Nothing Sacred

Betsy Reed and Katha Pollitt
December 2002     ISBN: 1560254505

How is fundamentalism linked to discrimination and violence against women in such countries as Algeria, Iran, Israel, India and America? Is there a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West, or is it more accurate to say there are clashes within civilizations, such as the longstanding struggle between feminists and Christian fundamentalists in the United States? How can fundamentalist movements be defused and women's human rights protected? In Nothing Sacred, these and other urgent questions are addressed by leading feminist authors and activists including Leila Ahmed, Karen Armstrong, Charlotte Bunch, Barbara Ehrenreich, Eve Ensler, Fatima Mernissi, Martha Nussbaum, Arundhati Roy and Ellen Willis.

Introduced by Katha Pollitt, Nothing Sacred is a provocative and important collection that examines some of the most pressing social and political issues of our time.

"[A] provocative anthology of women's responses to the global rise of religious extremism.... A variety of academic, activist and religious feminists, such as Barbara Ehrenreich, Eve Ensler, Karen Armstrong and Arundhati Roy, agree that fundamentalism is about social power and contract, not about returning to religious 'fundamentals.' Thus, the rise of fundamentalism is traced to discontent with and disruptions caused by modernization and globalization�.The book's final section explores the meaning of what the authors see as the real global struggle: not East vs. West or tradition vs. modernity, but secular, enlightened society vs. fundamentalist theocracy. A compendium of energizing political discourse, this anthology is a substantial contribution to an alternative view of the war on terror."

--Publishers Weekly

"The essays in 'Nothing Sacred' delve into thorny territory. To what extent is fundamentalism about religion, and to what extent about power? Why does fundamentalism emphasize the more aggressive aspects of religions instead of tolerant ones?... It isn't enough to be shocked at the outrage of the month. We need to learn why they happen. A book is a good place to start studying."

--Chicago Tribune

Betsy Reed is the executive editor of The Nation and the editor of the anthology Nothing Sacred: Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror.

Katha Pollitt writes the "Subject to Debate" column for The Nation. Her writings have been published in two bestselling collections: Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism, and Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture.