1st Edition

Masking Hegemony A Genealogy of Liberalism, Religion and the Private Sphere

By Craig Martin Copyright 2010
    194 Pages
    by Routledge

    194 Pages
    by Routledge

    'Masking Hegemony' presents a critical evaluation of the language used in liberal political thought, tracing liberalism's use of two key binary concepts - public/private and religion/state - from the Protestant Reformation to the present. Whilst appearing to separate "religion" from "state" and "public" from "private", this language actually masks the influence of religious institutions on state policies and the inevitable circulation of power from the private to the public sphere in a liberal democracy. 'Masking Hegemony' uses the work of Gramsci, Foucault and Bourdieu to offer a fresh approach to liberal ideology that will be of interest to students and scholars of both politics and religion.

    Introduction On "Using Religion" Chapter One Delimiting Religion Chapter Two On the Origin of the "Private Sphere": Religion and Politics from Luther to Locke Chapter Three John Locke and the Circulation of Power in a Liberal Democracy Chapter Four Configured for Exclusion: Characterizations of Religion in Contemporary Liberal Political Philosophy Chapter Five "To Each His Own": On the Failure to Challenge Hegemonic Ideology Conclusion Rethinking the Circulation of Power in a Liberal Democracy

    Biography

    Craig Martin is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at St. Thomas Aquinas College, New York.