Religion and the Domestication of Dissent Or, How to Live in a Less Than Perfect Nation

In their efforts to apportion balme and channel retaliatory action in the post September II world, scholars and pundits alike have used a series of rhetorical techniques to great effect, manufacturing an image of Islam, the proverbial Other, that is highly conducive to the needs of liberal democracies but hardly a reflection of any one of the many 'authentic' Islams. This inevitably results in caricatures that have many uses, in portraits of dissenting groups it tends towards demonization. In this wide-ranging essay a scholar of religion asks the reader to consider how the classifications we use to name and thereby negotiate our social worlds are implicitly political and are being wielded in the public arena to carry out generally undisclosed/underanalyzed social work.

Since the events of 9/11 the representation of Islam has increasingly come adrift from its actuality. Scholars and pundits have effectively demonised a whole faith by wilfully apportioning blame and by ignoring the differences within the Islamic movement. 'Religion and the Domestication of Dissent' examines how the classifications we use to name and negotiate our social worlds - notably 'religion' - are implicitly political. The study ranges widely from contemporary film and art to the War on Terror and will be invaluable to readers interested in the politics behind the portrayal of dissenting religious groups.

Preface Acknowledgements; 1. "Religion" and the Lust for Dogmatic Rule; 2. Swapping Spit around the Campfire; 3. The Tricks and Treats of Classification; 4. A Little More Authentic than was Really Necessary; 5. Another Reason why Societies Need Dissent; 6. That Versatile Little Problem-Solver; Afterword; References

Russell T. McCutcheon is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.