Religion in Culture- Religion and the Domestication of Dissent Or, How to Live in a Less Than Perfect Nation

This essay considers a variety of discursive sites, from contemporary film and art to the War on Terror to ask the reader to consider how the classifications we use to name and thereby negotiate our social worlds are implicitly political and are being wielded in the public arena to carry out generally undisclosed/under analysed social work.



Since the events of 9/11 the representation of Islam has increasingly come adrift from its actuality. Scholars and pundits have effectively demonised a whole faith by wilfully apportioning blame and by ignoring the differences within the Islamic movement. 'Religion and the Domestication of Dissent' examines how the classifications we use to name and negotiate our social worlds - notably 'religion' - are implicitly political. The study ranges widely from contemporary film and art to the War on Terror and will be invaluable to readers interested in the politics behind the portrayal of dissenting religious groups.