{"product_id":"the-unmaking-of-sacred-order-kamaruzzaman-bustamam-ahmad-9798243059749","title":"The Unmaking of Sacred Order: Reform, Discipline, and the Birth of the Secular Self","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy did modern secularity emerge-not as a rejection of God, but as the unintended outcome of religious devotion itself?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Unmaking of Sacred Order\u003c\/i\u003e, Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad offers a powerful and original reconstruction of modern secularity by entering deeply into the philosophical genealogy of Charles Taylor-and then moving decisively beyond it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book argues that secularity did not arise from disbelief, rationalism, or the decline of faith. Instead, it was forged from within Christianity itself: through reform, moral intensification, discipline, and the transformation of the human self. What began as a quest for purity and sincerity ultimately reshaped the structure of the world-and the structure of subjectivity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing critically on \u003ci\u003eA Secular Age\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSources of the Self\u003c\/i\u003e, this volume traces how the collapse of sacred mediation, the rise of disciplinary Christianity, and the transition from the porous self to the buffered self produced a world that no longer requires transcendence in order to function. Secularity, in this account, is not an ideology-it is a condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat makes this book unique\u003cp\u003eUnlike introductory or secondary commentaries on Charles Taylor, this book: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWrites from within Taylor's philosophical architecture, rather than merely explaining it\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOffers a sustained, chapter-by-chapter genealogy of reform, discipline, mediation, and subjectivity\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePositions secularity as an achievement, not a loss-while exposing its hidden psychological and existential costs\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eBridges philosophy, anthropology, theology, and moral psychology in a single, coherent argument\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdvances an original voice, treating Charles Taylor not as an untouchable authority, but as a critical interlocutor\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a summary of Taylor. It is a Taylorian work with its own argument, structure, and stakes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInside this book, readers will explore\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow religious reform intensified faith and moral seriousness\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy discipline became the infrastructure of modern moral life\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow saints, rituals, and sacred distance collapsed under demands for immediacy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy the world stopped \"carrying\" transcendence\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow the buffered self emerged as the default subject of modernity\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy secularity feels inevitable-and where its cracks begin to show\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book culminates in a sober, reflective conclusion: secularity is not our failure, nor our triumph-it is our situation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart of the \u003ci\u003eCharles Taylor Studies\u003c\/i\u003e Series\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Unmaking of Sacred Order\u003c\/i\u003e is Volume 2 in the Charles Taylor Studies series, a scholarly project dedicated to rigorous, critical, and original engagement with Taylor's thought on modern identity, morality, and secularity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach volume in this series is designed not only to interpret Charles Taylor, but to extend his work into new conceptual and cultural terrains.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798243059749\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/08\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 140\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.43lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.33d","brand":"Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48443120255231,"sku":"9798243059749","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_db8bd6ca-b652-4f3f-b0e6-b2776624bbd1.jpg?v=1777201975","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-unmaking-of-sacred-order-kamaruzzaman-bustamam-ahmad-9798243059749","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}