The Discourse of Secularism

Abstract

This introductory chapter treats the discourse of secularism as a discursive operation of power whose generative effects need to be examined critically in their historical contexts. Following Michel Foucault, this chapter's approach is “genealogical,” as it analyzes the ways in which the term has been variously deployed, and with what effects. This approach does not deny the reality of the institutions and practices said to embody secularism, however. But instead of assuming that we know in advance what secularism means, or that it has a fixed and unchanging definition, this chapter interrogates its meaning as it was articulated and implemented differently in different contexts at different times. After all, the word “secularism” is not new, but compared to the much older secular, it is surprisingly modern.