Religion And Imperialism

Religion and Imperialism: A Complex and Contested Relationship

Introduction:

The intertwined destinies of religion and imperialism form a narrative riddled with complexity and contradiction. For centuries, the expansion of empires has been inextricably linked with the spread of religious beliefs, often resulting in both collaboration and conflict. This exploration delves into the multifaceted relationship between religion and imperialism, examining how religious ideologies fueled imperial ambitions, how imperialism shaped religious practices and beliefs, and the lasting consequences of this enduring connection. We'll unpack instances of religious justification for conquest, the role of missionary activities in imperial expansion, and the resistance and adaptation of indigenous religions in the face of imperial power. This post will analyze case studies from around the globe to illustrate the nuanced and often brutal realities of this historical entanglement.

H1: Religious Justification for Imperial Expansion:

The belief in a divinely ordained mission frequently provided a powerful ideological framework for imperial expansion. European powers, particularly during the Age of Exploration and beyond, often framed their conquests as a sacred duty—a mandate to spread Christianity, “civilize” non-Christian populations, and ultimately bring salvation to the “heathen.” This "white man's burden," as famously articulated by Rudyard Kipling, masked the economic and political ambitions driving imperial projects. The rhetoric of religious superiority often justified violence, exploitation, and the suppression of indigenous cultures. The Crusades, the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the Scramble for Africa all demonstrate how religious zeal fueled imperial designs. The interpretation of scripture was selectively employed to legitimate territorial acquisition and the subjugation of other peoples.

H2: Missionaries and Imperialism: A Symbiotic Relationship:

Missionary activities played a crucial role in the expansion of empires. Missionaries often acted as agents of imperial power, establishing schools, hospitals, and other institutions that served to consolidate imperial control. While ostensibly focused on religious conversion, their activities frequently reinforced colonial hierarchies and contributed to the cultural disruption of indigenous societies. The influence of missionaries extended beyond religious conversion; they often served as translators, advisors, and intermediaries between colonial authorities and local populations. However, their impact was not always benevolent. The imposition of foreign religious beliefs often clashed with existing spiritual practices, leading to resistance, syncretism, and even violent conflict.

H3: The Resistance and Adaptation of Indigenous Religions:

The encounter between established religions and indigenous belief systems did not result in a simple narrative of replacement. Instead, it frequently led to complex processes of resistance and adaptation. Indigenous populations often creatively incorporated elements of the dominant religion while retaining core aspects of their own spiritual traditions. This syncretism resulted in hybrid religious practices that blended aspects of both systems. Resistance to imperial religious impositions also took many forms, ranging from passive non-compliance to active rebellion and armed resistance. The Ghost Dance movement among Native Americans in the late 19th century is a poignant example of resistance manifested through religious revitalization. Understanding these forms of resistance is crucial to grasping the agency of colonized peoples in the face of imperial power.


H4: The Legacy of Religion and Imperialism:

The legacy of religion and imperialism continues to shape the political and cultural landscapes of the world today. The enduring effects of colonial religious policies can be seen in the lingering tensions between religious and ethnic groups, the persistence of religious hierarchies established during the colonial era, and the ongoing struggles for religious freedom and cultural preservation. Furthermore, the historical association between religion and imperialism has contributed to suspicion and mistrust toward religious institutions, particularly among those who have experienced the destructive consequences of religiously motivated imperial expansion. Addressing this legacy requires critical engagement with the historical record and a commitment to fostering intercultural understanding and mutual respect.


H5: Case Studies: Examining Specific Examples:

Examining specific historical examples helps to illuminate the complexities of this relationship. For instance, the British Raj in India saw the British East India Company utilizing existing religious divisions to maintain control, while simultaneously promoting Christianity. The Spanish conquest of the Americas exemplifies the brutal consequences of religiously motivated imperialism, with the destruction of indigenous cultures and the imposition of Catholicism. Analyzing these cases reveals the diverse ways in which religion and imperialism interacted, highlighting both the cooperation and conflict inherent in their relationship.


Book Outline: "The Sacred and the Secular: Religion and Imperialism in Global History"

Introduction: Defining the scope of the study and outlining key themes.
Chapter 1: Religious justifications for imperial expansion across different historical periods and geographical locations.
Chapter 2: The role of missionaries in shaping colonial societies and their relationship with imperial power structures.
Chapter 3: Indigenous resistance and the adaptation of religious practices under colonial rule.
Chapter 4: The lasting legacies of religion and imperialism in the contemporary world.
Chapter 5: Case studies: In-depth analyses of specific historical examples, such as the British Raj in India and the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
Conclusion: Synthesizing key findings and highlighting the enduring relevance of this complex relationship.


(The following sections elaborate on each chapter of the book outline above. Due to space constraints, only a portion of each chapter's content is provided here.)


Chapter 1: Religious Justifications for Imperial Expansion: This chapter will delve into the various religious ideologies employed to justify imperial expansion. It will examine how religious texts and interpretations were used to legitimize conquest, and how concepts of religious superiority underpinned colonial projects. Specific examples, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and the concept of the "white man's burden," will be analyzed in detail.


Chapter 2: The Role of Missionaries in Shaping Colonial Societies: This chapter will explore the multifaceted role of missionaries within colonial empires. It will discuss their involvement in establishing educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and other social services, alongside their impact on the conversion of indigenous populations. It will also examine the critiques of missionary activities, including allegations of cultural destruction and the imposition of foreign values.


