Talal Asad
Saudi-British anthropologist who analyzed secularism, pain, and power in modern formations.
Most quoted
"The secular is not the opposite of the religious, but rather a particular configuration of power and knowledge that shapes how religion is understood and practiced."
— from Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity, 2003
"The study of religion should not begin with a pre-given definition, but with an investigation into how 'religion' itself is constituted as an object of knowledge."
— from Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam, 1993
"To understand the meaning of a religious text, one must attend to its historical context, its forms of transmission, and its practices of interpretation."
— from Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam, 1993
All quotes by Talal Asad (102)
Genealogies reveal how concepts like tolerance are products of power relations.
The modern subject is disciplined not just by the state but by the secular imagination.
Anthropologists must question the universality of human rights narratives.
Secularism promises freedom but delivers new forms of control.
Rituals are not mere symbols; they embody ethical dispositions.
The West's view of Islam as exceptional ignores its own religious histories.
Thinking about cruelty requires understanding the secular roots of modern violence.
Anthropology is a discipline haunted by its past complicities.
The secular state regulates religion to maintain its authority.
Personal piety in Islam is a form of resistance to secular hegemony.
Modernity does not transcend religion; it reconfigures it.
Suicide bombing is a tragic expression of secular despair.
Ethnography demands reflexivity about the anthropologist's position.
Tolerance is a secular virtue that masks power imbalances.
The concept of the secular is historically contingent, not universal.
Islam's discursive tradition evolves through argumentation and practice.
Colonial anthropology served to justify imperial domination.
Aging in secular societies reveals the limits of autonomy.
The political theology of secularism is often overlooked.
Human suffering is amplified by secular narratives of progress.
Contemporaries of Talal Asad
Other Anthropologys born within 50 years of Talal Asad (1936).