The Challenge of Postsecularism

The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Post 9/11 Aura of Distrust and Suspicion, 2017

The purpose of this paper is to analytically assess and understand the aura of distrust and suspicion prevailing among the American and Pakistani common people in the wake of 9/11, depicted in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the second novel of Mohsin Hamid. The worthwhile aspect of this study is to estimate and establish that how the attacks affected life of common people from both America and Pakistan. It also undertakes the issue how post-9/11 power discourse with an emphasis on excessive security measures affected Asians living in America. In addition, the paper traces the impact of the attacks permeating in different parts of the globe and causing disharmony and divide. Besides, it deals with the issues of indiscriminate attitude which begets hostility among various nations. The study implies for the holistic progress of humanity and global peace. Subsequently, some strategies should be devised to keep intact the good will of people either from the affected or affecting group, who are not part of any evil action, so that atmosphere of global pluralism, transnationalism and transculturalism should prevail. The researchers applied close-text analysis methodology to collect the data from the web and texture of the novel to draw conclusions.

Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 2004

The immanence of terror, regardless of its source, is evident not only in the protagonists' behaviour, but also in their choice of methods, pathological copies of the enemy like those made by a retrovirus of the attacked cell. (Enzensberger 2001) The worst damage from many nerve injuries is secondary-it happens in the hours after the initial trauma, as the body's reaction to the damage kills more nerve cells. (Stallman 2001) When the British comedian S. B. Cohen-Ali G-recently crossed the Atlantic "to help the US with some of the problems following 7/11", his deliberate confusion of 7/11 with 9/11 was found "tasteless" by most critics (Bowcott 2003). Indeed "one would think that Sacha Baron Cohen was the Salman Rushdie of TV pranksters" (Macaulay 2003). In other words, 9/11 is a sacralised event; it is sublimated and elevated to a level above politics, dialogue and humor in a way reminiscent of the Holocaust. Hence the "tastelessness" of Ali G's linking 9/11 (terror) to 7/11 (globalisation) and the "obscenity" of Stockhausen's infamous depiction of the attack as "the greatest work of art imaginable" (Žižek 2002: 11). The condemnation of terror, however, must be combined with an understanding of the complex global interdependencies of the network society: My unconditional compassion, addressed at the victims of the September 11, does not prevent me to say it loudly: with regard to this crime, I do not believe that anyone is politically guiltless (Derrida; quoted in Žižek 2001: 11-2). This article was written in this spirit. Taking a "sociologising" stance against the political and cultural adiaphorisation of Sept 11, we think with Ali G and deliberately confuse some conjugated categories. We open with a discussion of classic and new terrorism, relating this Department of Sociology at Lancaster University 2 distinction to the politics of security. Then we link together globalisation (7/11) and terrorism (9/11), stressing that they share in common the logic of networking and an emphasis on mobility. That is, the "network society" and "terror networks" mirror each other in a mobile network space. However, we argue that the theorisation of the emergent gap between the mobile elite and the immobile masses must be supported by an understanding of the processes of internal stratification within the mobile, especially that between the mobile elite and the terrorists. The issue of terrorism, in other words, gives a significant twist to what Bauman calls the "revenge of nomads" (2002: 13) illuminating that mobility does not have an irresistible emancipatory calling but changes meaning drastically depending on the context (Deleuze & Guattari 1987: 387). This takes us to the second part of the article where we discuss the notion of post-politics in relation to terrorism. Which helps us consolidate the link between the two de-territorialised networks: global capitalism (7/11) and global terrorism (9/11). We support the analysis of this mimetic relation with another relation, that between the politics of security as a form of contemporary (political) fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism that it seeks to fight. When security becomes the dominant form of politics and the law is replaced by a permanent state of exception, a state "can always be provoked by terrorism to become itself terroristic" (Agamben 2001).

