Said Amir Arjomand is Professor of Sociology at State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is the author of a number of books, including Authority and Culture in Shi'ism, published by SUNY Press, and the editor of the SUNY Press Series in Near Eastern Studies.

This volume explores the relationship between religion and politics. It brings a varied sample of richly detailed comparative and case studies together with a set of analytical paradigms in an integrated framework. It is a major statement on a timely subject, and a plea for the acknowledgment of normative pluralism as firmly rooted in the history of religion. The editor shows that the fact of political diversity in the history of world religions compels the acceptance of pluralism as a normative principle.