Chapter 3: Indigenous Resistance and Adaptation of Religious Practices: This chapter will focus on the various forms of resistance to religious imperialism, from passive resistance to outright rebellion. It will also analyze the processes of syncretism, where indigenous religious practices were blended with elements of the dominant religion. Examples of religious revitalization movements will be examined to demonstrate indigenous agency in the face of colonial pressure.


Chapter 4: The Lasting Legacies of Religion and Imperialism: This chapter will explore the ongoing consequences of religion and imperialism. It will examine the impact on contemporary political relations, social structures, and cultural identities. This includes discussions of ongoing religious conflicts, the lingering effects of colonial policies, and the challenges of achieving religious freedom and cultural preservation.


Chapter 5: Case Studies: In-depth analyses of specific historical examples: This chapter provides detailed case studies of specific historical examples such as the British Raj in India, the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and the impact of European colonialism in Africa. These case studies aim to illustrate the diverse ways in which religion and imperialism have interacted across different contexts.


Conclusion: This concluding section will synthesize the key findings of the study, emphasizing the enduring relevance of the relationship between religion and imperialism in shaping global history and contemporary societies. It will reiterate the complexities inherent in this relationship and call for a continued critical engagement with the historical record.



FAQs:

1. What is the Doctrine of Discovery? The Doctrine of Discovery was a set of papal bulls issued in the 15th and 16th centuries that granted European Christian monarchs the right to claim lands inhabited by non-Christians.

2. How did religion justify slavery? Religious interpretations were used to justify slavery by arguing that certain groups of people were inherently inferior or destined for servitude.

3. What is religious syncretism? Religious syncretism is the blending of different religious beliefs and practices into a new, hybrid system.

4. What role did missionaries play in colonialism beyond religious conversion? Missionaries often acted as intermediaries between colonial authorities and local populations, established schools and hospitals, and contributed to the administration of colonial territories.

5. How did indigenous populations resist religious imperialism? Resistance took various forms, from passive resistance and cultural preservation to active rebellion and the formation of religious revitalization movements.

6. What is the "white man's burden"? A racist ideology used to justify colonialism, asserting that white Europeans had a moral duty to "civilize" non-white peoples.

7. What are some lasting legacies of religious imperialism? Lasting legacies include ongoing religious conflicts, social inequalities, and the persistence of colonial power structures.

8. How did imperialism affect religious diversity? Imperialism often led to the suppression of indigenous religions and the imposition of dominant religious systems, impacting religious diversity in colonized regions.

9. How can we study the relationship between religion and imperialism responsibly? Responsible study necessitates critical analysis of sources, acknowledging diverse perspectives, and avoiding generalizations.


Related Articles:

1. The Crusades and the Birth of Religious Imperialism: Examines the religious motivations and consequences of the Crusades.

2. The Spanish Conquest of the Americas: A Study in Religious Violence: Explores the brutal realities of religious imperialism in the Americas.

3. Missionary Activities in Colonial India: Conversion, Cooperation, and Conflict: Focuses on the complex relationship between missionaries and local populations in colonial India.

4. Indigenous Resistance to Colonial Religious Imposition: Case Studies from Africa: Examines various forms of resistance to religious imperialism in Africa.

5. The Ghost Dance Movement: A Religious Response to Colonialism: Explores this significant Native American religious revitalization movement.

6. The Impact of Colonialism on Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia: Analyzes the lasting effects of colonialism on religious landscape of Southeast Asia.

7. Religion and the Scramble for Africa: A Comparative Analysis: Compares the role of religion in different European colonial projects in Africa.

8. The White Man's Burden: A Critical Examination of a Racist Ideology: Critically examines the racist ideology that underpinned much of colonial expansion.

9. Postcolonial Religious Identity and the Search for Cultural Preservation: Explores the challenges of maintaining religious identity in post-colonial societies.


