ABSTRACT
Globalization and the compression of space and time have fundamentally changed the standard relationships between peoples and places. Across the world, despite these changes, national, communal, and religious allegiances have often only become stronger. Some scholars argue that these strengthened ties are an important means of resistance against the hegemonic forces of globalization. Others interpret the rise of fundamentalist practices as articulating alternative forms of non-Western modernity. Whatever the case, the unanticipated resurgence of religious and ethnic loyalties has given new meaning to religion in the public life of many communities. Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam have all experienced such surges in commitment and practice. And in many instances radical groups espousing essentialist religious positions have spawned new political movements. The spread of global terrorism has often been explained in terms of the inability to understand these groups. But such a connection is often unjustifiable, and it would be a grave simplification to view all religious orthodoxy or fundamentalist doctrine as a basis for terrorist violence.
