
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Martyrdom, Sovereignty, and Secularization in the West
- 180 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
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.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 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
- Index