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Faking Liberties: Religious Freedom in American-Occupied Japan
Contributor(s): Thomas, Jolyon Baraka (Author)

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 ISBN: 022661879X     ISBN-13: 9780226618791
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
OUR PRICE: $110.25  

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: March 2019
* Out of Print *

Click for more in this series: Class 200: New Studies in Religion
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Shintoism
- Religion | Religion, Politics & State
- History | Asia - Japan
Dewey: 323.442
LCCN: 2018037454
Series: Class 200: New Studies in Religion
Physical Information: 1.1" H x 6.3" W x 9.1" L (1.35 lbs) 336 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Japanese
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
Review Citations: Choice 11/01/2019
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Religious freedom is a founding tenet of the United States, and it has frequently been used to justify policies towards other nations. Such was the case in 1945 when Americans occupied Japan following World War II. Though the Japanese constitution had guaranteed freedom of religion since 1889, the United States declared that protection faulty, and when the occupation ended in 1952, they claimed to have successfully replaced it with "real" religious freedom.

Through a fresh analysis of pre-war Japanese law, Jolyon Baraka Thomas demonstrates that the occupiers' triumphant narrative obscured salient Japanese political debates about religious freedom. Indeed, Thomas reveals that American occupiers also vehemently disagreed about the topic. By reconstructing these vibrant debates, Faking Liberties unsettles any notion of American authorship and imposition of religious freedom. Instead, Thomas shows that, during the Occupation, a dialogue about freedom of religion ensued that constructed a new global set of political norms that continue to form policies today.

Contributor Bio(s): Thomas, Jolyon Baraka: - Jolyon Baraka Thomas is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
 
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