The Fundamentalism Project, directed and edited by

Martin E. Marty and Scott Appleby. University of Chicago

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences funded a

multiyear project that brought scholars from around the world

together to study Fundamentalism.

Ultimately they produced 5 volumes containing almost

8,000 pages of material.

Admitting some difficulty with the term,

the project opts to use it anyway for a variety of reasons.

Essentially, they argue that it is commonly accepted,

here to stay, and the best term

anyone can come up with for this phenomena.

The last chapter of volume 1,

Fundamentalisms Observed,

discusses the "family resemblances" found in the various

chapters.

These family resemblances include:

1.religious idealism as basis for personal and communal identity;

2. fundamentalists understand truth to be revealed and unified;

3. it is intentionally scandalous, (similar to Lawrence's point about

 language -- outsiders cannot understand it);

4. fundamentalists envision themselves as part of a cosmic struggle;

5. they seize on historical moments and reinterpret them

in light of this cosmic struggle;

6. they demonize their opposition and are reactionary;

7. fundamentalists are selective in what parts of their

tradition and heritage they stress;

8. they are led by males;

9. they envy modernist cultural hegemony and

try to overturn the distribution of power.

The Fundamentalism Project enumerates several more of

these "family resemblances" but most are represented in this

abbreviated list.

The last several chapters of the final volume,

Fundamentalisms Comprehended, attempts to delineate

several properties of Fundamentalism with the research of

the previous 7,500 pages in mind.

Appleby, Emmanuel Sivan, and Gabriel Almond list

5 ideological characteristics and

4 organizational characteristics of fundamentalism.

The Five ideological characteristics are:

1. fundamentalists are concerned "first" with

the erosion of religion and its proper role in society;

2. fundamentalism is selective of their tradition and

what part of modernity they accept or choose to react against;

3. they embrace some form of Manicheanism (dualism);

4. fundamentalists stress absolutism and inerrancy in

their sources of revelation; and

5. they opt for some form of Millennialism or Messianism.

The organizational characteristics include:

1. an elect or chosen membership;

2. sharp group boundaries;

3. charismatic authoritarian leaders;

4. mandated behavioral requirements.