Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The Superstitions of Max Horkheimer -- Religion as resistance -- Longing for the totally other -- The founder -- On freedom and the individual -- Atheism and resistance -- Honest religion -- Religion betrayed -- The state -- On the Jewish state -- Liberal theology -- Religion in the bad sense, or, the dialectic of evil -- Conclusion: Modalities of the dialectic of religion -- 2. The Dissent of E.P. Thompson -- Corrupt parsons and the impetuous Irish -- The 'psychic terror' of Methodism -- Religious terrorism -- Moral machinery -- Political reaction -- Radicals in the ranks -- The ambivalence of the Methodists -- William Blake and the politics of radical dissent -- Antinomianism, or, justification by faith -- Muggletonian Marxists -- Radical dissent -- Poetry and apocalyptic -- Anti-nuclear -- Political Christmas -- Conclusion -- 3. The Zeal of G.E.M. de Ste. Croix -- The politics of style -- Theology -- Chora versus polis -- From chora to polis: property, slavery and women -- Assessment -- Fall narratives -- On contradiction -- Religion as primary cause -- ... And history -- Class -- Trade and property -- Mode of production -- Conclusion: Ste. Croix among Marxists and theologians -- 4. The Alchemy of Michael L�owy -- Elective affinities -- Emergence -- Untidy corners and sexy dialectics -- Liberation theology -- Roman-Catholic social teaching -- The ontological reserve -- One or many? -- Conclusion -- 5. The Myths of Roland Barthes -- Between description and accusation -- Basics -- Baleful deformations of language -- Desperate resistance -- Dialectics of opposition -- Hiding something? -- Producing and concealing opposition -- Preserving rebellion -- The cunning of myth -- Alternative myths -- Towards utopia -- Conclusion -- 6. The Flights of Gilles Deleuze and F�elix Guattari -- Going tribal, or, primitive pre-signifiers -- Numbers and nomads, or, the counter-signifying r�egime -- In bed with the despot, or, the signifying r�egime -- The scapegoat's arse -- From outside to inside -- Oriental despots -- On the tail of the scapegoat, or, the post-signifying r�egime -- Conclusion -- 7. The Radical Homiletics of Antonio Negri -- Radical homiletics -- Philosophical commentary -- Kair�os and �akairos -- Measure and immeasure -- The politics of cosmogony -- Negri's aporia -- Excursus on the Messiah -- Back to the whirlwind -- Conclusion.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.