  religion and imperialism: Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism Björn Bentlage, Marion Eggert, Hans Martin Krämer, Stefan Reichmuth, 2016-10-11 This sourcebook offers rare insights into a formative period in the modern history of religions. Throughout the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, when commercial, political and cultural contacts intensified worldwide, politics and religions became ever more entangled. This volume offers a wide range of translated source texts from all over Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, thereby diminishing the difficulty of having to handle the plurality of involved languages and backgrounds. The ways in which the original authors, some prominent and others little known, thought about their own religion, its place in the world and its relation to other religions, allows for much needed insight into the shared and analogous challenges of an age dominated by imperialism and colonialism.
  religion and imperialism: Islam and Colonialism Muhamad Ali, 2015-12-08 This book offers a comparative and cross-cultural history of Islamic reform and European colonialism as both dependent and independent factors in shaping the multiple ways of becoming modern in Indonesia and Malaya during the first half of the twentieth century.
  religion and imperialism: An Empire Divided James Patrick Daughton, 2006 An award-winning book, An Empire Divided tells the story of how troubled relations between Catholic missionaries and a host of republican critics shaped colonial policies, Catholic perspectives, and domestic French politics in the tumultuous decades before the First World War.
  religion and imperialism: God's Empire Hilary M. Carey, 2011-01-06 In God's Empire, Hilary M. Carey charts Britain's nineteenth-century transformation from Protestant nation to free Christian empire through the history of the colonial missionary movement. This wide-ranging reassessment of the religious character of the second British empire provides a clear account of the promotional strategies of the major churches and church parties which worked to plant settler Christianity in British domains. Based on extensive use of original archival and rare published sources, the author explores major debates such as the relationship between religion and colonization, church-state relations, Irish Catholics in the empire, the impact of the Scottish Disruption on colonial Presbyterianism, competition between Evangelicals and other Anglicans in the colonies, and between British and American strands of Methodism in British North America.
  religion and imperialism: Christian Imperialism Emily Conroy-Krutz, 2015-11-18 In 1812, eight American missionaries, under the direction of the recently formed American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sailed from the United States to South Asia. The plans that motivated their voyage were ano less grand than taking part in the Protestant conversion of the entire world. Over the next several decades, these men and women were joined by hundreds more American missionaries at stations all over the globe. Emily Conroy-Krutz shows the surprising extent of the early missionary impulse and demonstrates that American evangelical Protestants of the early nineteenth century were motivated by Christian imperialism—an understanding of international relations that asserted the duty of supposedly Christian nations, such as the United States and Britain, to use their colonial and commercial power to spread Christianity. In describing how American missionaries interacted with a range of foreign locations (including India, Liberia, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, North America, and Singapore) and imperial contexts, Christian Imperialism provides a new perspective on how Americans thought of their country’s role in the world. While in the early republican period many were engaged in territorial expansion in the west, missionary supporters looked east and across the seas toward Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Conroy-Krutz’s history of the mission movement reveals that strong Anglo-American and global connections persisted through the early republic. Considering Britain and its empire to be models for their work, the missionaries of the American Board attempted to convert the globe into the image of Anglo-American civilization.
  religion and imperialism: Pious Imperialism Cornelius Conover, 2019-05-01 This book analyzes Spanish rule and Catholic practice from the consolidation of Spanish control in the Americas in the sixteenth century to the loss of these colonies in the nineteenth century by following the life and afterlife of an accidental martyr, San Felipe de Jésus. Using Mexico City–native San Felipe as the central figure, Conover tracks the global aspirations of imperial Spain in places such as Japan and Rome without losing sight of the local forces affecting Catholicism. He demonstrates the ways Spanish religious attitudes motivated territorial expansion and transformed Catholic worship. Using Mexico City as an example, Conover also shows that the cult of saints continually refreshed the spiritual authority of the Spanish monarch and the message of loyalty of colonial peoples to a devout king. Such a political message in worship, Conover concludes, proved contentious in independent Mexico, thus setting the stage for the momentous conflicts of the nineteenth century in Latin American religious history.
  religion and imperialism: Casting Faiths T. DuBois, 2009-03-31 How did European imperialism shape the ideas and practices of religion in East and Southeast Asia? Casting Faiths brings together eleven scholars to show how Western law, governance, education and mission shaped the basic understanding of what religion is, and what role it should play in society.
  religion and imperialism: Islamic Imperialism Efraim Karsh, 2007-01-01 From the first Arab-Islamic Empire of the mid-seventh century to the Ottomans, the last great Muslim empire, the story of the Middle East has been the story of the rise and fall of universal empires and, no less important, of imperialist dreams. So argues Efraim Karsh in this highly provocative book. Rejecting the conventional Western interpretation of Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, Karsh contends that the region's experience is the culmination of long-existing indigenous trends, passions, and patterns of behavior, and that foremost among these is Islam's millenarian imperial tradition. The author explores the history of Islam's imperialism and the persistence of the Ottoman imperialist dream that outlasted World War I to haunt Islamic and Middle Eastern politics to the present day. September 11 can be seen as simply the latest expression of this dream, and such attacks have little to do with U.S. international behavior or policy in the Middle East, says Karsh. The House of Islam's war for world mastery is traditional, indeed venerable, and it is a quest that is far from over.
