Description
I B TAURIS AND COMPANY LTD Reflections on the Global Civilization A Dialogue by Majid Tehranian Daisaku Ikeda
Globalization has brought different civilizations and peoples into new and closer contact. But this novel intimacy has not always led to greater understanding. There is an urgent need to work towards a global civilization based on principles of peace, mutual respect and tolerance. It is precisely that goal which the participants attempt in this classic dialogue. Inspired by the encounters between Buddhism and Islam as they exchanged ideas and goods along the Silk Road, it brings together a Sufi Muslim from Iran and one of the world's most influential lay Buddhist leaders to explore the vibrant areas of common ground between the Islamic and Buddhist traditions. Coloured by Sufi philosophy and by Buddhist thought and practice, and drawing on a diverse selection of thinkers - including Rumi and Hafez, Rabindranath Tagore, Jurgen Habermas and Antonio Gramsci - Reflections on the Global Civilization offers a profound meditation on conflict, loss and injustice, as well as the vitality of interfaith discussion. It shows that Islam and Buddhism have much to offer, not only to each other, but also to the world as a whole. Part I: Secularization, Islam and the Predicament of IdentityIntroductionChapter 1: The Enlightenment Project and Secularization in the WestChapter 2: Modernity and Islam in Egypt: The Struggle for Self-Representation and the Problems of OrientationChapter 3: Islam and Modernity: The Predicament of IdentityChapter 4: Narrating Islam, Modernity and Muslim IdentityChapter 5: Egyptian Writing and the Search for AuthenticityPart II: States of Cultural Contestation and the Struggle for Self-DefinitionChapter 6: Narrating the Nation: The Rise of Egyptian (Territorial) NationalismChapter 7: The Rise of Easternism and National Re-definitionChapter 8: ConclusionsPart III: States of AmbivalenceChapter 9: IntroductionChapter 10: From Sacred to Secular: Time and Space, Alienation and ExileChapter 11: The Transformation of Social FormationsChapter 12: The Plight of Women: Vulnerable, Powerless and SubjugatedChapter 13: Ambivalent Identities and the SacredChapter 14: Conclusion