R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
eBook
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

The Ambivalence of the Sacred

Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation

Scott R. Appleby - Foreword by Theodore M. Hesburgh

Terrorists and peacemakers may grow up in the same community and adhere to the same religious tradition. The killing carried out by one and the reconciliation fostered by the other indicate the range of dramatic and contradictory responses to human suffering by religious actors. Yet religion's ability to inspire violence is intimately related to its equally impressive power as a force for peace, especially in the growing number of conflicts around the world that involve religious claims and religiously inspired combatants. This book explains what religious terrorists and religious peacemakers share in common, what causes them to take different paths in fighting injustice, and how a deeper understanding of religious extremism can and must be integrated more effectively into our thinking about tribal, regional, and international conflict.
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 448 • Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-0-8476-8554-7 • Hardback • November 1999 • $173.00 • (£135.00)
978-0-8476-8555-4 • Paperback • November 1999 • $71.00 • (£55.00)
978-0-7425-6984-3 • eBook • November 1999 • $67.00 • (£52.00)
Series: Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict
Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General
R. Scott Appleby is professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, where he also directs the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and serves as a fellow of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
Chapter 1 Introduction: Powerful Medicine
Chapter 2 The Unfolding Response to the Sacred
Chapter 3 Religion's Violent Accomplices
Chapter 4 Violence as a Sacred Duty
Chapter 5 Militants for Peace
Chapter 6 Reconciliation and the Politics of Forgiveness
Chapter 7 Religion and Conflict Transformation
Chapter 8 Religious Human Rights and Interreligious Peace Building
Chapter 9 Ambivalence as Opportunity
Scott Appleby's book provides a timely, clear, and highly perceptive treatment of why and how religion has, especially since the end of the Cold War, gravitated to the center of the discussion of international affairs. . . . There is no doubt that this volume will be the centerpiece henceforward of an important new discussion on ‘religion, violence, and reconciliation.'
— David Little, United States Institute of Peace


In this volume [Appleby] seeks to balance the overall picture by focusing on the success stories and peacebuilding initiatives buried inside the newspapers, embedded in a largely untold past, and emerging piecemeal in the final years of this genocidal century. This is a kind of compensatory history, urgently needed in the contemporary debate, and it carries enormous implications for the way we think about religion's complex role, and undeniable potential, in preventing deadly conflict and in rebuilding communities shattered by violence.
— Theodore M. Hesburgh


I have found myself deeply impressed by the persuasiveness of its argument and by the wide-ranging case studies it contains. I can here only hint at the rich and varied resourses he provides in abundance to enable us to be both more faithful interpreters of our own traditions and to be more strategic in our peacemaking.
— Paul Deats; Fellowship


Appleby is extremely knowledgeable about movements, conflicts and personalities. Ambivalence of the Sacred contains rich veins of information about the complex relationship of religion, violence and peacemaking. It provides dozens of detailed portraits of personalities and religious movements that put faces on anonymous groups.
— America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture


In this current important book—not limited to conservative movements— Appleby uses case studies, careful analysis, and a highly readable narrative style to present religion's role in contemporary peacemaking and warmaking.
— Choice Reviews


Appleby's book should be required reading for all academic specialists in international relations and for practitioners of diplomacy as well. It provides a careful study of the interaction of religion with political life in many parts of the world today. It does this with a strong understanding of the differences and similarities among the major world religions and among the different civilizational contexts within which these religions function. . . . There is nothing quite like it for presenting the plusses and minuses of the role of religion on the world stage today.
— David Hollenbach S.J., Pedro Arrupe Distinguished Professor,Georgetown University


Is a treasure trove of information on religious activists around the world, many little known even to an informed public.
— The Christian Century


Scott Appleby has produced a work of considerable scholarship as he seeks to explore the painful and paradoxical relationship between religion, destructive conflict and peace in the contemporary world.
— Peace News


Scott Appleby has produced a work of considerable scholarship as he seeks to explore the painful and paradoxical relationship between religion, destructive conflict and peace in the contemporary world. The real ground-breaking value of this work lies in the exploration of the variety of roles performed by religious institutions, communities and individuals in conflict transformation.
— Ethnic Conflict Research Digest


