Postsecular Cities Space, Theory and Practice

by Beaumont, Justin; Baker, Christopher R.

• ISBN13: 9781441144256
• ISBN10: 1441144250
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-18
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

This book reflects the wide-spread belief that the twenty-first century is evolving in a significantly different way to the twentieth, which witnessed the advance of human rationality and technological progress, including urbanisation, and called into question the public and cultural significance of religion. In this century, by contrast, religion, faith communities and spiritual values have returned to the centre of public life, especially public policy, governance, and social identity. Rapidly diversifying urban locations are the best places to witness the emergence of new spaces in which religions and spiritual traditions are creating both new alliances but also bifurcations with secular sectors. Postsecular Cities examines how the built environment reflects these trends. Recognizing that the 'turn to the postsecular' is a contested and multifaceted trend, the authors offer a vigorous, open but structured dialogue between theory and practice, but even more excitingly, between the disciplines of human geography and theology. Both disciplines reflect on this powerful but enigmatic force shaping our urban humanity. This unique volume offers the first insight into these interdisciplinary and challenging debates.

Author Biography

Justin Beaumont is Lecturer at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and was a lead partner of the EU-7FP FACIT project. Christopher Baker is Director of Research for the William Temple Foundation and Senior Lecturer in Public and Urban Theology at the University of Chester, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	p. vii
Preface: Towards the Postsecular City?	p. xii
Introduction: The Rise of the Postsecular City	p. 1
Mapping the Theoretical Terrain
Postsecular Cities and Radical Critique: A Philosophical Sea Change?	p. 15
Competing Experiences of Postsecular Cities
Postcolonialism and Religion: New Spaces of 'Belonging and Becoming' in the Postsecular City	p. 33
Market Theory, Market Theology: The Business of the Church in the City	p. 50
Non-Secular Cities? Visual and Sound Representations of the Religious-Secular Right to the City in Jerusalem	p. 69
Spirituality, Urban Life and Urban Professions	p. 87
A Feminist Critique of the Postsecular City: God and Gender	p. 104
Inhabiting the Good City: The Politics of Hate and the Urbanisms of Hope	p. 120
Postsecular Policies and Praxis
Sanctuaries of Urban Virtues: Learning from Edo Tokyo	p. 137
From Race to Religion: Multiculturalism and Contested Urban Space	p. 154
Public Pasts in Plural Societies: Models for Management in the Postsecular City	p. 168
Understanding Faith-Based Engagement and Volunteering in the Postsecular Society: Motivations, Rationales and Translation	p. 184
Theological and Secular Interpretations
Exploring the Postsecular State: The Case of Amsterdam	p. 203
On Christianity as Truly Public	p. 223
Emerging Postsecular Rapprochement in the Contemporary City	p. 237
Afterword: Postsecular Cities	p. 254
General Index	p. 267
Index of Names	p. 275
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