Description
Book SynopsisMichael Dumper explores the causes and consequences of contemporary conflicts in holy cities. He offers five case studies of important disputes, beginning with Jerusalem, often seen as the paradigmatic example of a holy city in conflict, and discussing Córdoba, Banaras, Lhasa, and George Town in Malaysia.
Trade ReviewHighly original and fascinating empirical research, combined with theoretical depth, positions this book on high ground. Dumper adroitly and expertly examines the nexus between religion and urbanity in five holy cities in Israel/Palestine, Spain, India, China, and Malaysia. The book foregrounds the intersection of structural determinants and street-level phenomena as key to understanding whether dominance or tolerance takes hold in urban space. -- Scott Bollens, University of California, Irvine
Power, Piety and People brings together both political insights into the key dynamics that comprise religious conflicts in cities and detailed studies of relevant cases across two continents. Dumper examines the patterns of urban conflict that flow from the way key religious sites are used and how they are managed, financed, and protected. The result is a fascinating and informative analysis of the complexity and the intractability of religious conflicts which will inform those concerned with the growing challenges of an increasingly urbanized world. -- Lynn Meskell, author of
A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of PeacePower, Piety, and People is a tour de force. Dumper explores the politics of contemporary “holy cities” through rich and thoughtful case studies of Jerusalem, the Mezquita of Cordoba, Banaras, Lhasa, and George Town. His analysis highlights the complex ways belief, institutions, politics, and economies can interact to support exclusionary claims of communal priority or encourage more pluralist and integrative urban societies. -- Rex Brynen, McGill University
Table of ContentsList of Figures, Maps, and Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Jerusalem: Template of a Holy City in Conflict?
2. The Politics of Regionalism: Cordoba’s Mezquita on the Frontline
3. Hindu–Muslim Rivalries in Banaras: History and Myth as the Present
4. A Very Secular Occupation: Buddhist Lhasa and Communism
5. Branding Religious Coexistence: Malaysia’s George Town as a Model City of Harmony?
6. Religious Conflicts in Cities
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
