Postmodern political critiques speak of the death of ideology, the end of history, and the postsecular return of religious attitudes, yet radical conservative theorists such as Mark Lilla argue religion and politics are inextricably intertwined. Returning much-needed uncertainty to debates over the political while revitalizing the very terms in which they are defined, Maria Pia Lara explores the ambiguity of secularization and the theoretical potential of a structural break between politics and religion.

For Lara, secularization means three things: the translation of religious semantics...