Religion and the state in Russia and China
Subtitle: suppression, survival, and revival
By: Christopher Marsh
Publisher: Continuum
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 273
ISBN-13: 9781441102294; 9781441112477
Subjects: Church and state; Religion and state; History
Description: "Lucidly and engagingly written, Christopher Marsh's book is a landmark contribution to the growing literature on secularization and desecularization in the modern world. Previous studies have typically focused on a single country or religious movement, while there has been precious little comparative, cross-national and cross-civilizational research. Yet, without comparative research, it is impossible to theorize desecularization and detect its broad, cross-national meaning, patterns, causes, and consequences. Dr. Marsh's book fills in this gap. It detects and theorizes the patterns of religions' suppression, resilience and resurgence by comparatively exploring the cases of Russia and China. These are, without an exaggeration, the two most important and massive cases of forced secularization and subsequent religious resurgence in the 20th - early 21st century. The book marshals impressive empirical evidence, ranging from documentary sources to representative national surveys."--Bloomsbury Publishing.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: From forced secularization to desecularization; title: The theological roots of militant atheism; title: Evicting God : forced secularization in the Soviet Union; title: Faith in defiance : the persistence of religion under scientific atheism; title: Russia's religious renaissance; title: China's third opium war : the CCP's struggle with religion; title: Keeping the faith : the persistence of religious life in Communist China; title: From religious anesthesia to Jesus fever; title: Conclusion: Man, the state, and God.