Revisiting Secularism in Theory and Practice: Genealogy and Cases

This book offers a philosophical and macro-historical analysis of secularism, supported by an investigation of various contemporary cases. Starting with an in-depth theoretical discussion of the meaning of secularism, it subsequently presents a historical study on the secularization of norms and identities in Europe. The respective case studies cover topics such as the epistemologies of secularism, liberalization and embedded secularism, the relationship between modernity and secularism, the socio-anthropology of secularism, Turkish modernization as a cultural revolution, the political economy of secularism in Turkey, and the secular rationale of the EU neighborhood policy.

Table of Contents:
Confluence of Politics an Religion: An Introduction.- Civilization as Secularization: The Transformation of European Identities.- On Multiple Epistemologies of Secularism: Towards a Political Economy Critique.- The Westernization of a Western Country. Between Liberalization and the Continuity of Corporate Models: Économie Politique, Secularism and the Organisation of Industry.- The Modern Is Not Secular: Mapping the Idea of Secularism in the Works of Steve Bruce, Charles Taylor and Talal Asad.- The Socio-Anthropology of Secularism: From Genealogy to the Multiple Manifestations of the Secular.- Understanding Turkish Modernization in the Midst of Conjectural Changes in Ethics and Politics.- The Political Economy of Secularism in Turkey: Beyond Culturalist and Ideational Explanations.- Does Religion Matter? In Search of a Secular Rationale of the EU Neighborhood Policy: Cases of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan.- Concluding Remarks.

About the Author :
Seda Ünsar received her BA degree in International Relations from Koc University, Istanbul, and her MA degree from Claremont Graduate University and the University of Southern California, USA. She completed her PhD with Distinction at the University of Southern California in 2008. She subsequently taught at the London School of Economics as a visiting fellow (2008-2009), and at the European University Institute as a Max Weber postdoctoral fellow (2009-2010). She has also taught at Bogazici University and the University of Southern California, and served as a Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Yeditepe University. Her research interests range from institutional theory, the political economy of Ottoman institutional modernization and secularism, and the political economy of neoliberalism, to Western political thought, Islamic political thought, and the Middle East. Özgür Ünal Eriş holds a BA in PoliticalScience and International Relations from İstanbul Boğaziçi University, as well as an MA (in European Studies) from the University of Exeter, UK and PhD (in Government) from the University of Essex, UK. She is mostly specialised in European Union affairs and has conducted research in Berlin and Prague with funding from the DAAD, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and European Commission. Her course Freedom, Security and Justice was chosen as a Jean Monnet module between 2012-2015, during which time she used funding from the European Commission to organise workshops, panels and public lectures to raise awareness on issues concerning refugees, migration and terrorism. Her publications and research interests focus on new security threats, energy security and illegal migration, but she also teaches intensively on broad subjects such as Theories of European Integration, Institutions of the European Union, History and Politics of the European Union and Turkey-EU Relations. Since 2015 she hasbeen an associate professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Istanbul 29 Mayıs University, but she also gives lectures at several other universities as a part-time professor.