The States of the Earth: An Ecological and Racial History of Secularization
by Mohamed Amer Meziane
Translated by Jonathan Adjemian
SIGNED by Mohamed Amer Meziane
***
While industrial states competed to colonize Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century, conversion to Christianity was replaced by a civilizing mission. This new secular impetus strode hand in hand with racial capitalism in the age of empires: a terrestrial paradise was to be achieved through accumulation and the ravaging of nature.
Far from a defence of religion, The States of the Earth argues that phenomena such as evangelism and political Islam are best understood as products of empire and secularization. In a world where material technology was considered divine, religious and secular forces both tried to achieve Heaven on Earth by destroying Earth itself.
Verso
Paperback | 6 x 9 | 304 pages
by Mohamed Amer Meziane
Translated by Jonathan Adjemian
SIGNED by Mohamed Amer Meziane
***
While industrial states competed to colonize Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century, conversion to Christianity was replaced by a civilizing mission. This new secular impetus strode hand in hand with racial capitalism in the age of empires: a terrestrial paradise was to be achieved through accumulation and the ravaging of nature.
Far from a defence of religion, The States of the Earth argues that phenomena such as evangelism and political Islam are best understood as products of empire and secularization. In a world where material technology was considered divine, religious and secular forces both tried to achieve Heaven on Earth by destroying Earth itself.
Verso
Paperback | 6 x 9 | 304 pages