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War on Sacred Grounds
Sacred sites offer believers the possibility of communing with the divine and achieving deeper insight into their faith. Yet their spiritual and cultural importance can lead to competition as religious groups seek to exclude rivals from practicing potentially sacrilegious rituals in the hallowed space and wish to assert their own claims. Holy places thus create the potential for military, theological, or political clashes, not only between competing religious groups but also between religious groups and secular actors.

In War on Sacred Grounds, Ron E. Hassner investigates the causes and properties of conflicts over sites that are both venerated and contested; he also proposes potential means for managing these disputes. Hassner illustrates a complex and poorly understood political dilemma with accounts of the failures to reach settlement at Temple Mount/Haram el-Sharif, leading to the clashes of 2000, and the competing claims of Hindus and Muslims at Ayodhya, which resulted in the destruction of the mosque there in 1992. He also addresses more successful compromises in Jerusalem in 1967 and Mecca in 1979. Sacred sites, he contends, are particularly prone to conflict because they provide valuable resources for both religious and political actors yet cannot be divided.

The management of conflicts over sacred sites requires cooperation, Hassner suggests, between political leaders interested in promoting conflict resolution and religious leaders who can shape the meaning and value that sacred places hold for believers. Because a reconfiguration of sacred space requires a confluence of political will, religious authority, and a window of opportunity, it is relatively rare. Drawing on the study of religion and the study of politics in equal measure, Hassner's account offers insight into the often-violent dynamics that come into play at the places where religion and politics collide.

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War on Sacred Grounds
Sacred sites offer believers the possibility of communing with the divine and achieving deeper insight into their faith. Yet their spiritual and cultural importance can lead to competition as religious groups seek to exclude rivals from practicing potentially sacrilegious rituals in the hallowed space and wish to assert their own claims. Holy places thus create the potential for military, theological, or political clashes, not only between competing religious groups but also between religious groups and secular actors.

In War on Sacred Grounds, Ron E. Hassner investigates the causes and properties of conflicts over sites that are both venerated and contested; he also proposes potential means for managing these disputes. Hassner illustrates a complex and poorly understood political dilemma with accounts of the failures to reach settlement at Temple Mount/Haram el-Sharif, leading to the clashes of 2000, and the competing claims of Hindus and Muslims at Ayodhya, which resulted in the destruction of the mosque there in 1992. He also addresses more successful compromises in Jerusalem in 1967 and Mecca in 1979. Sacred sites, he contends, are particularly prone to conflict because they provide valuable resources for both religious and political actors yet cannot be divided.

The management of conflicts over sacred sites requires cooperation, Hassner suggests, between political leaders interested in promoting conflict resolution and religious leaders who can shape the meaning and value that sacred places hold for believers. Because a reconfiguration of sacred space requires a confluence of political will, religious authority, and a window of opportunity, it is relatively rare. Drawing on the study of religion and the study of politics in equal measure, Hassner's account offers insight into the often-violent dynamics that come into play at the places where religion and politics collide.

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War on Sacred Grounds

War on Sacred Grounds

by Ron E. Hassner
War on Sacred Grounds
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War on Sacred Grounds

War on Sacred Grounds

by Ron E. Hassner

Overview

Sacred sites offer believers the possibility of communing with the divine and achieving deeper insight into their faith. Yet their spiritual and cultural importance can lead to competition as religious groups seek to exclude rivals from practicing potentially sacrilegious rituals in the hallowed space and wish to assert their own claims. Holy places thus create the potential for military, theological, or political clashes, not only between competing religious groups but also between religious groups and secular actors.

In War on Sacred Grounds, Ron E. Hassner investigates the causes and properties of conflicts over sites that are both venerated and contested; he also proposes potential means for managing these disputes. Hassner illustrates a complex and poorly understood political dilemma with accounts of the failures to reach settlement at Temple Mount/Haram el-Sharif, leading to the clashes of 2000, and the competing claims of Hindus and Muslims at Ayodhya, which resulted in the destruction of the mosque there in 1992. He also addresses more successful compromises in Jerusalem in 1967 and Mecca in 1979. Sacred sites, he contends, are particularly prone to conflict because they provide valuable resources for both religious and political actors yet cannot be divided.

The management of conflicts over sacred sites requires cooperation, Hassner suggests, between political leaders interested in promoting conflict resolution and religious leaders who can shape the meaning and value that sacred places hold for believers. Because a reconfiguration of sacred space requires a confluence of political will, religious authority, and a window of opportunity, it is relatively rare. Drawing on the study of religion and the study of politics in equal measure, Hassner's account offers insight into the often-violent dynamics that come into play at the places where religion and politics collide.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780801478802
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 02/15/2013
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 248
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Ron E. Hassner is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Visit his website at https://sites.google.com/view/ronhassner/about-me.

Table of Contents

Prologue: "A Terrifying and Fascinating Mystery"
1. On Sacred GroundsPART ONE: UNDERSTANDING CONFLICTS OVER SACRED SPACES
2. What Is Sacred Space?
3. The Indivisibility Problem
4. Conflict over Sacred Places
5. Mismanaging Conflicts over Sacred PlacesPART TWO: MANAGING CONFLICTS OVER SACRED SPACES
6. The Foundations and Limits of Religious Authority
7. Successful Conflict Management: Jerusalem, 1967
8. Successful Conflict Management: Mecca, 1979
9. Lessons from Conflicts over Sacred SpacesAcknowledgements
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Sumit Ganguly

Ron E. Hassner has drawn on a wide swath of secondary literature on conflicts in sacred spaces; he weaves these insights, along with theoretical insights from religious studies, sociology, and political science, into his discussion of substantive cases. The extremely topical and compelling subject of War on Sacred Grounds will attract the attention of policy analysts and journalists.

Olivier Roy

Taking religion seriously is a challenge in the field of political science. For instance, how is it that, during the last three decades, holy places around the world, whatever the religions they are associated with, have been the theater of unprecedented and nevertheless unconnected violence? Instead of diluting the religious factor under more familiar paradigms (identity, ideology, ethnicity or struggle for power), Ron E. Hassner, in his highly original book, tackles brilliantly the issue of integrating religion into the field of political science.

Mark Juergensmeyer

The play on words in the title of this important book indicates that it is not only about religious reasons for fighting but also about contested space—when grounds are regarded as sacred by more than one community. From Ayodhya to Jerusalem, these sites have become flashpoints for political confrontation. Ron E. Hassner proposes that they may also inspire interfaith tolerance, accommodation, and cooperation. War on Sacred Grounds deserves a careful reading by anyone interested in the causes of global religious conflicts and the options that conduce toward peace.

Daniel Philpott

This is a brilliantly argued book. Ron E. Hassner offers an explanation for why religious sites become contested and why these conflicts are often very difficult to resolve, but he reminds us that in some instances resolution is possible. War on Sacred Grounds is forcefully and vividly written.

Richard D. Hecht

Ron E. Hassner's War on Sacred Grounds is among the most important contributions to the study of sacred places and the politics of those spaces in many years. Hassner's perspective is original, daring, bold, and vitally important for scholars who seek to understand the enormous powers held in sacred places and for diplomats who hope to contribute to the resolution of conflicts that are generated by holy grounds.

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