MACMILLAN Religions in International Political Economy

This book shows how religions and their internal struggles shape key actors and processes in the international political economy. It highlights how fundamentalist, business-oriented Christians in the United States were instrumental in the neoliberal turn in US hegemony, how Christianity, in the form of prosperity religion, transformed Latin America, and how reactionary religious movements sharpened state competition through illiberal politics in Turkey, India, and elsewhere. But reactionary movements are also confronted by liberationist or more progressive movements, such as Islamic feminism, that seek to build a more inclusive global economy. Religions and their ideas should be seen as a constitutive part of neoliberal globalization and its contestation in IPE. Review “Sabine Dreher has broken new ground in her critical study of religious fundamentalism and globalization. Using a Gramscian framework she convincingly shows how the triumph of neo-liberalism was intimately connected to right-wing religious movements in a hegemonic realignment of elites. Dreher’s argument, that religious activism needs to be analyzed as a struggle for power and wealth, hits hard with clarity and insight, adding layers of complexity to our understanding of political economy and culture. Covering ground from the U.S. to Turkey, India and Latin America the book is a must read for those seeking to unravel the political dynamics of globalization.”  - Jerry Harris, National Secretary, Global Studies Association of North America, Professor Emeritus of History at DeVry University, Chicago.  “This unique and much needed volume offers prescient insights into the role of religion in neoliberal political economy as well as its manifold contestations. Sabine Dreher surveys a wide range of politicized manifestations of religiosity in diverse geographic settings and brilliantly captures religion’s crucial though contradictory place in contemporary globalizing world. This book deserves to be widely read.” - Rafal Soborski, Professor of International Politics, Richmond: the American International University in London   From the Back Cover This book shows how religions and their internal struggles shape key actors and processes in the international political economy. It highlights how fundamentalist, business-oriented Christians in the United States were instrumental in the neoliberal turn in US hegemony, how Christianity, in the form of prosperity religion, transformed Latin America, and how reactionary religious movements sharpened state competition through illiberal politics in Turkey, India, and elsewhere. But reactionary movements are also confronted by liberationist or more progressive movements, such as Islamic feminism, that seek to build a more inclusive global economy. Religions and their ideas should be seen as a constitutive part of neoliberal globalization and its contestation in IPE. Sabine Dreher (Dr. rer. Pol.) is Adjunct Professor in the Department of International Studies, Glendon College at York University, Toronto, Canada. About the Author Sabine Dreher (Dr. rer. Pol.) is Adjunct Professor in the Department of International Studies, Glendon College at York University, Toronto, Canada.