This book brings a crucial perspective to the examination of religion and politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by focusing on the roles that Christian communities play in this region. Acknowledging and exploring their political activity represents a much-needed contribution to the MENA literature, which overwhelmingly focuses on Islam.
Through a collection of country case studies utilizing a variety of analytic methods, the contributors to this collection demonstrate how various Christian groups act as rational, strategic political actors seeking to protect and promote the interests of their organizations and members. The cases explored here elaborate upon how Christians in the MENA region navigate their minority status and respond to local ideas of citizenship that often relegate them to second-class status. The chapters also examine how MENA Churches draw on transnational networks to augment their local political influence. This volume is an important work for understanding contemporary politics in the MENA region, and advances the study of religion's role in politics more generally.
The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Religion, State and Society.

About the Author

Christopher Rhodes is Lecturer in Social Sciences at Boston University. His areas of research are the political economy of religion, identity and politics, and the politics of sub-Saharan Africa.

George Soroka is Lecturer on Government and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on the politics of religion, mnemonic politics, and regime change.

Book Information
ISBN 9781032077949
Author Christopher Rhodes
Format Paperback
Page Count 106
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g