The Politics of Iconoclasm: Religion, Violence and the Culture of Image-Breaking in Christianity and Islam (Library of Modern Religion) - Tapa dura

'Usually, iconoclasm has been seen as a sub-plot in modern history. James Noyes suggests that it may be the main plot - linking together aspects of Islam, the Reformation and modern secular revolutions. In this light, modernity itself appears much more as the bearer of a negative, destructive impulse hidden behind various schemas of reform and projects of progress. So the reader is led by careful scholarly and analytic paths to a dark and subversive conclusion.' John Milbank, Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics, University of Nottingham 'This erudite, interesting, and highly readable book makes an important connection between the struggle for political power and iconoclastic religious extremism. It artfully shows that the radical rejection of religious images and icons is a challenge to orthodox authority and a basis for political power. It will impress both historians and policy-makers, and be an eye-opener to those who follow global religious and political trends in the contemporary era.' Mark Juergensmeyer, Director, Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence 'The Politics of Iconoclasm is an achievement - original and thought provoking. Noyes invites the reader to consider "iconoclasm" not simply as a label for fanaticism, but as the deliberate breaking of physical objects (images, buildings, shrines) that are mediated theologically, and carried out as acts of self-formation in the creation and assertion of modern state power. This is a remarkably suggestive book: careful in assembling its sources and yet engagingly written and argued.' Talal Asad, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center 'Noyes' lucid commentary on the strength of iconoclasm in both Islam and Christianity makes unsettling reading for the political scientist. He offers a vital insight into a long-neglected aspect of the relationship between religious violence and politics which makes the book powerful, profound and deeply disturbing.' Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

From false idols and graven images to the tombs of kings and the shrines of capitalism, the targeted destruction of cities, sacred sites and artefacts for religious, political or nationalistic reasons is central to our cultural legacy. This book examines the different traditions of image-breaking in Christianity and Islam as well as their development into nominally secular movements and paints a vivid, scholarly picture of a culture of destruction encompassing Protestantism, Wahhabism, and Nationalism. Beginning with a comparative account of Calvinist Geneva and Wahhabi Mecca, The Politics of Iconoclasm explores the religious and political agendas behind acts of image-breaking and their relation to nationhood and state-building. From sixteenth-century Geneva to urban developments in Mecca today, The Politics of Iconoclasm explores the history of image-breaking, the culture of violence and its paradoxical roots in the desire for renewal. Examining these dynamics of nationhood, technology, destruction and memory, a historical journey is described in which the temple is razed and replaced by the machine.