Accounting for Fundamentalisms: The Dynamic Character of Movements.

Abstract

Surveying fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, the contributors to this volume describe the organization of these movements, their leadership and recruiting techniques. The ways in which their ideological programmes and organizational structures shift over time in response to changing political and social environments are also documented. This text features treatments of fundamentalist movements that are topical issues, including The Islamic Group, charged with plotting to blow up the World Trade Center, the World Hindu Party, members of which sparked riots in India by destroying an Islamic shrine, and the revitalized Christian Right in the United States. Why do certain fundamentalist movements act aggressively against outsiders, while others are integrationist or accommodationist, and still others passive or separatist? This text serves as a reference source for understanding the dynamics of fundamentalist movements around the world.