Description: A brilliant analysis of identity politics today by world-renowned thinker Olivier Roy
Review Quotes: "Elegant." -- The Wall Street Journal
"There's something to disagree with on every page. But this makes the book more enjoyable and interesting, not less; it offers valuable provocation." --The New Yorker"An intellectual nonconformist, Roy has achieved something remarkable: he has written a book on identity politics that neither condemns nor embraces it, but is instead a nuanced cultural dissection of its origins and its contradictions... Proof that truly singular books do not scream their originality. [An] illuminating and highly original interpretation of today's world... It brings order to a world not at ease with itself."--Financial Times"'Our world is flattened, ' says Olivier Roy. Linguistic diversity is replaced by Basic English; expression by emoticons; culture (in both the high and the anthropological senses) by identity-markers. Roy draws on his long experience in both academia and public life, but with a captivatingly youthful verve and provocativeness." -- Jonathan Benthall, Director, Royal Anthropological Institute (1974-2000), Founding Editor, Anthropology Today"Olivier Roy has long been one of the world's most creative thinkers on religion. It's a delight to see his mind at work on the broader issue of the culture wars." -- Thomas Hegghammer (PhD), Senior Research Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford"This is by far the best analysis I have read of the culture wars and identity politics that besets our time."-- Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History, University of Oxford"Roy has a deep and useful take on our current predicament." -- Compact Magazine"The best book on culture in years." -- Marginal Revolution"The Crisis of Culture is remarkable... [It] represents a major achievement in Roy's intellectual trajectory towards providing an original and holistic theorization of the modern world." -- Philosophy Now"Ingenious and full of intuition." -- The Tablet