Fundamentalism and globalisation are two widely contested concepts. While some analysts claim that both terms refer to increasingly powerful political forces, others argue that neither refers to anything empirically real. This conference seeks to address the following questions: What distinguishes modern fundamentalism from other forms of religious revivalism and political activism? How do global media communicate fundamentalist knowledge? Participants are invited to address these wider questions within the three thematic areas outlined below:

1. Community, people, state

Since religious communities are constituted in contexts of peoples, states and territories, their aims and ambitions are necessarily worked out in relation to these entities. What is specific to fundamentalism in its relation to these entities? We solicit proposals addressing this question in relation to the following issues:

Concepts of power, religion and law in formations of communities and states.
Concepts of power, religion and law in territorial disputes and international relations.

2. Fundamentalism and exegesis

The fundamentalist principle of return to scriptureis usually associated with literal readings, but it also means bypassing literal readings in order to acquire scriptures hidden (esoteric) knowledge and to empower true believersin relation to their others. Proposals are solicited which analyse fundamentalist hermeneutics in relation to the following themes:

Principles of epistemic and communal authority in exegesis. Esotericism, aestheticism and linguistics in exegesis. Exegeses and changes in communities, societies, states, and international relations.