Secularism and State Policies toward Religion
The United States, France, and Turkey

Comparing policy in America, France, and Turkey, this book analyzes the impact of ideological struggles on public policies toward religion.

Ahmet T. Kuru (Author)

9780521517805, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 April 2009

334 pages, 4 b/w illus. 14 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

'Kuru's book is a priceless contribution to the cutting-edge debate on state-religion interaction … [It] is the best comparative book that has been published recently on contested state attitudes and policies toward religion … The book succeeds in incorporating an extremely nuanced understanding of each of the three cases without losing terminological clarity, analytical consistency, and theoretical depth.' International Journal of Middle East Studies

Why do secular states pursue different policies toward religion? This book provides a generalizable argument about the impact of ideological struggles on the public policy making process, as well as a state-religion regimes index of 197 countries. More specifically, it analyzes why American state policies are largely tolerant of religion, whereas French and Turkish policies generally prohibit its public visibility, as seen in their bans on Muslim headscarves. In the United States, the dominant ideology is 'passive secularism', which requires the state to play a passive role, by allowing public visibility of religion. Dominant ideology in France and Turkey is 'assertive secularism', which demands that the state play an assertive role in excluding religion from the public sphere. Passive and assertive secularism became dominant in these cases through certain historical processes, particularly the presence or absence of an ancien régime based on the marriage between monarchy and hegemonic religion during state-building periods.

1. Analyzing secularism: history, ideology, and policy
Part I. The United States: 2. Passive secularism and the Christian right's challenge (1981–2008)
3. Religious diversity and the evolution of passive secularism (1776–1981)
Part II. France: 4. Assertive secularism and the multiculturalist challenge (1989–2008)
5. The war of two Frances and the rise of assertive secularism (1789–1989)
Part III. Turkey: 6. Assertive secularism and the Islamic challenge (1997–2008)
7. Westernization and the emergence of assertive secularism (1826–1997).

Subject Areas: Sociology: customs & traditions [JHBT], Sociology [JHB], History of religion [HRAX], Religion & politics [HRAM2], Religion & beliefs [HR]