{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13906"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13906","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"National and religious identities : an interpretation of Regis Debray's Critique of political reason","abstract":"This thesis is a multi-disciplinary inquiry into the nature and functioning of national identity. By interpreting a single text, The Critique of Political Reason, by the French philosopher and activist Regis Debray, a range of new analytical concepts are located and some standard concepts are recast in new terms. The religious nature of social identities, that is, the role of the sacred in society, is identified and explained. Some mainstream theories of ideology, religion, and nationalism are explored in an attempt to determine whether these tools of analysis are practicable and how these theoretical resources might be reworked in the light of Debray's analysis. As Debray shows, the national question is not a problem to be solved but a persisting dilemma to be engaged at the levels of both theory and practice.","abstract_html":"This thesis is a multi-disciplinary inquiry into the nature and functioning of national identity. By interpreting a single text, The Critique of Political Reason, by the French philosopher and activist Regis Debray, a range of new analytical concepts are located and some standard concepts are recast in new terms. The religious nature of social identities, that is, the role of the sacred in society, is identified and explained. Some mainstream theories of ideology, religion, and nationalism are explored in an attempt to determine whether these tools of analysis are practicable and how these theoretical resources might be reworked in the light of Debray's analysis. As Debray shows, the national question is not a problem to be solved but a persisting dilemma to be engaged at the levels of both theory and practice.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dexter, Phillip"],"institution":"Department of Religious Studies","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Chidester, David"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1997,"date_issued":"1997","date_published":"1997","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:21Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13906","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Chidester, David"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dexter, Phillip"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-09-14T18:09:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-09-14T18:09:10Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1997"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Religious Studies"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MPhil"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13906"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Bibliography: leaves 214-223."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis is a multi-disciplinary inquiry into the nature and functioning of national identity. By interpreting a single text, The Critique of Political Reason, by the French philosopher and activist Regis Debray, a range of new analytical concepts are located and some standard concepts are recast in new terms. The religious nature of social identities, that is, the role of the sacred in society, is identified and explained. Some mainstream theories of ideology, religion, and nationalism are explored in an attempt to determine whether these tools of analysis are practicable and how these theoretical resources might be reworked in the light of Debray's analysis. As Debray shows, the national question is not a problem to be solved but a persisting dilemma to be engaged at the levels of both theory and practice."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["National and religious identities : an interpretation of Regis Debray's Critique of political reason"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Chidester, David"],"dc:creator":["Dexter, Phillip"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-09-14T18:09:10Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-09-14T18:09:10Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1997"],"dc:description":["Bibliography: leaves 214-223."],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis is a multi-disciplinary inquiry into the nature and functioning of national identity. By interpreting a single text, The Critique of Political Reason, by the French philosopher and activist Regis Debray, a range of new analytical concepts are located and some standard concepts are recast in new terms. The religious nature of social identities, that is, the role of the sacred in society, is identified and explained. Some mainstream theories of ideology, religion, and nationalism are explored in an attempt to determine whether these tools of analysis are practicable and how these theoretical resources might be reworked in the light of Debray's analysis. As Debray shows, the national question is not a problem to be solved but a persisting dilemma to be engaged at the levels of both theory and practice."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13906"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Religious Studies"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["National and religious identities : an interpretation of Regis Debray's Critique of political reason"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MPhil"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:21Z"}