Religion and Nationalism in Global Perspective

J. Christopher Soper is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University, Malibu. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University, Connecticut and his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. Joel S. Fetzer is Frank R. Seaver Professor of Social Science and Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University, Malibu. A graduate of Cornell University and Yale University, he specializes in religion and politics and in migration studies.

• 1. A theory of religion and nationalism; 2. United States: stable civil-religious nationalism; 3. Israel: unstable civil-religious nationalism; 4. Greece: stable religious nationalism; 5. Malaysia: unstable religious nationalism; 6. Uruguay: stable secular nationalism; 7. India: unstable secular nationalism; 8. Pitfalls and opportunities on the religious path to nationalism; Bibliography; Index.

'The resurgence of nationalisms, usually populist, often religious, and all too often authoritarian, is central to global politics today. Soper and Fetzer, already distinguished scholars of religion, immigration, and political identities, have now produced a seminal theory of how and why religion and nationalism are related in distinct ways in different societies. It will have both an immediate and enduring impact.' Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania