New Article: THINKING ABOUT THE SECULAR BODY, PAIN, AND LIBERAL POLITICS

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Cultural Anthropology Volume 26, Issue 4, pages 657–675, November 2011

Lecture on Violence in Contemporary Culture at Temple University (2008)

On Wednesday, February 13, 2008, Dr. Talal Asad gave a timely, relevant lecture on violence in contemporary culture at Paley Library's Lecture Hall. Asad, an influential anthropologist who has impacted anthropology, history, religious. area studies and other disciplines, spoke to a standing room only crowd. To make this important event available to the widest possible audience, Temple University Libraries, the Center for Humanities and the General Education Program, sponsors of this event, are pleased to make a video recording of Asad's lecture available on Temple University’s iTunes U (link will open iTunes, you must have iTunes to view the video). If you were unable to attend the event, this is an opportunity to share in the experience.

LINK

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thanks to Bradford Garvey for the link

Forthcoming: ''Freedom of Speech and Religious Limitations''

Forthcoming article in:

Rethinking Secularism
Edited by Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer and Jonathan Van Antwerpen

This collection of essays presents groundbreaking work from an interdisciplinary group of leading theorists and scholars representing the fields of history, philosophy, political science, sociology, and anthropology. The volume will introduce readers to some of the most compelling new conceptual and theoretical understandings of secularism and the secular, while also examining socio-political trends involving the relationship between the religious and the secular from a variety of locations across the globe.

In recent decades, the public has become increasingly aware of the important role religious commitments play in the cultural, social, and political dynamics of domestic and world affairs. This so called ''resurgence'' of religion in the public sphere has elicited a wide array of responses, including vehement opposition to the very idea that religious reasons should ever have a right to expression in public political debate. The current global landscape forces scholars to reconsider not only once predominant understandings of secularization, but also the definition and implications of secular assumptions and secularist positions. The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a range of multiple secularisms, is one of many emerging efforts to reconceptualize the meanings of religion and the secular.

Rethinking Secularism surveys these efforts and helps to reframe discussions of religion in the social sciences by drawing attention to the central issue of how ''the secular'' is constituted and understood. It provides valuable insight into how new understandings of secularism and religion shape analytic perspectives in the social sciences, politics, and international affairs.

Table of Contents


Contributors
Introduction: Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, Jonathan VanAntwerpen
1. Western Secularity: Charles Taylor
2. The Secular, Secularizations, Secularisms: Jose Casanova
3. Secularism, Citizenship, and the Public Sphere: Craig Calhoun
4. Rehabilitating Secularism: Rajeev Bhargava
5. The Multiple Secularisms of Modern Democracies and Autocracies: Alfred C. Stepan
6. Civilizational States, Secularisms, Religions: Peter Katzenstein
7. A Suspension of (Dis)Belief: The Secular-Religious Binary and the Study of International Relations: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
8. Rethinking the Secular and Religious Aspects of Violence: Mark Juergensmeyer
9. Religious Humanitarianism and the Global Politics of Secularism: Cecelia Lynch
10. Rethinking Fundamentalism in a Secular Age: R. Scott Appleby
11. Secularism, Religious Change, and Social Conflict in Asia: Richard Madsen
12. Smash temples, Burn Books: Comparing Secularist Projects in India and China: Peter van der Veer
13. Freedom of Speech and Religious Limitations: Talal Asad

OUP

REVIEW OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES 3

Here is an excerpt from the Review's third issue: introduction on "nationalism, revolution and military government"

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REVIEW OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES 1

Here is an excerpt from the Review's first issue: introduction and Asad's article "Anthropological texts and ideological problems: an analysis of Cohen on Arab villages in Israel"

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INTRODUCTION
For a number of years some of those who write and teach about the Middle East, both in this country and abroad, have become increasingly dissatisfied with the state of Middle East studies. This is not only a reflection of concern at the politically-motivated bias which can be found in much work on the subject, but also at its profound methodological limitations so often characterised by a combination of naive commonsense and vacuous theorising. Inappropriate concepts are regularly applied; a great deal of writing is simply irrelevant.

In contrast to this, our aim is to encourage the production of theoretically relevant work informed by a critical appreciation of the Middle East and its history. We have created no organisation or group to do this and hope that others will join us in helping to develop more rewarding analyses. Our aim i s not to make this journal a forum for a single, explicit political or theoretical position but rather to see it develop as the expression of a general tendency of thought.

All but one of the papers printed here were originally written for a seminar held at Hull University in September 1974. They are offered simply as the beginning of a series of critiques which we hope will eventually include most of the important and influential works within modern Middle Eastern studies. There has been no imposition of editorial opinion. The individual authors take individual responsibility for their work.

It is hoped to produce a similar collection of critiques at least once a year, as well as to publish an Arabic translation. Further seminars may also be held from time to time.

Talal Asad
Roger Owen

Asad's CONFERENCE interview (1994)

published in Conference: A Journal of Philosophy and Theory, vol.5, no.1, Spring 1994

With an introductory essay by Ali Nematollahy, entitled ''Conference Exchange: Religions and Politics''

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'Kinship' published in "Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an"

"Kinship" in Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an vol.3, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Brill 2003

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