  religion and imperialism: The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History Kathryn Gin Lum, Paul Harvey, 2018-03-01 The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History brings together a number of established scholars, as well as younger scholars on the rise, to provide a scholarly overview for those interested in the role of religion and race in American history. Thirty-four scholars from the fields of History, Religious Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, and more investigate the complex interdependencies of religion and race from pre-Columbian origins to the present. The volume addresses the religious experience, social realities, theologies, and sociologies of racialized groups in American religious history, as well as the ways that religious myths, institutions, and practices contributed to their racialization. Part One begins with a broad introductory survey outlining some of the major terms and explaining the intersections of race and religions in various traditions and cultures across time. Part Two provides chronologically arranged accounts of specific historical periods that follow a narrative of religion and race through four-plus centuries. Taken together, The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History provides a reliable scholarly text and resource to summarize and guide work in this subject, and to help make sense of contemporary issues and dilemmas.
  religion and imperialism: Religion and Governance in England’s Emerging Colonial Empire, 1601–1698 Haig Z. Smith, 2021-11-03 This open access book explores the role of religion in England's overseas companies and the formation of English governmental identity abroad in the seventeenth century. Drawing on research into the Virginia, East India, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New England and Levant Companies, it offers a comparative global assessment of the inextricable links between the formation of English overseas government and various models of religious governance across England's emerging colonial empire. While these approaches to governance varied from company to company, each sought to regulate the behaviour of their personnel, as well as the numerous communities and faiths which fell within their jurisdiction. This book provides a crucial reassessment of the seventeenth-century foundations of British imperial governance.
  religion and imperialism: Religion, Colonization and Decolonization in Congo, 1885-1960. Religion, colonisation et décolonisation au Congo, 1885-1960 Vincent Viaene, Bram Cleys, Jan De Maeyer, 2020-10-30 Religion in today’s Democratic Republic of Congo has many faces: from the overflowing seminaries and Marian shrines of the Catholic Church to the Islamic brotherhoods, from the healers of Kimban-guism to the televangelism of the booming Pentecostalist churches in the great cities, from the Orthodox communities of Kasai to the ‘invisible’ Mai Mai warriors in the brousse of Kivu. During the colonial period religion was no less central to people’s lives than it is today. More surprisingly, behind the seemingly smooth facade of missions linked closely to imperial power, faith and worship were already marked by diversity and dynamism, tying the Congo into broader African and global movements. The contributions in this book provide insight into the multifaceted history of the interaction between religion and colonization. The authors outline the institutional political framework, and focus on the challenge that old and new forms of slavery entailed for the missions. The atrocities committed at the time of the Congo Free State became an existential question for young Christian communities. In the Belgian Congo after 1908, more structural forms of colonial violence remained a key issue marking religious experiences. And yet, religion also acted as a bridge. The authors emphasize the role intermediaries such as catechists or medical assistants played in the African “appropriation” of Christianity. They examine the complex interaction with indigenous religious beliefs and practices, and zoom in on the part religions played in the independence movement, as well as on their reaction to independence itself. Coming at a moment when Belgium confronts its colonial past, this volume provides a timely reassessment of religion as a key factor.
  religion and imperialism: African American Religions, 1500–2000 Sylvester A. Johnson, 2015-08-06 A rich account of the long history of Black religion from the dawn of Western colonialism to the rise of the national security paradigm.
  religion and imperialism: Missionary Writing and Empire, 1800-1860 Anna Johnston, 2003-08-07 Anna Johnston analyses missionary writing under the aegis of the British Empire. Johnston argues that missionaries occupied ambiguous positions in colonial cultures, caught between imperial and religious interests. She maps out this position through an examination of texts published by missionaries of the largest, most influential nineteenth-century evangelical institution, the London Missionary Society. Texts from Indian, Polynesian, and Australian missions are examined to highlight their representation of nineteenth-century evangelical activity in relation to gender, colonialism, and race.
  religion and imperialism: Religion Versus Empire? Andrew Porter, 2004-10-29 This is the only book that addresses the relations between religion, Protestant missions, and empire building, linking together all three fields of study by taking as its starting point the early eighteenth century Anglican initiatives in colonial North America and the Caribbean. It considers how the early societies of the 1790s built on this inheritance, and extended their own interests to the Pacific, India, the Far East, and Africa. Fluctuations in the vigor and commitment of the missions, changing missionary theologies, and the emergence of alternative missionary strategies, are all examined for their impact on imperial expansion. Other themes include the international character of the missionary movement, Christianity's encounter with Islam, and major figures such as David Livingstone, the state and politics, and humanitarianism, all of which are viewed in a fresh light.
  religion and imperialism: WHITE MAN'S BURDEN Rudyard Kipling, 2020-11-05 This book re-presents the poetry of Rudyard Kipling in the form of bold slogans, the better for us to reappraise the meaning and import of his words and his art. Each line or phrase is thrust at the reader in a manner that may be inspirational or controversial... it is for the modern consumer of this recontextualization to decide. They are words to provoke: to action. To inspire. To recite. To revile. To reconcile or reconsider the legacy and benefits of colonialism. Compiled and presented by sloganist Dick Robinson, three poems are included, complete and uncut: 'White Man's Burden', 'Fuzzy-Wuzzy' and 'If'.
  religion and imperialism: Orientalizing the Jew Julie Kalman, 2017-01-16 “Seeks to further our understanding of the relationship between perceptions of Jews and the reality of their existence in nineteenth-century France.” —H-France Review Orientalizing the Jew shows how French travelers depicted Jews in the Orient and then brought these ideas home to orientalize Jews living in their homeland during the 19th century. Julie Kalman draws on narratives, personal and diplomatic correspondence, novels, and plays to show how the “Jews of the East” featured prominently in the minds of the French and how they challenged ideas of the familiar and the exotic. Portraits of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, romanticized Jewish artists, and the wealthy Sephardi families of Algiers come to life. These accounts incite a necessary conversation about Jewish history, the history of anti-Jewish discourses, French history, and theories of Orientalism in order to broaden understandings about Jews of the day. “A well-argued, beautifully written, and intellectually stimulating investigation of representations of Middle Eastern and North African Jews by French Catholic pilgrims, writers, artists, and bureaucrats over the 19th century.” —Maud Mandel, author of Muslims and Jews in France “Jews of France, nominally full citizens since the French Revolution . . . experienced uncertainty regarding whether their status would be reversed with each change of government . . . Kalman’s work contributes significantly to an understanding of that insecurity, as she fleshes out the stereotypes that others, officials, artists, authors and intellectuals, projected onto the Jews living among them inside France.” —French History
