New Books Network

New Books in Religion
Rachel Manekin, “The Rebellion of the Daughters: Jewish Women Runaways in Habsburg Galicia” (Princeton UP, 2020)
Rachel Manekin
The Rebellion of the Daughters
Jewish Women Runaways in Habsburg Galicia
Princeton University Press, 2020

NBN Special SeriesNew Books in Eastern European StudiesNew Books in Gender StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Jewish StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithPrinceton UP Ideas Podcast October 21, 2020 Schneur Zalman Newfield

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, over three hundred young Jewish women from Orthodox, mostly Hasidic, homes in Western Galicia (now Poland) fled their communities and sought refuge in a Kraków convent, where many converted to Catholicism. Relying on a wealth of archival documents, including court testimonies, letters,... Read More
Janet Jakobsen, “The Sex Obsession: Perversity and Possibility in American Politics” (NYU Press, 2020)
Janet Jakobsen
The Sex Obsession
Perversity and Possibility in American Politics
NYU Press, 2020

New Books in American StudiesNew Books in Gender StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in PoliticsNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in Public PolicyNew Books in ReligionNew Books Network October 19, 2020 Lindsey Jackson

Why are Americans, and American politicians more specifically, obsessed with sex? Why, in the words of Janet Jakobsen, are gender and sexuality such riveting public policy concerns the United States? In The Sex Obsession: Perversity and Possibility in American Politics (NYU Press, 2020), Jakobsen answers this question by breaking apart... Read More
Tamura Lomax, “Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion and Culture” (Duke UP, 2018)
Tamura Lomax
Jezebel Unhinged
Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion and Culture
Duke University Press, 2018

New Books in African American StudiesNew Books in Christian StudiesNew Books in Critical TheoryNew Books in Intellectual HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books Network October 19, 2020 Kristian Petersen

One of the central threads in the public discourse on Black womanhood is the idea of the “Jezebel.” This trope deems Black women and girls as dishonorable and sexually deviant and the stereotype is circulated from the big screen to the pulpit. Tamura Lomax, Associate Professor at Michigan State University,... Read More
Bihani Sarkar, “Heroic Shāktism: The Cult of Durgā in Ancient Indian Kingship” (Oxford UP, 2017)
Bihani Sarkar
Heroic Shāktism
The Cult of Durgā in Ancient Indian Kingship
Oxford University Press, 2017

New Books in Hindu StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books in South Asian StudiesNew Books Network October 16, 2020 Raj Balkaran

Heroic Saktism is the belief that a good king and a true warrior must worship the goddess Durga, the form and substance of kingship. This belief formed the bedrock of ancient Indian practices of cultivating political power. Wildly dangerous and serenely benevolent at one and the same time, the goddess’s... Read More
Sree Padma, “Vicissitudes of the Goddess: Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India’s Religious Traditions” (Oxford UP, 2013)
Sree Padma
Vicissitudes of the Goddess
Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India's Religious Traditions
Oxford University Press, 2013

New Books in Gender StudiesNew Books in Hindu StudiesNew Books in Intellectual HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books in South Asian StudiesNew Books Network October 15, 2020 Raj Balkaran

In Vicissitudes of the Goddess: Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India’s Religious Traditions (Oxford UP, 2013), Padma (Bowdoin College) focuses on two types of Gramadevatas or goddesses: deified women and those associated with disease and fertility. Setting these figures in the context of their Brahmanic transformation into popular goddesses and... Read More
Karen Taliaferro, “The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Early Natural Law and the Abrahamic Faiths” (Cambridge UP, 2019)
Karen Taliaferro
The Possibility of Religious Freedom
Early Natural Law and the Abrahamic Faiths
Cambridge University Press, 2019

New Books in Intellectual HistoryNew Books in LawNew Books in PoliticsNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & Faith October 13, 2020 Hope J. Leman

Religious freedom debates set blood boiling. Just consider notable Supreme Court cases of recent years such as Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission or Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania. How can we reach any agreement between those who adhere strictly to the demands of divine law and... Read More
Michael Slouber, “A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses: Tales of the Feminine Divine from India and Beyond” (U California Press, 2020)
Michael Slouber
A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses
Tales of the Feminine Divine from India and Beyond
University of California Press, 2020

New Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in FolkloreNew Books in Gender StudiesNew Books in Hindu StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books in South Asian Studies October 13, 2020 Raj Balkaran

Michael Slouber‘s new book A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses: Tales of the Feminine Divine from India and Beyond (University of California Press, 2021) surveys the diversity of India’s feminine divine tradition by bringing together a fresh array of captivating and largely overlooked Hindu goddess narratives from different regions. As the first... Read More
Earle H. Waugh, “Al Rashid Mosque: Building Canadian Muslim Communities” (U Alberta Press, 2018)
Earle H. Waugh
Al Rashid Mosque
Building Canadian Muslim Communities
University of Alberta Press, 2018

New Books in HistoryNew Books in Islamic StudiesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books Network October 9, 2020 Kristian Petersen

In the early 20th-century Muslims, primarily with roots in Lebanon, began to settle in Canada’s interior plains. In 1938, the small community in Edmonton opened the first mosque in the country, which would come to play a key role in shaping Islam’s development in the Canada. Earle H. Waugh, Professor... Read More
Rita D. Sherma, “Contemplative Studies in Hinduism: Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship” (Routledge, 2020)
Rita D. Sherma and Purushottama Bilimoria
Contemplative Studies in Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
Routledge, 2020

New Books in Hindu StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books in South Asian StudiesNew Books in Spiritual Practice and MindfulnessNew Books Network October 9, 2020 Raj Balkaran

What counts as contemplative practices in Hinduism? What can Hindu Studies offer Contemplative Studies as a discipline? Contemplative Studies in Hinduism: Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship (Routledge, 2020), edited by Rita D. Sherma and Purushottama Bilimoria, explores diverse spiritual and religious Hindu practices to grapple with meditative communion and contemplation,... Read More
John Loughlin, “Human Dignity in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition” (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019)
John Loughlin
Human Dignity in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition
Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Perspectives
Bloomsbury Academic, 2019

New Books in Christian StudiesNew Books in Intellectual HistoryNew Books in LawNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & Faith October 6, 2020 Yakir Englander 

Dignity is a fundamental aspect of our lives, yet one we rarely pause to consider; our understandings of dignity, on individual, collective and philosophical perspectives, shape how we think, act and relate to others. Human Dignity in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Perspectives (Bloomsbury Academic) offers an... Read More

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