Jewish Fundamentalism in Comparative Perspective

by Silberstein, Laurence J.

• ISBN13: 9780814779668
• ISBN10: 0814779662
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-05-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

In recent decades, religious fundamentalism has played an increasingly significant role in Western and Middle Eastern politics and culture. In this volume, an international group of scholars from fields such as religious studies, sociology, political science, history, and anthropology explore diverse dimensions of religious fundamentalism and relate it to a range of cultural and political issues. Although the focus is on fundamentalism in its Jewish guise, the methodological and comparative emphases make it valuable to specialists in a variety of fields.Among the issues examined are: the characteristics that link fundamentalist movements within various religious traditions; the study of fundamentalist motifs as they appear specifically in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (and whether or not this is a useful approach); the relationship between religion and modernity; the impact of fundamentalism on the Arab-Israeli conflict; and the interaction of modern Jewish fundamentalist movements with traditional Judaism. The book also provides important insights into the emergence of religious fundamentalism as a powerful social and political force in Jewish life, particularly in Israel.Contributing to the volume are: Gerald Cromer (Bar-Ilan Univ.), Menachem Friedman (Bar-Ilan Univ.), Susan Harding (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz), James Davison Hunter (Univ. of Virginia), Aaron Kirschenbaum (Tel Aviv University), Hava Larazus-Yafeh (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem), Ian Lustick (Univ. of Pennsylvania), Alan Mittleman (Muhlenberg College), James Piscatori (Univ. College of Wales), Elie Rekhess (Tel Aviv Univ.), Laurence J. Silberstein (Lehigh Univ.), and Ehud Sprinzak (Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Religious Fundamentalism and Modernity: Theoretical Issues
Religion, Ideology, Modernity: Theoretical Issues in the Study of Jewish Fundamentalism	p. 3
Fundamentalism: An Introduction to a General Theory	p. 27
Contemporary Fundamentalism: Judaism, Christianity, Islam	p. 42
Contesting Rhetorics in the PTL Scandal	p. 56
Fundamentalism and the Politics of the Middle East
Islamic Fundamentalism in the Wake of the Six Day War: Religious Self-Assertion in Political Conflict	p. 79
The Resurgence of Palestinian Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza	p. 94
Jewish Fundamentalism and the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse	p. 104
The Politics, Institutions, and Culture of Gush Emunim	p. 117
Jewish Zealots: Conservative versus Innovative	p. 148
Withdrawal and Conquest: Two Aspects of the Haredi Response to Modernity	p. 164
Religious Fundamentalism and Judaism: Selected Issues
Fundamentalism: A Jewish Traditional Perspective	p. 183
The Market Model and Religious Radicalism	p. 192
Fundamentalism and Political Development: The Case of Agudat Yisrael	p. 216
About the Editor	p. 239
About the Contributors	p. 241
Index	p. 243
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