The Ultimate Sacrifice

Martyrdom, Sovereignty, and Secularization in the West
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-032-17343-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 304 g

Reihe: Classical and Contemporary Social Theory

This book presents an interpretive, macro-historical, and sociological account of martyrdom. Moving away from the notion of martyrdom as an object of individual behavior and seeing it instead as a significant cultural work performed by communities in the wake of a violent death, it provides a novel interpretation of Western political and religious history. In addition to thus redressing the disproportionate attention given to the concept’s relationship to Islam, the author offers a new perspective on two defining historical processes: secularization and the rise of modern sovereignty in the form of the nation-state. An innovative analysis of the role of sacrifice in contemporary culture, which constitutes a timely critique of long-dominant theories of disenchantment and the privatization of religion, The Ultimate Sacrifice will appeal to sociologists and social theorists with interests in religion, politics, and the connection between the two.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fordahl, Clayton

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface 1. Introduction 2. A Theory of Martyrdom 3.The Seeds of the Church 4. The Suffering Body and the Body Politic 5.The Sacrificial Conscience 6. To Die So that the Nation Might Live 7. Western Martyrdom in a Secularized Age

Über Autor(innen)

Clayton Fordahl is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Memphis, USA.