Richly researched and wide-ranging book. What Appleby has done in this finely nuanced inquiry is to assemble an impressive array of documentation, both historical and bibliographical, along with a preliminary means of sorting out key variables. Students, teachers, and people seeking to develop religious engagement in programs of conflict transformation are all in his debt.
— Theological Studies


This book is that rare thing, a scholarly work which also makes a powerful impact on the interiority of the reader. It should be required reading not only for diplomats and specialists in international relations but also for religious studies students.
— The Heythrop Journal


In The Ambivalence of the Sacred, R. Scott Appleby expands the definitions associated with religious organizations and clarifies the roles they play in national politics, conflict and peace. Appleby thoroughly supports his thesis. He establishes clear definitions, argues powerfully for reconciliation and clearly delineates the legitimiacy that religious activists wo pursue it already enjoy.
— Military Review


A rich and rewarding volume.
— Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy


The book is scholarly, with ample references, but the topic is not overly technical, and the writing is clear and accessible.
— Research News and Opportunities In Science and Theology


For those weary of the secularist charge that religion has a unique capacity to produce violence, Scott Appleby's new book is a refreshing, moderate voice.
— Pro Ecclesia


The Ambivalence of the Sacred

Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Terrorists and peacemakers may grow up in the same community and adhere to the same religious tradition. The killing carried out by one and the reconciliation fostered by the other indicate the range of dramatic and contradictory responses to human suffering by religious actors. Yet religion's ability to inspire violence is intimately related to its equally impressive power as a force for peace, especially in the growing number of conflicts around the world that involve religious claims and religiously inspired combatants. This book explains what religious terrorists and religious peacemakers share in common, what causes them to take different paths in fighting injustice, and how a deeper understanding of religious extremism can and must be integrated more effectively into our thinking about tribal, regional, and international conflict.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 448 • Trim: 6½ x 9½
    978-0-8476-8554-7 • Hardback • November 1999 • $173.00 • (£135.00)
    978-0-8476-8555-4 • Paperback • November 1999 • $71.00 • (£55.00)
    978-0-7425-6984-3 • eBook • November 1999 • $67.00 • (£52.00)
    Series: Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict
    Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General
Author
Author
  • R. Scott Appleby is professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, where he also directs the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and serves as a fellow of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Chapter 1 Introduction: Powerful Medicine
    Chapter 2 The Unfolding Response to the Sacred
    Chapter 3 Religion's Violent Accomplices
    Chapter 4 Violence as a Sacred Duty
    Chapter 5 Militants for Peace
    Chapter 6 Reconciliation and the Politics of Forgiveness
    Chapter 7 Religion and Conflict Transformation
    Chapter 8 Religious Human Rights and Interreligious Peace Building
    Chapter 9 Ambivalence as Opportunity
Reviews
Reviews
  • Scott Appleby's book provides a timely, clear, and highly perceptive treatment of why and how religion has, especially since the end of the Cold War, gravitated to the center of the discussion of international affairs. . . . There is no doubt that this volume will be the centerpiece henceforward of an important new discussion on ‘religion, violence, and reconciliation.'
    — David Little, United States Institute of Peace


    In this volume [Appleby] seeks to balance the overall picture by focusing on the success stories and peacebuilding initiatives buried inside the newspapers, embedded in a largely untold past, and emerging piecemeal in the final years of this genocidal century. This is a kind of compensatory history, urgently needed in the contemporary debate, and it carries enormous implications for the way we think about religion's complex role, and undeniable potential, in preventing deadly conflict and in rebuilding communities shattered by violence.
    — Theodore M. Hesburgh


    I have found myself deeply impressed by the persuasiveness of its argument and by the wide-ranging case studies it contains. I can here only hint at the rich and varied resourses he provides in abundance to enable us to be both more faithful interpreters of our own traditions and to be more strategic in our peacemaking.
    — Paul Deats; Fellowship


    Appleby is extremely knowledgeable about movements, conflicts and personalities. Ambivalence of the Sacred contains rich veins of information about the complex relationship of religion, violence and peacemaking. It provides dozens of detailed portraits of personalities and religious movements that put faces on anonymous groups.
    — America: The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture


