Fundamentalist World
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9/11, suicide bombings in the Middle East, anti-abortion terrorism, the American militia movement, teaching creationism in schools, the collapse of the Argentinian economy, the rise of the far right in Europe, riots at Miss World: what ties these seemingly unrelated phenomena together? All are products of a fundamentalist mentality, determined to crush all opposing ideas. Belief in these kinds of universal theories was, until recently, assumed to be in decline. The author argues that this is far from true. History, power, security, control, fulfilment, purity, identity and self-definition are key themes of the curiously modern renaissance of fundamentalist thought. And fundamentalism is no fringe enthusiasm, but an increasingly mainstream and powerful influence. Whether it's religious, political, imperialist, nationalist or even market fundamentalism, believe it: we live in an increasingly fundamentalist world.
Stuart Sim is Professor of Critical Theory in the English department at the University of Sunderland. He is the author of for Icon, Lyotard and the Inhuman, Derrida and the End of History, Introducing Critical Theory (with Borin Van Loon), and Irony & Crisis: A Critical History of Postmodern Culture. His work has been translated into nine languages, and he is a Fellow of the English Association.