THINKING ABOUT RELIGION, BELIEF, AND POLITICS
Talal Asad, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center
October 02, 2008 Toll Room, Alumni House, UC Berkeley Campus
Talal Asad is a socio-cultural anthropologist, renowned for his contributions and research on the phenomenon of religion and secularism, and the religious revival in the Middle East. He discusses the attempts to define religion, the shifting place of "belief" in that endeavor, and some of its implications for politics.
ABOUT TALAL ASAD Talal Asad is a socio-cultural anthropologist, renowned for his contributions and research on the phenomenon of religion and secularism, and the religious revival in the Middle East. In his work, Asad attempts to identify the historical shifts that have constructed the modern concept of religion. He focuses on the effects of modernization on religion, as well as the idea that liberalism and democracy are intricately linked with secularism. Asad’s work encourages an interdisciplinary study of anthropology. His current research continues to focus on religion and the secular, and explores the genealogy of human rights in Egypt.