In this eloquent treatise on religion and globalization, Princeton University international law professor Falk has an agenda. He is even preachy in parts, but his message is one that cannot be ignored. Falk is concerned about an inhumane globalization that neglects human suffering and eschews the global public good. Thus he augments his earlier works (Human Rights Horizons, etc.) on questions of global governance by considering the potential role of religion therein. The prospects for a "humane global governance," he states clearly, depend on religious resources—specifically, on whether the religious resurgences that have surprised so many in recent years can offer a socially and politically responsible globalization to counter the presently dominating inhumane form. In light of this, he calls for (and articulates) a "critical ethical ecumenism" and a "politically engaged spirituality." Falk grounds this call for religiously based activism and governance in a richly historical conversation about ethical values, relationships between religion and politics, and interrelationships among premodern, modern and postmodern political impulses. Notably, alongside his unabashed view of religion's central role in human global governance, Falk dedicates a full chapter to considering the history of secularism's variations (with a discussion of Turkey, Iran and India, in addition to U.S. and Western European contexts) and its potentialities in an era of globalization. Through a sophisticated and nuanced discussion, Falk's own position cannot be missed: religion contains the only basis for long-term planetary stewardship and humane global governance. Love him or leave him. (Aug. 20)
