At the time of the 9/11 attacks, commentators trying to analyze Afghan support for Al-Qaeda put a great deal of…
“Traditionalist” Islamic activism
secularism
A suspension of (dis)belief
Most academic discussions in political science and international relations presuppose a fixed definition of the secular and the religious and…
Is there a crisis of secularism in Western Europe?
Even quite sober academics speak of "a contemporary crisis of secularism," claiming that "today, political secularisms are in crisis in…
World Youth Day reassessed
Two writers at the The Guardian enter into the conversation about this year's World Youth Day and the public reaction…
Secularism and its discontents
In the current issue of the New Yorker, James Wood reviews The Joy of Secularism: 11 Essays for How We…
Transmitting “secular” oral traditions
Why does our academic culture operate under the assumption that “secular” education is fundamentally distinct from or superior to non-“secular”…
The suspicious revolution: An interview with Talal Asad
Not long after his return from Cairo, where he was doing fieldwork, I spoke with Talal Asad at the City…
Debating religious freedom in Dissent
The latest issue of Dissent features an argument (sub. req.) by Austin Dacey and Colin Koproske against the prevailing understanding…
New journal: Secularism and Nonreligion
Secularism and Nonreligion, the "world's first journal dedicated to the study of the nonreligious and the secular," recently announced its…
Religion as culture in “spiritual cultivation”
Despite its roots in a religious entity, OISCA [The Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement] is registered as a…