  religion and imperialism: Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 30 Ralph W. Hood, Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor, 2019-12-16 The 30th volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion consists of two special sections, as well as two separate empirical studies on attachment and daily spiritual practices. The first special section deals with the social scientific study of religion in Indonesia. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country whose history and contemporary involvement in the study of religion is explored from both sociological and psychological perspectives. The second special section is on the Pope Francis effect: the challenges of modernization in the Catholic church and the global impact of Pope Francis. While its focus is mainly on the Catholic religion, the internal dynamics and geopolitics explored apply more broadly.
  religion and imperialism: Colonial Transformation and Asian Religions in Modern History David W. Kim, 2018-10-12 The localisation of a region, group, or culture was a common social phenomenon in pre-modern Asia, but global colonialism began to affect the lifestyle of local people. What was the political condition of the relationship between insiders and outsiders? The impact of colonial authorities over religious communities has not received significant attention, even though the Asian continent is the home of many religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Shintoism, and Shamanism. Colonial Transformation and Asian Religions in Modern History presents multi-angled perspectives of socio-religious transition. It uses the cultural religiosity of the Asian people as a lens through which readers can re-examine the concepts of imperialism, religious syncretism and modernisation. The contributors interpret the growth of new religions as another facet of counter-colonialism. This new approach offers significant insight into comprehending the practical agony and sorrow of regional people throughout Asian history.
  religion and imperialism: Empires of Religion H. Carey, 2008-11-13 A sparkling new collection on religion and imperialism, covering Ireland and Britain, Australia, Canada, the Cape Colony and New Zealand, Botswana and Madagascar. Bursting with accounts of lively characters and incidents from around the British world, this collection is essential reading for all students of religious and imperial history.
  religion and imperialism: The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia Felix Wilfred, 2014 Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies Despite the ongoing global expansion of Christianity, there remains a lack of comprehensive scholarship on its development in Asia. This volume fills the gap by exploring the world of Asian Christianity and its manifold expressions, including worship, theology, spirituality, inter-religious relations, interventions in society, and mission. The contributors, from over twenty countries, deconstruct many of the widespread misconceptions and interpretations of Christianity in Asia. They analyze how the growth of Christian beliefs throughout the continent is linked with the socio-political and cultural processes of colonization, decolonization, modernization, democratization, identity construction of social groups, and various social movements. With a particular focus on inter-religious encounters and emerging theological and spiritual paradigms, the volume provides alternative frames for understanding the phenomenon of conversion and studies how the scriptures of other religious traditions are used in the practice of Christianity within Asia.
  religion and imperialism: The Science of Religion in Britain, 1860-1915 Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay, 2010-10-21 Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay argues that, although the existence and significance of the science of religion has been barely visible to modern scholars of the Victorian period, it was a subject of lively and extensive debate among nineteenth-century readers and audiences. She shows how an earlier generation of scholars in Victorian Britain attempted to arrive at a dispassionate understanding of the psychological and social meanings of religious beliefs and practices—a topic not without contemporary resonance in a time when so many people feel both empowered and threatened by religious passion—and provides the kind of history she feels has been neglected. Wheeler-Barclay examines the lives and work of six scholars: Friedrich Max Müller, Edward B. Tylor, Andrew Lang, William Robertson Smith, James G. Frazer, and Jane Ellen Harrison. She illuminates their attempts to create a scholarly, non-apologetic study of religion and religions that drew upon several different disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, the classics, and Oriental studies, and relied upon contributions from those outside as well as within the universities. This intellectual enterprise—variously known as comparative religion, the history of religions, or the science of religion—was primarily focused on non-Christian religions. Yet in Wheeler-Barclay’s study of the history of this field within the broad contexts of Victorian cultural, intellectual, social, and political history, she traces the links between the emergence of the science of religion to debates about Christianity and to the history of British imperialism, the latter of which made possible the collection of so much of the ethnographic data on which the scholars relied and which legitimized exploration and conquest. Far from promoting an anti-religious or materialistic agenda, the science of religion opened up cultural space for an exploration of religion that was not constricted by the terms of contemporary conflicts over Darwin and the Bible and that made it possible to think in new and more flexible ways about the very definition of religion.
  religion and imperialism: Faith in Empire Elizabeth A. Foster, 2013-03-20 Faith in Empire is an innovative exploration of French colonial rule in West Africa, conducted through the prism of religion and religious policy. Elizabeth Foster examines the relationships among French Catholic missionaries, colonial administrators, and Muslim, animist, and Christian Africans in colonial Senegal between 1880 and 1940. In doing so she illuminates the nature of the relationship between the French Third Republic and its colonies, reveals competing French visions of how to approach Africans, and demonstrates how disparate groups of French and African actors, many of whom were unconnected with the colonial state, shaped French colonial rule. Among other topics, the book provides historical perspective on current French controversies over the place of Islam in the Fifth Republic by exploring how Third Republic officials wrestled with whether to apply the legal separation of church and state to West African Muslims.
