Introduction: Religion and Nationalism? Or Nationalism and Religion? Some Reflections on the Relationship between Religion and Nationalism

Capitalism, Religion, and the Ideological Construction of Hindu Nationalism

Critics of Hindutva nationalism see it as either an elite conspiracy or a mass political movement with no necessary relation to the Hindu faith. I focus instead on its ideological deployment, treating it as a modern religious construction of Hinduism that legitimates capitalism—much like Christianity in the 17th and 18th century. I mobilize Slavoj Žižek, Erenesto Laclau, and Louis Althusser’s t...

Reflections on Communalism and Nationalism in India

It is widely agreed that the spectre of growing communalism is the most important issue facing India today. In the battle for the soul of Indian nationalism three positions have been staked out. Firstly, there are those who insist that Indian nationalism must rest on cultural and psychological foundations of an impeccably Hindu provenance, though the ecumenical character of Hinduism licenses pr...

Arabesk: Music and nationalism

Nationalism and Separatism

Th e historical era following World War II is often referred to as the era of decolonization, the time when the former European powers, as well as America and Japan, gave up their overseas empires and dozens of new sovereign countries came into being. However, it could just as easily be called the era of nationalist separatism, as the sheer number of ethnic and pan-ethnic movements seeking inde...

Critique: the Relation between Religion and Sociology

The aim of this article is to re-inspect the possibility or repudiation of Sociology of Religion. This idea is done by researching the previous critiques of this branch of sociology and the criticism of these challenges. In the following discussion about each of aspects, it is tried to answer the extant uncertainties according to one of the most important expositors (H. A. Tanhaee).