Nation and Religion

This collection of essays on nationalism and religion in Europe and Asia challenges the prevailing view that Western modernism favours secularism and relegates religion to the purely private realm. It argues that religion and politics are mixed together in vital and complex ways in East and West.

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This collection of essays on nationalism and religion in Europe and Asia challenges the prevailing view that Western modernism favours secularism and relegates religion to the purely private realm. It argues that religion and politics are mixed together in vital and complex ways in both East and West. The book focuses on four societies: India, Japan, Britain and the Netherlands. It argues that religion and nationalism in these societies combined to produce such notions as imperialism, the possibility of national revival, and political leadership as a form of salvation. The text also examines the qualities of religious discourse and practice that can be used for nationalist purposes, paying special attention to how religion can help to give meaning to sacrifice in national struggle.