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onsidering the perilous cast of contemporary political life, structured as it is by the perceived threat and reality of theologico-political violence, a study into the historical proximity of religious enthusiasm and modern democratic politics might seem frivolous, on the one hand, and imprudent, callous, or worse, on the other. Frivolous, if we forget that enthusiasm and enthusiasts posed a constitutive challenge to the formation of our now seemingly fraught political modernity. Imprudent or callous, if we simply conflate enthusiasm with democracy and suggest that, despite recent reports to the contrary, these two are not intertwined in a World Historical struggle but are instead disturbingly partnered, expressions of a shared historical drift. Optimistic purveyors of modern disenchantments prefer the former thesis, while those that locate a secret fanaticism at the heart of modern universalism, rationalism, or liberalism sometimes pursue versions of the latter. I would like to thank UCLAâs Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies and the staffs of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library and the Ahmanson and Getty Foundations for providing the resources needed to begin this study. Although in its initial stages, the project has already benefited from conversations with Rom Coles, Kim Curtis, Sarah Ellenzweig,
Public Culture – Duke University Press
Published: Oct 1, 2005
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