The author of this book, Gerard Lukken, has always believed that liturgy is not something which is unchangeable or sacrosanct, something to be imposed 'from above'; rather he believes that it must gain shape and content from the situation in which believers find themselves. This involvement is reflected in the hundreds of publications which have flowed from his pen. Lukken's extensive writings offer not only an exciting reflection on the challenges (such as secularization and the decrease in church-going) confronting church and believers, but also on the problems they have faced in celebrating their faith in recent decades. Moreover, his work represents a model for methodological renewal. The key concepts in his theological approach and his evaluation are 'anthropology' and 'semiotics'. These two aspects have left their marks on the organisation of this book which is a selective compilation drawn from his earlier publications. This collection consists of nineteen studies which have lost nothing of their topicality and most of which are now being translated into English, French or German for the first time. By crossing the frontier of language in such a way the editors wish not only to honour a leading specialist in liturgy but also to contribute to academic research into liturgy throughout the world. Gerard Lukken (1933) studied at the Diocesan Seminary in Haaren (Noord-Brabant), the Pontificia Universita in Rome, and the Institut Superieur de Liturgie in Paris. He was professor of liturgy and sacramental theology (from 1967) and director of the Liturgical Institute (from 1992) at the Theological Faculty of Tilburg until his retirement in 1994.

This book is a critical introduction to contemporary French philosopher Jacques Rancière. It is the first introduction in any language to cover all of his major work and offers an accessible presentation and searching evaluation of his significant contributions to the fields of politics, pedagogy, history, literature, film theory and aesthetics. This book traces the emergence of Rancière’s thought over the last forty-five years and situates it in the diverse intellectual contexts in which it intervenes. Beginning with his egalitarian critique of his former teacher Louis Althusser, the book tracks the subsequent elaboration of Rancière’s highly original conception of equality. This approach reveals that a grasp of his early archival and historiographical work is vital for a full understanding both of his later politics and his ongoing investigation of art and aesthetics. Along the way, this book explains and analyses key terms in Rancière’s very distinctive philosophical lexicon, including the ‘police’ order, ‘disagreement’, ‘political subjectivation’, ‘literarity’, the ‘part which has no part’, the ‘regimes of art’ and ‘the distribution of the sensory’. This book argues that Rancière’s work sets a new standard in contestatory critique and concludes by reflecting on the philosophical and policy implications of his singular project.

Sulla était-il avant Spartacus ou vice versa? Nero – avant ou après Caligula? Quelles sont les dynasties des Habsbourg et des Hohenzollern, quel rôle ont-elles joué dans l’établissement du Second Reich? Combien de chars ont combattu près de Prokhorovka? Quand la guerre de Yom Kippour a éclaté et qui l’a gagnée? Pourquoi le grand URSS s’est-il effondré? Souvenons-nous de tout, nous passerons en revue la bande de film du temps, image par image, afin que tout se passe bien aujourd’hui.

This book is about the concept of historical intermittency in five recent and contemporary French philosophers: Alain Badiou, Francoise Proust, Christian Jambet, Guy Lardreau and Jacques Ranciere.

The history of the concept of “religion” in Western tradition has intrigued scholars for years. This important collection of eighteen essays brings further light to the ongoing debate. Three of the invited participants, W.C. Smith, M. Despland and E. Feil, has each previously written impressive books treating this subject; the last two acknowledged the impact and continuing influence of Smith’s work, The Meaning and End of Religion. An introduction and a recapitulation of Smith’s contribution as a scholar set the stage for a retrospective look at the published literature. Contributors then examine the transformation of words (the classical religio to the modern religion), particularities of religion in nineteenth-century France, Troeltsch’s concept of religion, the study of religion from an Asian point of view and the categorization of “World Religions.” The concluding essays elaborate contemporary anthropological, cross-disciplinary, semiological, deconstructive and psychoanalytical methodological approaches to the concept and study of “religion.” Exploring critically different aspects of the concept and study of religion, these provocative essays typically reflect the methodological pluralism currently existing in the field of Religious Studies. Of interest to scholars and students alike, this collection also contains a complete bibliography of W.C. Smith’s publications.