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This book presents an interpretive, macro-historical, and sociological account of martyrdom. Moving away from the notion of martyrdom as an object of individual behavior and seeing it instead as a significant cultural work performed by communities in the wake of a violent death, it provides a novel interpretation of Western political and religious history. In addition to thus redressing the disproportionate attention given to the concept's relationship to Islam, the author offers a new perspective on two defining historical processes: secularization and the rise of modern sovereignty in the form of the nation-state. An innovative analysis of the role of sacrifice in contemporary culture, which constitutes a timely critique of long-dominant theories of disenchantment and the privatization of religion, The Ultimate Sacrifice will appeal to sociologists and social theorists with interests in religion, politics, and the connection between the two.

​Das Buch befasst sich mit der Säkularisierung in Deutschland, Europa und in ausgewählten Ländern außerhalb Europas seit 1950. Die Säkularisierung wird möglich, wenn nicht nur Eliten, sondern die breite Bevölkerung ohne Kirche leben können, und muss daher mit wiederholten nationalen Bevölkerungsbefragungen in mehreren Ländern erfasst werden. Sie wird ausgelöst durch den Autoritätsverlust der Kirchen, der daran erkennbar wird, dass sie das Monopol an der Begleitung biographischer Übergänge an den Staat verlieren. Sie äußert sich in allen Dimensionen der Religiosität: in der täglichen und außeralltäglichen Praxis, also Kirchgang und Gebet sowie Taufen, Hochzeiten und Beerdigungen, im Glauben und in der diffusen, also nicht kirchlich geprägten, sondern selbstzugeschriebenen Religiosität. Die Theorie der Säkularisierung erklärt diese Tendenzen durch soziale Differenzierung und kulturelle Pluralisierung. Sie wurde selten geprüft, aber meistens bestätigt.

The past several years have seen many examples of friction between secular European societies and religious migrant communities within them. This study combines ethnographic work in three countries (The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France) with a new theoretical frame (regimes of secularity). Its mission is to contribute to an understanding of minority identity construction in secular societies. In addition to engaging with academic literature and ethnographic research, the book takes a critical look at three cities, three nation-contexts, and three grassroots forms of Muslim religious collective organization, comparing and contrasting them from a historical perspective. Carolina Ivanescu offers a thorough theoretical grounding and tests existing theories empirically. Beginning from the idea that religion and citizenship are both crucial aspects of the state's understanding of Muslim identities, she demonstrates the relevance of collective identification processes that are articulated through belonging to geographical and ideological entities. These forms of collective identification and minority management, Ivanescu asserts, are configuring novel possibilities for the place of religion in the modern social world.