  religion and imperialism: God and His Demons Michael Parenti, 2010-06-30 A noted author and activist brings his critical acumen and rhetorical skills to bear in this polemic against the dark side of religion. Unlike some popular works by stridently outspoken atheists, this is not a blanket condemnation of all believers. Rather the author's focus is the heartless exploitation of faithful followers by those in power, as well as sectarian intolerance, the violence against heretics and nonbelievers, and the reactionary political and economic collusion that has often prevailed between the upper echelons of church and state. Parenti notes the deleterious effects of past theocracies and the threat to our freedoms posed by present-day fundamentalists and theocratic reactionaries. He discusses how socially conscious and egalitarian minded liberal religionists have often been isolated and marginalized by their more conservative (and better financed) coreligionists. Finally, he documents the growing strength of secular freethinkers who are doing battle against the intolerant theocratic usurpers in public life. Historically anchored yet sharply focused on the contemporary scene, this eloquent indictment of religion’s dangers will be welcomed by committed secular laypersons and progressive religionists alike.
  religion and imperialism: Imperialism and Religion Morton Cogan, 1973
  religion and imperialism: Religion David Chidester, 2018-04-20 Religion: Material Dynamics is a lively resource for thinking about religious materiality and the material study of religion. Deconstructing and reconstructing religion as material categories, social formations, and mobile circulations, the book explores the making, ordering, and circulating of religious things. The book is divided into three sections: Part One revitalizes basic categories—animism and sacred, space and time—by situating them in their material production and testing their analytical viability. Part Two examines religious formations as configurations of power that operate in material cultures and cultural economies and are most clearly shown in the power relations of colonialism and imperialism. Part Three explores the material dynamics of circulation through case studies of religious mobility, change, and diffusion as intimate as the body and as vast as the oceans. Each chapter offers insightful orientations and surprising possibilities for studying material religion. Exploring the material dynamics of religion from poetics to politics, David Chidester provides an entry into the study of material religion that will be welcomed by students and specialists in religious studies, anthropology, and history.
  religion and imperialism: An Islamic Response to Imperialism Nikki R. Keddie, 1983-04-20 Keddie has rendered a valuable service ... Afghani merits the attention of Western students of the contemporary international scene and the Muslim renaissance since he made the first significant attempt to answer the modern Western challenge to the Muslim world. ---Eastern World Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897), the well known religious reformer and political activist, led a busy and complex life full of obscure and clandestine ventures. . . . [Keddie] draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources. In part I an attempt is made to provide an accurate biography and a consistent analysis of Afghani. Part II co ntains translations of some of his most important writings. . . Although Afghani was concerned with the wide ranging need for Islamic reform, he devoted most of his life to the more urgent political problems confronting Muslims--problems arising out of their weakness in dealing with the Western Christian powers. Hence the tide of this book. The picture that emerges here confirms Afghani's long standing reputation as a defender of Muslim interests--not against borrowing European advances in science and technology, but against foreign political, economic, or military encroachment.--Middle East journal Jamal ad-Din was a mysterious figure and most of the mysteries were of his own making . . . it has been left to Professor Keddie to apply the methods of the critical historian to the matter ... This book shows how successful she has been . . . there has emerged for the first time a credible picture of Jamal ad-Din's life . . . The second part contains translations of works by Jamal ad-Din himself, and these are valuable because most of them were written in Persian and have either not been easily available at all or else have been available only in Arabic translation. This is particularly true of the Refutation of the Materialists. --International journal of Middle East Studies For the first time a significant collection of the writings of al-Afghani are now available in English, and so, for the first time, this controversial figure has had more life breathed into him.--American Historical Review
  religion and imperialism: Religion and US Empire Tisa Wenger, Sylvester A. Johnson, 2022-08-23 This book shows how imperialism molded American religion-both the category of religion and the traditions designated as religions-and reveals the multifaceted roles of American religions in structuring, enabling, surviving, and resisting the U.S. Empire--
  religion and imperialism: Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity Jeremy M. Schott, 2013-04-23 In Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity, Jeremy M. Schott examines the ways in which conflicts between Christian and pagan intellectuals over religious, ethnic, and cultural identity contributed to the transformation of Roman imperial rhetoric and ideology in the early fourth century C.E. During this turbulent period, which began with Diocletian's persecution of the Christians and ended with Constantine's assumption of sole rule and the consolidation of a new Christian empire, Christian apologists and anti-Christian polemicists launched a number of literary salvos in a battle for the minds and souls of the empire. Schott focuses on the works of the Platonist philosopher and anti- Christian polemicist Porphyry of Tyre and his Christian respondents: the Latin rhetorician Lactantius, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, and the emperor Constantine. Previous scholarship has tended to narrate the Christianization of the empire in terms of a new religion's penetration and conquest of classical culture and society. The present work, in contrast, seeks to suspend the static, essentializing conceptualizations of religious identity that lie behind many studies of social and political change in late antiquity in order to investigate the processes through which Christian and pagan identities were constructed. Drawing on the insights of postcolonial discourse analysis, Schott argues that the production of Christian identity and, in turn, the construction of a Christian imperial discourse were intimately and inseparably linked to the broader politics of Roman imperialism.
