Secularism On The Edge

What is secularism, and why does it matter? In an era marked by global religious revival, how do countries navigate the presence of faith in the public square? In this dynamic collection of essays, leading scholars from around the world, including Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua and French female rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, examine the condition of church-state relations in three pivotal countries: the United States, France, and Israel.

Their analyses are rooted in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ethnography and demography to political science, gender studies, theology, and law. Prominent among the points addressed are the crippling nomenclatural confusions that have so hampered not only secularism as a political ideology, but secularism as an academic construct.

This reader-friendly volume also offers a critical and nuanced look at how women are impacted by secular governance. Though secularism is often equated with modernity and progress, including with regard to gender equality, our contributors find that the truth is infinitely more complicated. Review: Anybody who has ever thought critically about secularism should pick up Secularism on the Edge, a brutally frank and illuminating collection of essays by erudite writers who dissect a complex subject and still manage to be the life of the party, writing with humor, cheekiness and pluck.

This isn't your talking head's monologue on secularism. It's a Feminine Mystique for suffragettes in secularism. It's a sassy read! - Asra Nomani, author of Standing Alone: An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam (2006), and visiting scholar in the practice of journalism at Georgetown University, USA The very word 'secularism' is an invitation to argument.

This fascinating collection of essays embodies a wide range contemporary arguments within and outside secularism - about its contested meanings, its disputed values, and its multiple contradictory directions worldwide. It will be fascinating to anyone who cares about religion and public life and keeps an open mind about how these should interact. - Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University, USA, and author of Divided by God (2006)