This section includes book notes of 150-300 words as well as some book reviews of 600900 words on books of particular interest to the members of our group. If you have either suggestions for books you would like to review or see reviewed (including recent books of your own), please contact Cas Mudde.
Book Notes Richard Antoun, Understanding Fundamentalism. Christian, Islamic and Jewish Movements, Walnut Creek, etc.: AltaMira, 2001, 181 pp., USD 19.95, ISBN 0-75910006-3 (pbk). Reviewed by Cas Mudde (University of Antwerp) Among the various confusing concepts that are used to describe the even more confusing world around us, fundamentalism has become a key one. This excellent textbook is an extremely welcome aid to make sense of this both intriguing and disturbing concept and phenomenon. For Richard Antoun, an American anthropologist with decades of research experience in Jordan and Iran, fundamentalism is first and foremost a revolt against modernism. As key themes of the fundamentalist 'ideal type' he distinguishes scripturalism, 'traditioning' (melding the 'good past' with the 'good present'), and the quest for purity. In an impure world, fundamentalists use three strategies in this quest: flight, separation,