Accounting for fundamentalisms

About this book

This fourth volume of the Fundamentalism Project provides a comprehensive analysis of the ideologies and behaviors of "fundamentalist" movements, both in their internal dynamics and in their attitudes toward the outside world. Surveying fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, the distinguished contributors to this volume describe the organization of these movements, their leadership and recruiting techniques, and the ways in which their ideological programs and organizational structures shift over time in response to changing political and social environments. Accounting for Fundamentalisms features treatments of fundamentalist movements that are in today's headlines, including the Islamic Group, members of which were charged with plotting to blow up the World Trade Center; the World Hindu Party, members of which sparked riots in India by destroying an Islamic shrine; and the revitalized Christian Right in the United States. Why do certain fundamentalist movements act aggressively toward outsiders, while others are integrationist or accommodationist, and still others passive or separatist? Drawing upon world-renowned experts in four major areas of the world with an introduction by the editors and a framing conclusion, this book is the first concerted effort to understand the dynamics of fundamentalist movements around the world. . The Fundamentalism Project is a monumental undertaking by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences involving an international group of scholars. Taken together, the volumes in this series will become a standard reference for educators and policy analysts for years to come.