holy places world-wide. It is extraordinarily original in its comparative analysis, historically complete in its descriptions of the past regulations, and, most importantly, frankly honest in its discussion of the virtues and vices of the competing models used worldwide. This book ought to change the way many different people-academics and faith-practitioners alike-understand how to regulate sacred space." -- Michael Broyde, Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law; senior fellow and projects director at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University