God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics [Hardcover]

Monica Duffy Toft (Author), Daniel Philpott (Author), Timothy Samuel Shah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2011

A fresh and illuminating perspective on the surge in religion’s political influence across the globe.

Is religion a force for good or evil in world politics? How much influence does it have? Despite predictions of its decline, religion has resurged in political influence across the globe, helped by the very forces that were supposed to bury it: democracy, globalization, and technology. And despite recent claims that religion is exclusively irrational and violent, its political influence is in fact diverse, sometimes promoting civil war and terrorism but at other times fostering democracy, reconciliation, and peace. Looking across the globe, the authors explain what generates these radically divergent behaviors. In a time when the public discussion of religion is overheated, these dynamic young scholars use deeply original analysis and sharp case studies to show us both how and why religion’s influence on global politics is surging. Finally they offer concrete suggestions on how to both confront the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities posed by globally resurgent religion. 10 black-and-white illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Political scientists Toft (The Geography of Ethnic Violence), Philpott, and Shah explore the recent burgeoning political influence of religion in a timely treatise. The authors contend that religion's waning influence in politics—which dated from the Enlightenment and peaked in the 1960s—has seen a 40-year reversal; at present, "major religious actors... enjoy greater capacity for political influence today than at any time in modern history—and perhaps ever." This revival—manifested in developments like the "Islamic resurgence" and the rise of the religious Right in the U.S.—was rooted in a crisis in such secular ideologies as socialism, and has been nurtured by globalization and modern technologies like the Internet. Despite some occasional hyperbole and inconsistency—the authors shrill, "God's partisans are back, they are setting the political agenda, and they are not going away," and in the next breath, they caution policymakers not to "exaggerate the power of religious actors in public life"—this is a lucid and surprisingly seamless collaboration that should appeal to serious students of modern politics. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

This book�s claim is that the twenty-first century is God�s Century. The term is a convenient way to capture religion�s effect on politics; the focus is global and encompasses all major religions. The authors� favorite phrase throughout is religious actors, which include individuals or groups that have political pursuits alongside their religious beliefs and practices. Al-Qaeda, the Catholic Church, the National Association of Evangelicals�all are religious actors. The authors have observed a significant rise in the role of religion in global politics and are convinced that the trend will continue. Early chapters cover background matters, like the politics of religion, to help the uninitiated comprehend the basic issues. The core sections are devoted to focused areas, like democratization. There are also chapters covering religious civil wars, terrorism, and the push for peace and justice. Breaking up the text are tables or charts illustrating in a user-friendly way events or trends taking place.The book is filled with enough details and examples to satisfy serious researchers; appended are a 14-page bibliography and ample endnotes. A solid fit for academic collections and sizable public libraries. --Wade Osburn

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (March 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393069265
• ISBN-13: 978-0393069266
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Monica Duffy Toft is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her research interests include international relations, religion, nationalism and ethnic conflict, civil and interstate wars, the relationship between demography and national security, and military and strategic planning. A 2008 Carnegie Scholar, Professor Toft is the author of Securing The Peace: The Durable Settlement of Civil Wars (Princeton University Press, 2009), The Geography of Ethnic Conflict: Identity, Interests, and Territory (Princeton University Press, 2003) and is co-author of God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (W.W. Norton, 2011) and co-editor of The Fog of Peace: Strategic and Military Planning under Uncertainty (Routledge, 2006). Professor Toft was a research intern at the RAND Corporation and served in the U.S. Army in southern Germany as a Russian voice interceptor. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Political Science and Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Professor Toft is director of the Belfer Center's Initiative on Religion in International Affairs, which was established with a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Politics matters October 8, 2011

By Bren

Format:Paperback

If you're like me, and have travelled with smug satisfaction and righteous anger through the corpuses of the new atheists, then I strongly recommend this book. The new atheist philosophers use logic and reasoning to argue that religiosity is irrational and, therefore, harmful. Their observation that faith is irrational may be accurate (but then, isn't irrationality a part of us all?), but God's Century argues powerfully that the inference that it always has a negative impact is wildly off the mark. The careful, balanced, and considered approach of the authors and their analysis of examples from the last century using a political, not philosophical, lens, makes the new atheists appear as faith-based as those they oppose. I had long believed faith was a private matter. Perhaps by a certain light it is, but this book has convinced me that a state authority should never implement policy that restricts faith to the home (on the contrary, it appears states should strive to ensure that all religions have freedom to practice and the opportunity to engage independently with the political process). Whether atheist or faither, you should read this book, and gain some comfort that there is a ground on which we can collaborate and construct a fate that is mutually beneficial. Since the Enlightenment, mankind has embarked on a journey that is incrementally improving our understanding. We should not abandon that journey prematurely. A clear-eyed look at history from multiple angles should impress on all people willing to critically appraise their own beliefs and preferences that both secularism and sacralism are extremes.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars path breaking account of religion's resurgence in, and impact on, global politics March 3, 2011

By Eric Blair

Format:Hardcover

Toft, Philpott, and Shah have pooled their considerable talents to introduce a foundational book in what is certain to be a growing area of inquiry: the role of religion in global politics. The book really offers two important thesis. First, it explains how trends such as democratization, modernization and globalization--far from "killing" religion--actually fast-forwarded it. Second, the authors offer a nuanced view of the potential of religion to transform global politics; both for ill and for good. Although in much of the advanced-industrial world, the rise of religion has been viewed with a mix of puzzlement, denial, and alarm; the authors of God's Century have been careful to point out why and how religion's long-term impact may not be instability and conflict, but a greater appreciation of human rights and a greater possibility of peace. Either contribution on its own would make this a must-read, but together the two arguments combine to make this a foundational reading; and this is true whether you agree with the book's core arguments or not.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars a compelling case that the 21st century will be God's century February 28, 2012

By Dr. Greg Smith (aka sowhatfaith)

Format:Paperback

The secularization thesis has proven false. Rather than declining, the number of people adhering to the major world religions has increased significantly in recent years. Since 1967 religion's influence on politics has grown on every continent. Written by three highly regarded political scientists, God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics offers a thorough historical analysis of this global transformation and explores the implications of this trend for politics in the coming years while making a compelling case that the 21st century will be God's century. Religious leaders will benefit from the analysis of how religions became politically assertive in light of their knowledge of these shifts within their respective faith tradition, from an enriched understanding of the various possible options for relationships between religious and political authority and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each, and from the many examples of religious political influence .

In the final chapter (p. 207-223), the authors offer "Ten Rules for Surviving God's Century"

Acknowledge that religious actors are here to stay.

Do not assume that the activism of religious actors can or should be confined to a "private sphere."

Learn to live with the fact that the issue is not whether, but when and how, religious actors will enter public life and shape political outcomes.

Do not exaggerate the power of religious actors in public life, thereby replacing secularism with sacralization . . .
. . . but expect religious actors to play a larger and more pervasive role than conventional wisdom anticipates.

Accept that the more governments try to repress or exclude religion from public life, the more such efforts will be self-defeating.

Acknowledge that the more governments permit religious actors to be autonomous social actors in a system of consensual independence, the more religion will serve as a "force multiplier" for important social and political goods, including democratization, peacemaking, and reconciliation.

Take the religious beliefs and political theologies of religious actors seriously because they interact with political structure and context to explain much of the political behavior of religious actors.

Accept that if governments fail to respect the institutional independence of religious actors, especially through systematic repression, the more these governments will encourage pathological forms of religious politics, including religion-based terrorism and religion-related civil wars.

Appreciate that there is strategic value in pursuing a religious freedom in the conduct of foreign policy.