Religion and Broken Solidarities

More about the book

Public discourse is filled with complex debates surrounding religion, race, gender, and nationalism, exemplified by issues like Muslim women's headscarves, Palestine/Israel, and global anti-Black racism. Fresh perspectives are essential to address the social justice questions these debates raise. Contributors offer insightful reflections on how to navigate these challenges with ethical commitment, intersectional awareness, and intellectual rigor. The work explores the role of religious discourse in fostering unrealized solidarity among marginalized groups with shared goals. It emphasizes that religion intertwines with national, racial, and gender identities, complicating the potential for collaboration among different minoritized communities. The four chapters critically analyze various historical and contemporary events, including accusations of antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism at the Women's March in Washington, the failure of feminists in Iran and Turkey to unite due to nationalist rhetoric, Black Catholics' struggles against modernity, and the disconnect between Palestinian and Mizrahi causes in Palestine/Israel. These analyses collectively argue that overcoming barriers to solidarity necessitates reimagining alternatives to the modern nation-state.