Abstract

This article develops a theoretical framework for analysing the growing public prominence, and rising influence, of transnational religious movements on the contemporary world stage, with specific reference to the case of Agudat Israel, a prominent ‘ultra-Orthodox’ Jewish organization. It first considers the place of ‘religion’ within the context of the historical emergence of the world system of modern nation-states, addressing some of the conceptual ambiguities associated with the ideas of national vs transnational religious formations. The article then provides a historical sketch of the European Jewish encounter with modernity, focusing on the rise of transnational movements like Agudat Israel. Lastly, the article situates Jewish Orthodoxy within a comparative framework for the study of transnational religio-politics. The article concludes by asking whether transnational religious movements might be trapped within the instrumental logic of state governmentality they claim to oppose, and if so, with what consequences.