The Experience of Faith in Slavic Cultures and Literatures in the Context of Postsecular Thought, 2018

Slavic 'piece' to the mosaic of modern religiosity just as a 'piece', not only as Polish, Czech, Slovak or Bulgarian 'cases'. This collective book includes articles by well-known professors whose achievements are appreciated in their home countries, as well as young researchers just starting their professional careers. We hope that this mixture of generations can positively contribute to extending our perspective because a personal point of view on how religions and the status of religiosity are changing today is an important factor in perceiving religiosity as such. Apparently, one's position on the 'generation ladder' determines forms of spirituality as well as the status and character of the religious institution with which one might be familiar. As far as religiosity is concerned, such subjectivity which is formed by personal experience, which itself was shaped by a 'strategic moment' of observation, can be valuable because it might open a field of vision where religiosity is a non-theoretical, non-abstract phenomenona real thing. This subjective approach contrasts with the secular theory which generalized the concept of 'a secular age'-to quote the title of the groundbreaking book by Charles Taylor. 4 Considering various aspects of religiosity today-not only the forms observed in Slavic countries but also outside of them-we are at the point where we are trying to redefine the meaning of secularization and desecularization. The secular theory which has been used for decades strictly separated believers from unbelievers, the latter of which were supposed to be atheists. The insufficiency of this theory is obvious today, as has been shown by Charles Taylor and many others. Researchers emphasize that too many religious phenomena are marginalized when secular theory, treated in a dogmatic way, is applied to modern religiosity. It might be useful to illustrate this insufficiency by referring to the example of the current religious situation in Czechia. Figures show that the number of people in that country who are adherent of official, traditional Churches is falling year by year, but simultaneously the number of people is rising who are interested in exotic cults and who believe in such things as amulets, horoscopes, magic forces, etc. Belief in horoscopes, amulets, etc. is attractive for half the adult population of Czechs. One third use the services of healers and various representatives of alternative medicine; 46.5% have a positive attitude to so-called paranormal phenomena. 5 Thus, on one hand Czechia confirms the stereotype of being one of the most secularized countries, but on the other hand this is a country of believers, even if one 9 This declaration seems to be too idealistic therefore one can have one's doubts as to whether it will succeed. Obviously, it is unlikely to accomplish the mission in near-term. On the other hand, the idea how religion could commit to the peaceful coexistence of differing religion was developed by other scholars and examined by them in different way. See e.g.:

The Experience of Faith in Slavic Cultures and Literatures in the Context of Postsecular Thought, 2018

Slavic 'piece' to the mosaic of modern religiosity just as a 'piece', not only as Polish, Czech, Slovak or Bulgarian 'cases'. This collective book includes articles by well-known professors whose achievements are appreciated in their home countries, as well as young researchers just starting their professional careers. We hope that this mixture of generations can positively contribute to extending our perspective because a personal point of view on how religions and the status of religiosity are changing today is an important factor in perceiving religiosity as such. Apparently, one's position on the 'generation ladder' determines forms of spirituality as well as the status and character of the religious institution with which one might be familiar. As far as religiosity is concerned, such subjectivity which is formed by personal experience, which itself was shaped by a 'strategic moment' of observation, can be valuable because it might open a field of vision where religiosity is a non-theoretical, non-abstract phenomenona real thing. This subjective approach contrasts with the secular theory which generalized the concept of 'a secular age'-to quote the title of the groundbreaking book by Charles Taylor. 4 Considering various aspects of religiosity today-not only the forms observed in Slavic countries but also outside of them-we are at the point where we are trying to redefine the meaning of secularization and desecularization. The secular theory which has been used for decades strictly separated believers from unbelievers, the latter of which were supposed to be atheists. The insufficiency of this theory is obvious today, as has been shown by Charles Taylor and many others. Researchers emphasize that too many religious phenomena are marginalized when secular theory, treated in a dogmatic way, is applied to modern religiosity. It might be useful to illustrate this insufficiency by referring to the example of the current religious situation in Czechia. Figures show that the number of people in that country who are adherent of official, traditional Churches is falling year by year, but simultaneously the number of people is rising who are interested in exotic cults and who believe in such things as amulets, horoscopes, magic forces, etc. Belief in horoscopes, amulets, etc. is attractive for half the adult population of Czechs. One third use the services of healers and various representatives of alternative medicine; 46.5% have a positive attitude to so-called paranormal phenomena. 5 Thus, on one hand Czechia confirms the stereotype of being one of the most secularized countries, but on the other hand this is a country of believers, even if one 9 This declaration seems to be too idealistic therefore one can have one's doubts as to whether it will succeed. Obviously, it is unlikely to accomplish the mission in near-term. On the other hand, the idea how religion could commit to the peaceful coexistence of differing religion was developed by other scholars and examined by them in different way. See e.g.:

