Religion and Politics: Islam and Muslim Civilisation

by Jan-Erik Lane, Hamadi Redissi

Offering a timely new appraisal of the political and social impact of Islam, Religion and Politics will be welcomed by political scientists and historians alike. In this work, Jan-Erik Lane and Hamadi Redissi employ a Weberian approach, underlining the social consequences of religious beliefs, to account for the political differences between the major civilizations of the world against the background of the rise of modern capitalism in the Occidental sphere. Compared with Weber and his emphasis upon economic modernization, the perspective on religion is broadened to encompass post-modernity; particular attention is paid to human rights and the rule of law. This thought-provoking work raises the question of whether the tenets of Islam might be reconciled with the requirements of post-modernity.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Jan-Erik Lane has taught politics and economics at many universities around the world. He is member of many editorial boards of political science journals. He has published some 300 books and articles. In 1996 (and 2009) he received the Humboldt Award by the Humboldt Stiftung.

He has made contributions to the study of culture, N-person game theory (power indices), voter volatility, comparative democracy theory and the principal-agent approach to public administration.