Religious Anarchism: New Perspectives

by Alexandre Christoyannopoulos (Editor)

Both religion and anarchism have been increasingly politically active of late. This edited volume presents twelve chapters of fresh scholarship on diverse facets of the area where they religious anarchism. The book is structured along three early Christian anarchist 'pioneers', including Pelagius, Coppe, Hungarian Nazarenes, and Dutch Christian anarchists; Christian anarchist reflections on specific topics such as Kierkegaardian indifference, Romans 13, Dalit religious practice, and resistance to race and nation; and, religious anarchism in other traditions, ranging from Wu Nengzi's Daoism and Rexroth's Zen Buddhism to various currents of Islam, including an original Anarca-Islamic 'clinic'. This unique book therefore furthers scholarship on anarchism, on millenarian and revolutionary thinkers and movements, and on religion and politics. It is also of value to members of the wider public interested in radical politics and in the political implications of religion. And of course, it is relevant to those interested in any of the specific themes and thinkers focused on within individual chapters. In short, this book presents a range of innovative perspectives on a web of topics that, while held together by the common thread of religious anarchism, also speaks to numerous broader themes which have been increasingly prominent in the twenty-first century.

Genres: Religion

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alexandre J.M.E. Christoyannopoulos (born 1979) is a French–Greek author and politics lecturer. He currently lectures at Loughborough University, England. Christoyannopoulos graduated in Economics from the University of Kent in 2000, then went on to earn an MA in International Relations and European Studies and a PhD in Religious Studies and Politics from the same university. His books Religious Anarchism: New Perspectives and Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel were the topics of his doctoral thesis.

Reviews

[Jerome · Rating 3 out of 5]

This loose collection of academic essays on the subject of religious anarchism would likely appeal more to those already familiar with field, as the papers tend to be fairly narrow in their focus. Yet if your familiarity with the topic is limited to, say, Christian anarchism along the lines of Tolstoy or Ellul, then the essays in Part III on Buddhist, Daoist, and Muslim anarchism should bear some interest. Standouts include Fitch's chapter on Peagianism's anarchistic leanings, Christoyannopoulos's survey of Christian anarchist reinterpretations of certain "statist" readings of the New Testament, and Fiscella's survey of Islamic anarchist literature.