Gender: Sources, Perspectives, Methodologies, ed. renée c. hoogland, 2016

The growing relevance of the relationship between religion and secularity has prompted the rise of ideas of postsecularism, a term with several meanings. For some, the term articulates a return of religion to the public sphere, an event symbolized (if not actualized) by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and their aftermath. This definition rests on a historical understanding in which there was once a religious public order that was then overtaken by a secular one around the time of the European Enlightenment,and that this secular order is now giving way in the face of a surge of political religion represented by Islamism in the Middle East and far-right evangelicalism in the United States, to name two prominent examples. In another definition, postsecularism is a critical methodology that identifies and analyzes overt and covert assumptions so as to unpack the relationship between religion and secularity. Such a method looks at how these categories are intertwined in the present and historically, focusing, among other things, on their assumptions of universality by exposing their origins in the parochial context of a raced and gendered European experience. In its methodological approach, postsecular criticism overlaps with postcolonial, gender, queer, and critical race theories in that it seeks to highlight the gendered, raced, and geopolitical specificities of allegedly universal paradigms. It is this latter form of postsecularism that this chapter explores. The first section of the chapter addresses the relationship among three types of secularity (the secular, secularization, and secularism). The next section analyzes the relationship of so-called second-wave feminisms to the emancipatory paradigms of secularity, as well as challenges arising from blind spots within this secular feminist model. The final section focuses on post-9/11 gender politics, discussing the emergence of postsecular feminisms in response to the overlapping of older feminist frameworks with other liberal paradigms of gender and sexual identity (such as homonationalism) in contemporary discourses of global power.

2002

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2006

This article adopts a macrocultural approach to understanding complex current global tensions and the way they may account for recent acts of terrorism. It proposes that the recent conflict between the West and radical militant Islam can be understood as the polarization of 2 partial perspectives on social justice-the secular democratic individualistic Western worldview and the spiritual and collectivist Middle Eastern worldview-that need to inform one another. I examine this polarization in the context of the following systemic aspects of current globalization: the twin processes of global integration and social disintegration as reflected in the Social Breakdown Syndrome, the deepening gap between the Global North and the Global South, and the unsustainable ideologization of the 20th century. The article suggests that the East-West conflict reflects the fragmented nature of contemporary individual and collective consciousness. It proposes the need for an integrative psychological approach to cultivating optimal individual and collective global consciousness and achieving a meeting and interpenetration between East and West.

This paper examines particular examples of therapeutic and meaning-making responses to the events of September 11 from non-traditional religions and secular bodies, with comparative material from mainstream religions, in the United States of America. The intention is to demonstrate two things: that America’s religious plurality and cultural diversity gave rise to alternative discourses of meaning concerning September 11; and that these non-traditional religious interpretations and pr actices occupy a medial position in a continuum of life-shaping belieef systems that ranges from traditional religion to secularised, therapeutic values. In the USA, and particularly in New York, the attack on the World Trade Centre provoked a 'time of national trauma' (Stevens, 2002). Spiritual assistance, chiefly concerning two issues - creating meaning from the events, and finding solace or comfort for shock and grief - was sought by many people. In the quest for meaning, non-traditional religions such as the EarthLink Mission (ELM) provided challenging and different interpretations of the events, reinforcing the argument that when studying religion as 'an ordinary form o f human practice ' the scholar encounters 'socio-rhetorical technique[s] used to create, contest and re-create credible worlds' (McCutcheon, 2003: 168). In addition to interpreting the meaning of the events, religious, spiritual and secular organizations provided spiritual and therapeutic comfort to those who were affected by September 11. Such 'therapy' has become an accepted element in contemporary Western society (Rieff, 1966). From the non-traditional religious viewpoint, the Church of Scientology's Volunteer Minister Programme provided hands-on assistance at Ground Zero, counselling the police, firemen, and others engaged in clearing the site. The general and 'secularised' nature of the contribution of these Volunteer Ministers invites comparison both with corporate strategies to provide comfort to workers and to engage .in psychological risk management (Nighswonger, 2001), and the efforts of mainstream religions (especially the monotheisms; Christianity, Judaism and Islam) to comfort and sustain the faithful. There is thus a spectrum of responses to America's 'time of national trauma', from traditionally religious through non-traditionally religious or spiritual, to secular, and this spectrum reflects the greater selectivity and diversity o f belief systems drawn upon by contemporary Americans. Also significant is that the non-traditional religions examined are both holistic in outlook and emphasise reconciliation of apparent opposition through very long time cycles; whereas the traditional monotheisms are firmly located in history, and hold dualistic views of appositional concepts (such as good and evil).