Transnationalism and the New Religio-politics

Abstract

This article develops a theoretical framework for analysing the growing public prominence, and rising influence, of transnational religious movements on the contemporary world stage, with specific reference to the case of Agudat Israel, a prominent ‘ultra-Orthodox’ Jewish organization. It first considers the place of ‘religion’ within the context of the historical emergence of the world system of modern nation-states, addressing some of the conceptual ambiguities associated with the ideas of national vs transnational religious formations. The article then provides a historical sketch of the European Jewish encounter with modernity, focusing on the rise of transnational movements like Agudat Israel. Lastly, the article situates Jewish Orthodoxy within a comparative framework for the study of transnational religio-politics. The article concludes by asking whether transnational religious movements might be trapped within the instrumental logic of state governmentality they claim to oppose, and if so, with what consequences.

Islam, assisted reproductive technology and the politics of emergence: When markets and hegemonies collide

“…To be secular is to be modern and to be religious is to be marginal to any conception of modernity. In this simple world progress is assured through the application of the objective qualities of science, the rational pursuit of social goals and the impartial use of the bureaucratic power of the nation state in pursuit of secularism and modernity (Stolow, 2004, pp. 113–115).…”

Buffered mobility: parenting strategies of religious Jewish global middle class families

“…Some of this research has focused on how communities are formed around religion as people migrate to a particular place and how informal learning opportunities, religious schools, visits to the "homeland," community activities and so forth, help embed religion and religious connectivity between people constituting a particular religious group (Meer & Modood, 2013). Most of these studies have focused on marginalised migrant communities (Ben Rafael & Ben Haim, 2006;Stolow, 2004), so there is a significant gap in our understanding of the role of religion in driving middle class mobility, in shaping experiences of relocation among globally mobile middle class groups, and how religious affiliations are articulated through trajectories of mobility among the middle classes (Agbaria, 2019). The present study seeks to address this lacuna in the research, specifically focusing on the case of mobile religious Jewish middle class families.…”

Indigenous Ritual as Adhesive Social Harmonization: The Meaning of Peusijuek for Young People of Aceh, Indonesia

“…Both traditional ritual studies as a symbolic power in the community of identical ritual studies with anthropological models of cultural interaction in which the meaning of ritual function is a symbol of social power [12], in line with the study of the identification of the vernacular region of Cigugur settlement through the practice of Seren Taun Ritual in Kuningan that fortifies the power social in West Java [13]. Studies on Africana existential ontology Rum as a metaphor of socio-cultural life [14], transnationalism and New Religio-politics as a counterweight to social solidarity [15], ritualistic politics aspects of the mao cult culture as a revolution of the domination in the social system [16]. The ritual and symbolic "Power" in Rousseau Constitution bridges the social system [17], and rituals as symbolic of transnational media forces organizing social solidarity [18].…”