About the Book
The second edition of Understanding Fundamentalism provides a compelling and up to date picture of religious reactions against the modern secular world. Comparing Christian, Islamic, and Jewish fundamentalist movements, anthropologist Richard Antoun shows how all three share common characteristics. In each tradition, fundamentalists seek purity in an impure world, attempt to make the ancient past relevant to their contemporary situation, look to move religion out of the worship center and into every aspect of life, and actively struggle against the aspects of the modern world they regard as evil. The new edition addresses fundamentalism in the post-9/11 world, transnational religion, and the impact of religious migration on Afghanistan and Western Europe. A glossary and Antoun's readable style make the concepts readily accessible for beginning students. For classes in religious studies, anthropology, or sociology of religion, Understanding Fundamentalism brings a balanced introduction to these often-misunderstood religious activists.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Complexity of Scripturalism Chapter 3 The Past in the Present: "Traditioning", the Proof-text, and the Covenant Chapter 4 Three Strategies in the Quest for Purity Chapter 5 Activism and Totalism Chapter 6 Selective Modernization and Controlled Acculturation Chapter 7 Transnational Religion Before and After 9/11: Muslims in Western Europe and Afghanistan Chapter 8 Glossary Chapter 9 Suggestions for Further Reading
About the Author :
Richard T. Antoun was professor of anthropology at the State University of New York at Binghamton and the author of several books, including Arab Village, Low-Key Politics, and Muslim Preacher in the Modern World.
Review :
Praise for the first edition: A reflective, critical approach to the charged, often abused, but seldom understood concept of fundamentalism, Understanding Fundamentalism lives up to its title. Its broad scope encompasses Jewish, Christian and Muslim fundamentalist movements, while its fine-grained analysis clarifies scripture and myth, colonial and postcolonial history, the roles of women as well as men, illuminating the much-neglected adaptive capacity of fundamentalists. Indeed, the twin concepts of controlled acculturation and selective modernization etch the major theoretical advance of this compact study—at once original and eloquent—of those zealous Abrahamic ideologues popularly known as religious fundamentalists...
Praise for the first edition: Antoun's book is an important contribution to the knowledge of a major aspect of the modern world. It explains the religious aspects of terrorism and the mechanisms that create and nurture religious extremism. It is a useful resource for all who are involved or interested in religion, contributing a serious and balanced approach to our understanding of fundamentalism....
Praise for the first edition: This book issues from Antoun's firsthand observation of cultural change and religious reaction. A superb addition to the growing interdisciplinary canon of fundamentalism studies, the work argues for the cross-cultural application of the category and the transnational scope of the phenomenon.... Anyone seeking to understand the global phenomenon of fundamentalism will profit from this well-written book....
Praise for the first edition: The author's theoretical and conceptual approach to the topic is sound, the analysis crisp and concise, the illustrations insightfully chosen.....
Praise for the first edition: This book's strength lies in its analytical and written clarity. Antoun makes a complex subject readable and accessible and, by the end of the book, readers have a better understanding of the motives and worldview of thosewho, for example, feel moved to commit acts of violence and terrorism in religion's name. He has achieved one of anthropology's methodological goals: empathizing with fundamentalist worldviews without being sympathetic.... It is likely to be a valuable addition to the libraries of established academics, as well as of undergraduate students, and deserves to be widely read and appreciated both within and outside the academyyy
Praise for the first edition:
Antoun's book is an important contribution to the knowledge of a major aspect of the modern world. It explains the religious aspects of terrorism and the mechanisms that create and nurture religious extremism. It is a useful resource for all who are involved or interested in religion, contributing a serious and balanced approach to our understanding of fundamentalism.
Praise for the first edition:
A useful introduction to a complex and hotly debated subject. The book is clear, has an easy flowing style, and is enhanced further by a succinct conclusion and glossary of terms.
Praise for the first edition:
This book issues from Antoun's firsthand observation of cultural change and religious reaction. A superb addition to the growing interdisciplinary canon of fundamentalism studies, the work argues for the cross-cultural application of the category and the transnational scope of the phenomenon.... Anyone seeking to understand the global phenomenon of fundamentalism will profit from this well-written book.
Praise for the first edition:
The author's theoretical and conceptual approach to the topic is sound, the analysis crisp and concise, the illustrations insightfully chosen.
Praise for the first edition:
This book's strength lies in its analytical and written clarity. Antoun makes a complex subject readable and accessible and, by the end of the book, readers have a better understanding of the motives and worldview of those who, for example, feel moved to commit acts of violence and terrorism in religion's name. He has achieved one of anthropology's methodological goals: empathizing with fundamentalist worldviews without being sympathetic.... It is likely to be a valuable addition to the libraries of established academics, as well as of undergraduate students, and deserves to be widely read and appreciated both within and outside the academy
Praise for the first edition:
[Antoun's] presentation of Islamic and American Protestant reactions to modernization and reinstituting the sacred is well-nuanced and well-balanced.
Praise for the first edition:
A reflective, critical approach to the charged, often abused, but seldom understood concept of fundamentalism, Understanding Fundamentalism lives up to its title. Its broad scope encompasses Jewish, Christian and Muslim fundamentalist movements, while its fine-grained analysis clarifies scripture and myth, colonial and postcolonial history, the roles of women as well as men, illuminating the much-neglected adaptive capacity of fundamentalists. Indeed, the twin concepts of controlled acculturation and selective modernization etch the major theoretical advance of this compact study—at once original and eloquent—of those zealous Abrahamic ideologues popularly known as religious fundamentalists.
Richard Antoun outlines in accessible language central conceptual features of religious fundamentalism. His informed perspective, free from unnecessary polemicism, provides needed pathways in understanding the complexity of this new global religious phenomenon. His book is a must-read for anyone who wants to participate in the public debate about fundamentalists around the globe. I have assigned it repeatedly to my students in religious studies to set the tone and direction for the entire semester.
Richard Antoun dynamically explains the complexities of religious fundamentalism. Antoun integrates research and theory from diverse disciplines and constructs a critically insightful analysis. It is the best comprehensive treatment of the subject available, and one of the few to seriously consider the emotional hold that fundamentalism exerts on people in many different religions. In my course, the Sociology of Religion, I use a focused text for each of four substantive areas, and Antoun's Understanding Fundamentalism is easily the best in its area. Students read it willingly, and it covers all the major issues with full academic rigor and still maintains accessibility.
As the need to understand fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam grows ever more urgent, Understanding Fundamentalism provides an eminently readable, full and compelling introduction. The new chapter for this edition on the transnational aspects of fundamentalism is very relevant to a phenomenon that is now threateningly global. The unit on Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaida and violence is powerful and chilling. Antoun supports his careful and restrained analysis with a wealth of examples that often put personal faces on fundamentalism, its adherents and its complexities.
Understanding Fundamentalism provides a well-organized theoretical exploration of fundamentalism in the modern world. Scholars of fundamentalism could gain many analytical tools from the seven attributes that Antoun elucidates. A significant contribution to the contemporary discussions around fundamentalist religious groups.
[It] provides a well-organized theoretical exploration of fundamentalism in the modern world. The book provides several theoretical tools for cross cultural analysis and applies these tools through the exploration of numerous case studies around the world. Scholars of fundamentalism could gain much analytical tools from the seven attributes that Antoun elucidates.… Understanding Fundamentalism is a significant contribution to the contemporary discussions around the fundamentalist religious groups.
