{"product_id":"religious-difference-in-a-secular-age-9780691153285","title":"Religious Difference in a Secular Age","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow secular governance in the Middle East is making life worse—not better—for religious minorities\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plight of religious minorities in the Middle East is often attributed to the failure of secularism to take root in the region. \u003ci\u003eReligious Difference in a Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e challenges this assessment by examining four cornerstones of secularism—political and civil equality, minority rights, religious freedom, and the legal separation of private and public domains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on her extensive fieldwork in Egypt with Coptic Orthodox Christians and Bahais—religious minorities in a predominantly Muslim country—Saba Mahmood shows how modern secular governance has exacerbated religious tensions and inequalities rather than reduced them. Tracing the historical career of secular legal concepts in the colonial and postcolonial Middle East, she explores how contradictions at the very heart of political secularism have aggravated and amplified existing forms of Islamic hierarchy, bringing minority relations in Egypt to a new historical impasse. Through a close examination of Egyptian court cases and constitutional debates about minority rights, conflicts around family law, and controversies over freedom of expression, Mahmood invites us to reflect on the entwined histories of secularism in the Middle East and Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA provocative work of scholarship, \u003ci\u003eReligious Difference in a Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e challenges us to rethink the promise and limits of the secular ideal of religious equality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Saba Mahmood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42956221808758,"sku":"9780691153285","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_aa22bbbc-1b66-42ad-806f-bee88241d4ab.jpg?v=1767709985","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/religious-difference-in-a-secular-age-9780691153285","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}