  religion and imperialism: Imperial Encounters Peter van der Veer, 2020-06-30 Picking up on Edward Said's claim that the historical experience of empire is common to both the colonizer and the colonized, Peter van der Veer takes the case of religion to examine the mutual impact of Britain's colonization of India on Indian and British culture. He shows that national culture in both India and Britain developed in relation to their shared colonial experience and that notions of religion and secularity were crucial in imagining the modern nation in both countries. In the process, van der Veer chronicles how these notions developed in the second half of the nineteenth century in relation to gender, race, language, spirituality, and science. Avoiding the pitfalls of both world systems theory and national historiography, this book problematizes oppositions between modern and traditional, secular and religious, progressive and reactionary. It shows that what often are assumed to be opposites are, in fact, profoundly entangled. In doing so, it upsets the convenient fiction that India is the land of eternal religion, existing outside of history, while Britain is the epitome of modern secularity and an agent of history. Van der Veer also accounts for the continuing role of religion in British culture and the strong part religion has played in the development of Indian civil society. This masterly work of scholarship brings into view the effects of the very close encounter between India and Britain--an intimate encounter that defined the character of both nations.
  religion and imperialism: Saving Buddhism Alicia Turner, 2014-10-31 Saving Buddhism explores the dissonance between the goals of the colonial state and the Buddhist worldview that animated Burmese Buddhism at the turn of the twentieth century. For many Burmese, the salient and ordering discourse was not nation or modernity but sāsana, the life of the Buddha’s teachings. Burmese Buddhists interpreted the political and social changes between 1890 and 1920 as signs that the Buddha’s sāsana was deteriorating. This fear of decline drove waves of activity and organizing to prevent the loss of the Buddha’s teachings. Burmese set out to save Buddhism, but achieved much more: they took advantage of the indeterminacy of the moment to challenge the colonial frameworks that were beginning to shape their world. Author Alicia Turner has examined thousands of rarely used sources-- newspapers and Buddhist journals, donation lists, and colonial reports—to trace three discourses set in motion by the colonial encounter: the evolving understanding of sāsana as an orienting framework for change, the adaptive modes of identity made possible in the moral community, and the ongoing definition of religion as a site of conflict and negotiation of autonomy. Beginning from an understanding that defining and redefining the boundaries of religion operated as a key technique of colonial power—shaping subjects through European categories and authorizing projects of colonial governmentality—she explores how Burmese Buddhists became actively engaged in defining and inflecting religion to shape their colonial situation and forward their own local projects. Saving Buddhism intervenes not just in scholarly conversations about religion and colonialism, but in theoretical work in religious studies on the categories of “religion” and “secular.” It contributes to ongoing studies of colonialism, nation, and identity in Southeast Asian studies by working to denaturalize nationalist histories. It also engages conversations on millennialism and the construction of identity in Buddhist studies by tracing the fluid nature of sāsana as a discourse. The layers of Buddhist history that emerge challenge us to see multiple modes of identity in colonial modernity and offer insights into the instabilities of categories we too often take for granted.
  religion and imperialism: Decolonizing Christianity Darcie Fontaine, 2016-06-20 This book traces Christianity's change from European imperialism's moral foundation to a voice of political and social change during decolonization.
  religion and imperialism: Freedom and Religion in the Nineteenth Century Richard J. Helmstadter, 1997 The subject of religious liberty in the nineteenth century has been defined by a liberal narrative that has prevailed since Mill and Macaulay to Trevelyan and Commager, to name only a few philosophers and historians who wrote in English. Underlying this narrative is a noble dream--liberty for every person, guaranteed by democratic states that promote social progress though not interfering with those broadly defined areas of life, including religion, that are properly the preserve of free individuals. At the end of the twentieth century, however, it becomes clear that religious liberty requires a more comprehensive, subtle, and complex definition than the liberal tradition affords, one that confronts such questions as gender, ethnicity, and the distinction between individual and corporate liberty. None of the authors in this volume finds the familiar liberal narrative an adequate interpretive context for understanding his particular subject. Some address the liberal tradition directly and propose modified versions; others approach it implicitly. All revise it, and all revise in ways that echo across the chapters. The topics covered are religious liberty in early America (Nathan O. Hatch), science and religious freedom (Frank M. Turner), the conflicting ideas of religious freedom in early Victorian England (J. P. Ellens), the arguments over theological innovation in the England of the 1860’s (R. K. Webb), European Jews and the limits of religious freedom (David C. Itzkowitz), restrictions and controls on the practice of religion in Bismarck’s Germany (Ronald J. Ross), the Catholic Church in nineteenth-century Europe (Raymond Grew), religious liberty in France, 1787-1908 (C. T. McIntyre), clericalism and anticlericalism in Chile, 1820-1920 (Simon Collier), and religion and imperialism in nineteenth-century Britain (Jeffrey Cox).
  religion and imperialism: The Invention of Religions Daniel Dubuisson, 2019 For nearly thirty years, a scientific revolution has taken place in the religious studies departments of several North American and British universities--and the results are considerable, obliging us to envisage new ways of conceiving of this academic field. While the History of Religions tended to rest in the shade and guardianship of past authorities, this critical current has re-examined the discipline's a priori positions, its favourite arguments, its long prehistory within Euro/Christian culture, but also its numerous ethnocentric prejudices. The first part of the volume considers anew the origins and Christian history of the notion of religion. This starting point then allows us to identify dead ends and contradictions within the traditional History of Religions approach. The second part is dedicated to the synthetic presentation of the concepts, methods, and controversies, which distinguish this current. Following this are two related contributions devoted to two major case studies: Colonialism and Cultural Imperialism and The Invention of Hinduism and Shintoism. Finally, in the third and last part of the book, this trend itself is critically examined. The author identifies some of the paradoxes, gaps, and aporias that this approach has already gathered during its short existence.