    In this current important book—not limited to conservative movements— Appleby uses case studies, careful analysis, and a highly readable narrative style to present religion's role in contemporary peacemaking and warmaking.
    — Choice Reviews


    Appleby's book should be required reading for all academic specialists in international relations and for practitioners of diplomacy as well. It provides a careful study of the interaction of religion with political life in many parts of the world today. It does this with a strong understanding of the differences and similarities among the major world religions and among the different civilizational contexts within which these religions function. . . . There is nothing quite like it for presenting the plusses and minuses of the role of religion on the world stage today.
    — David Hollenbach S.J., Pedro Arrupe Distinguished Professor,Georgetown University


    Is a treasure trove of information on religious activists around the world, many little known even to an informed public.
    — The Christian Century


    Scott Appleby has produced a work of considerable scholarship as he seeks to explore the painful and paradoxical relationship between religion, destructive conflict and peace in the contemporary world.
    — Peace News


    Scott Appleby has produced a work of considerable scholarship as he seeks to explore the painful and paradoxical relationship between religion, destructive conflict and peace in the contemporary world. The real ground-breaking value of this work lies in the exploration of the variety of roles performed by religious institutions, communities and individuals in conflict transformation.
    — Ethnic Conflict Research Digest


    Richly researched and wide-ranging book. What Appleby has done in this finely nuanced inquiry is to assemble an impressive array of documentation, both historical and bibliographical, along with a preliminary means of sorting out key variables. Students, teachers, and people seeking to develop religious engagement in programs of conflict transformation are all in his debt.
    — Theological Studies


    This book is that rare thing, a scholarly work which also makes a powerful impact on the interiority of the reader. It should be required reading not only for diplomats and specialists in international relations but also for religious studies students.
    — The Heythrop Journal


    In The Ambivalence of the Sacred, R. Scott Appleby expands the definitions associated with religious organizations and clarifies the roles they play in national politics, conflict and peace. Appleby thoroughly supports his thesis. He establishes clear definitions, argues powerfully for reconciliation and clearly delineates the legitimiacy that religious activists wo pursue it already enjoy.
    — Military Review


    A rich and rewarding volume.
    — Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy


    The book is scholarly, with ample references, but the topic is not overly technical, and the writing is clear and accessible.
    — Research News and Opportunities In Science and Theology


    For those weary of the secularist charge that religion has a unique capacity to produce violence, Scott Appleby's new book is a refreshing, moderate voice.
    — Pro Ecclesia


ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book International Relations Theory, Seventh Edition
  • Cover image for the book Foreign Policy Analysis: Classic and Contemporary Theory, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book When Rambo Meets the Red Cross: Civil-Military Engagement in Fragile States
  • Cover image for the book What Causes War?: An Introduction to Theories of International Conflict, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book The Enduring Struggle: The History of the U.S. Agency for International Development and America’s Uneasy Transformation of the World
  • Cover image for the book Korea-US-China Trilateral Relations in the Xi Jinping Era: Complexity, Conflict, and Interdependence
  • Cover image for the book Introduction to International Relations: Theory and Practice, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space
  • Cover image for the book Cases in International Relations: Principles and Applications, Ninth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Contending for American Nationhood: Joseph Story and the Debate Over a Federal Common Law
  • Cover image for the book International Relations: Theories, Concepts, and Organizations
  • Cover image for the book Shâmaran: The Neolithic Eternal Mother, Love and the Kurds
  • Cover image for the book Universitas: Why Higher Education Must Be International
  • Cover image for the book Sports in International Politics: Between Power and Peacebuilding
  • Cover image for the book International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics, Fifth Edition
  • Cover image for the book International Security: Threats, Theories, and Transformation
  • Cover image for the book Europe as the Western Peninsula of Greater Eurasia: Geoeconomic Regions in a Multipolar World
  • Cover image for the book Tilt: A Novel on Intergenerational Trauma
  • Cover image for the book Studying Foreign Policy Comparatively: Cases and Analysis, Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Our Shared Future: Windows into Canada's Reconciliation Journey
  • Cover image for the book International Negotiation in a Complex World, Updated Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Will China's Challenge Lead to a Crisis?
  • Cover image for the book Power, Place, and State-Society Relations in Korea: Neo-Confucian and Geomantic Reconstruction of Developmental State and Democratization
  • Cover image for the book The Myth of War in the Taiwan Strait: Elite Perspectives from Beijing, Taipei, and Washington amid the Yizhou Dilemma
  • Cover image for the book Augustine and Gender
  • Cover image for the book Gender, Race, and Power: Examining IR through an Intersectional Lens
  • Cover image for the book The Fragility of the Lebanese State
  • Cover image for the book The European Union, Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals: From High Ambitions to Weak Implementation
  • Cover image for the book The Rise of the Semi-Core: China, India, and Pakistan in the World-System
  • Cover image for the book Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, Updated Edition
  • Cover image for the book Transitional Justice after Clean Breaks: The Case of Portugal
  • Cover image for the book The Metamorphosis of U.S.-Korea Relations: The Korean Question Revisited
  • Cover image for the book American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan
  • Cover image for the book Turkish-American Relations in the 21st Century
  • Cover image for the book Regimes of Terror and Memory: Beyond the Uniqueness of the Holocaust
  • Cover image for the book International Relations Theory, Seventh Edition
  • Cover image for the book Foreign Policy Analysis: Classic and Contemporary Theory, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book When Rambo Meets the Red Cross: Civil-Military Engagement in Fragile States
  • Cover image for the book What Causes War?: An Introduction to Theories of International Conflict, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book The Enduring Struggle: The History of the U.S. Agency for International Development and America’s Uneasy Transformation of the World
  • Cover image for the book Korea-US-China Trilateral Relations in the Xi Jinping Era: Complexity, Conflict, and Interdependence
  • Cover image for the book Introduction to International Relations: Theory and Practice, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space
  • Cover image for the book Cases in International Relations: Principles and Applications, Ninth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Contending for American Nationhood: Joseph Story and the Debate Over a Federal Common Law
  • Cover image for the book International Relations: Theories, Concepts, and Organizations
  • Cover image for the book Shâmaran: The Neolithic Eternal Mother, Love and the Kurds
  • Cover image for the book Universitas: Why Higher Education Must Be International
  • Cover image for the book Sports in International Politics: Between Power and Peacebuilding
  • Cover image for the book International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics, Fifth Edition
  • Cover image for the book International Security: Threats, Theories, and Transformation
  • Cover image for the book Europe as the Western Peninsula of Greater Eurasia: Geoeconomic Regions in a Multipolar World
  • Cover image for the book Tilt: A Novel on Intergenerational Trauma
  • Cover image for the book Studying Foreign Policy Comparatively: Cases and Analysis, Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Our Shared Future: Windows into Canada's Reconciliation Journey
  • Cover image for the book International Negotiation in a Complex World, Updated Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Will China's Challenge Lead to a Crisis?
  • Cover image for the book Power, Place, and State-Society Relations in Korea: Neo-Confucian and Geomantic Reconstruction of Developmental State and Democratization
  • Cover image for the book The Myth of War in the Taiwan Strait: Elite Perspectives from Beijing, Taipei, and Washington amid the Yizhou Dilemma
  • Cover image for the book Augustine and Gender
  • Cover image for the book Gender, Race, and Power: Examining IR through an Intersectional Lens
  • Cover image for the book The Fragility of the Lebanese State
  • Cover image for the book The European Union, Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals: From High Ambitions to Weak Implementation
  • Cover image for the book The Rise of the Semi-Core: China, India, and Pakistan in the World-System
  • Cover image for the book Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, Updated Edition
  • Cover image for the book Transitional Justice after Clean Breaks: The Case of Portugal
  • Cover image for the book The Metamorphosis of U.S.-Korea Relations: The Korean Question Revisited
  • Cover image for the book American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan
  • Cover image for the book Turkish-American Relations in the 21st Century
  • Cover image for the book Regimes of Terror and Memory: Beyond the Uniqueness of the Holocaust
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...