Olivier Roy is Professor at the European University Institute in Florence. Six of his highly acclaimed books on religion and politics are published by Hurst, including Globalised Islam; Jihad and Death; Holy Ignorance; and Is Europe Christian?
'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 ‘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 '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