The longing to believe : philosophers on conspiracy theory and the sense of science -- Sensualized epistemology : affect theory on how reason gets racialized -- Science as an intoxication : secularism studies on enchantment and critique -- Feeling is believing : perspectives on cogency theory from neuroscience and experimental psychology -- Only better beasts : Darwin, Huxley, and the sense of science -- The secular circus : science and racialized reason in the Scopes Trial -- New atheism as secular conspiracy theory.

Neoliberalism is a perspective grounded in free market economics and distinguished by a celebration of competition and consumer choice. It has had a profound influence in societies across the world, and has extended its reach into all areas of human experience. And yet neoliberalism is not just about enterprise and opportunity.

Wherever religion is seen to shape or constrain the meanings of human flourishing in the twenty-first century, gender and sexuality occupy charged terrain. This is so across the globe and in forums as diverse as fashion, diplomacy, education, immigration policy, marriage law, military strategy, health care reform, and humanitarian aid. Increasingly, women and sexuality take center stage in invocations of the secular, which promises—or threatens—to liberate both from religion’s tenacious hold.