Contemporary Democracy and the Sacred: Rights, Religion and Ideology

Description

Debates on the impact of religious traditions upon secular politics have raged throughout the last century and continue today. Exposing the ambiguity of secularity in political life, Jon Wittrock investigates the contemporary relevance of the scared beyond established religious communities and within wider civic society. In the context of globalization, characterized by the spread of capitalist commodification and new technologies of transportation and communication, determining the legitimacy of democratic nation-states is particularly urgent. Questioning ontological challenges to democracy, this book confronts the public narratives, symbols and rituals of the political domain. It analyses modern scholarship on the impact of eschatological figures of thought on government and political ideologies, what hopes there are for universal rights or justice, and the "public worship" of contemporary democracies. Bridging the analytical and continental sides of the philosophical divide, this book draws upon conceptual analysis as well as phenomenology and deconstruction. It advocates neither a left- nor a right-wing political approach, but seeks to outline what political secularization could and should mean.

Jon Wittrock is Senior Lecturer at Soedertoern University and Stockholm University, Sweden.

Jon Wittrock reminds us of a "topology of the exceptional" within the everyday life of liberal democracies: rituals, symbols, "luminous" experiences, and ancient religious legacies are at play in contemporary issues such as the clash between nationalism and human rights. Wittrock's well-balanced, erudite inquiry invites us to imagine how future communities may unite individual autonomy with sacred meaning. -- Richard Polt, Professor of Philosophy, Xavier University, USA