This timely new study examines the place and nature of religion in industrial societies through a comparative analysis of conservative Protestant politics in a variety of 'first world' societies. Rejecting the popular, but misleading, grouping of diverse movements under the heading of 'fundamentalism', Bruce presents a series of detailed case studies of the Christian Right in the United States, Protestant unionism in Northen Ireland, anti-Catholicism in Scotland, Afrikaner politics in South Africa, and Empire Loyalism in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. He proceeds to examine the constraints that culturally diverse societies place on those who wish to promote political agendas based on religious ideas or on religiously informed ethnic identities.
Steve Bruce's important new study presents a detailed comparative analysis of conservative Protestant politics in the UK, USA, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Reflecting on the nature and place of religion in industrial societies, Bruce examines the constraints that culturally diverse societies place on those who wish to promote political agendas based on religious ideas.