  religion and imperialism: Religion, Science, and Empire Peter Gottschalk, 2013 Peter Gottschalk offers a compelling study of how, through the British implementation of scientific taxonomy in the subcontinent, Britons and Indians identified an inherent divide between mutually antagonistic religious communities. England's ascent to power coincided with the rise of empirical science as an authoritative way of knowing not only the natural world, but the human one as well. The British scientific passion for classification, combined with the Christian impulse to differentiate people according to religion, led to a designation of Indians as either Hindu or Muslim according to rigidly defined criteria that paralleled classification in botanical and zoological taxonomies. Through an historical and ethnographic study of the north Indian village of Chainpur, Gottschalk shows that the Britons' presumed categories did not necessarily reflect the Indians' concepts of their own identities, though many Indians came to embrace this scientism and gradually accepted the categories the British instituted through projects like the Census of India, the Archaeological Survey of India, and the India Museum. Today's propogators of Hindu-Muslim violence often cite scientistic formulations of difference that descend directly from the categories introduced by imperial Britain. Religion, Science, and Empire will be a valuable resource to anyone interested in the colonial and postcolonial history of religion in India.
  religion and imperialism: Nation and Religion Peter van der Veer, Hartmut Lehmann, 2020-10-06 Does modernity make religion politically irrelevant? Conventional scholarly and popular wisdom says that it does. The prevailing view assumes that the onset of western modernity--characterized by the rise of nationalism, the dominance of capitalism, and the emergence of powerful state institutions--favors secularism and relegates religion to the purely private realm. This collection of essays on nationalism and religion in Europe and Asia challenges that view. Contributors show that religion and politics are mixed together in complex and vitally important ways not just in the East, but in the West as well. The book focuses on four societies: India, Japan, Britain, and the Netherlands. It shows that religion and nationalism in these societies combined to produce such notions as the nation being chosen for a historical task (imperialism, for example), the possibility of national revival, and political leadership as a form of salvation. The volume also examines the qualities of religious discourse and practice that can be used for nationalist purposes, paying special attention to how religion can help to give meaning to sacrifice in national struggle. The book's comparative approach underscores that developments in colonizing and colonized countries, too often considered separately, are subtly interrelated. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Benedict R. Anderson, Talal Asad, Susan Bayly, Partha Chatterjee, Frans Groot, Harry Harootunian, Hugh McLeod, Barbara Metcalf, and Peter van Rooden.
  religion and imperialism: Christianity and Imperialism in Modern Japan Emily Anderson, 2014-12-18 Christianity and Imperialism in Modern Japan explores how Japanese Protestants engaged with the unsettling changes that resulted from Japan's emergence as a world power in the early 20th century. Through this analysis, the book offers a new perspective on the intersection of religion and imperialism in modern Japan. Emily Anderson reassesses religion as a critical site of negotiation between the state and its subjects as part of Japan's emergence as a modern nation-state and colonial empire. The book shows how religion, including its adherents and the state's attempts to determine acceptable belief, is a necessary subject of study for a nuanced understanding of modern Japanese history.
  religion and imperialism: The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere Judith Butler, Jurgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, Cornel West, 2011-03-02 The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere represents a rare opportunity to experience a diverse group of preeminent philosophers confronting one pervasive contemporary concern: what role does or should religion play in our public lives? Reflecting on her recent work concerning state violence in Israel-Palestine, Judith Butler explores the potential of religious perspectives for renewing cultural and political criticism, while Jürgen Habermas, best known for his seminal conception of the public sphere, thinks through the ambiguous legacy of the concept of the political in contemporary theory. Charles Taylor argues for a radical redefinition of secularism, and Cornel West defends civil disobedience and emancipatory theology. Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen detail the immense contribution of these philosophers to contemporary social and political theory, and an afterword by Craig Calhoun places these attempts to reconceive the significance of both religion and the secular in the context of contemporary national and international politics.
  religion and imperialism: Southern Cross Christine Leigh Heyrman, 2013-04-03 In an astonishing history, a work of strikingly original research and interpretation, Heyrman shows how the evangelical Protestants of the late-18th century affronted the Southern Baptist majority of the day, not only by their opposition to slaveholding, war, and class privilege, but also by their espousal of the rights of the poor and their encouragement of women's public involvement in the church.
  religion and imperialism: Religion and Empire Geoffrey W. Conrad, Arthur A. Demarest, 1984-08-31 A provocative, comparative study of the formation and expansion of the Aztec and Inca empires. Argues that prehistoric cultural development is largely determined by continual changes in traditional religion.
  religion and imperialism: Gender, Race and Religion in the Colonization of the Americas Nora E. Jaffary, 2016-12-05 When Europe introduced mechanisms to control New World territories, resources and populations, women-whether African, indigenous, mixed race, or European-responded and participated in multiple ways. By adopting a comprehensive view of female agency, the essays in this collection reveal the varied implications of women's experiences in colonialism in North and South America. Although the Spanish American context receives particular attention here, the volume contrasts the context of both colonial Mexico and Peru to every other major geographic region that became a focus of European imperialism in the early modern period: the Caribbean, Brazil, English America, and New France. The chapters provide a coherent perspective on the comparative history of European colonialism in the Americas through their united treatment of four central themes: the gendered implications of life on colonial frontiers; non-European women's relationships to Christian institutions; the implications of race-mixing; and social networks established by women of various ethnicities in the colonial context. This volume adds a new dimension to current scholarship in Atlantic history through its emphasis on culture, gender and race, and through its explicit effort to link religion to the broader imperial framework of economic extraction and political domination.