Transnational Christian Nationalism
September 2024 – Present
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes by Raphael (CC0)
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and Canopy Forum’s new series hopes to shed light on the development of transnational Christian nationalism, and its impact on politics, the rule of law, and religious freedom with a focus on American political movements, European populism, and Russian politics. The critique of secularism has emerged as a powerful tool of mobilization in anti-Western discourse. In this discourse, “secularism” functions as a code-word for “the West,” liberalism, the overturning of traditional gender and family roles, and sometimes, antisemitism. Churches are used to assert a Christianist alternative to Western liberalism.
However, their invocation of Christianity is not simply about a “return of religion” in European politics. Rather, churches serve as the symbolic basis for a claim to the sacred, proffering alternative conceptions of political legitimacy, as well as justifying their attacks on the rule of law, and in the case of Russia, the international order. These anti-Western discourses in Europe find some resonance in American political movements. This essay series queries the traces of transnational Christian nationalism in America and the interconnection of political rhetoric, transnational networking, and highly engaged activism on both continents. ♦
“Transnational Aspects of Christian Nationalism”
Dr Marietta van der Tol is Leverhulme early career fellow at the University of Cambridge, specialising in the comparative study of politics, law, and religion.
“European elections 2024: Successes and failures of far-right political parties”
Jeffrey Haynes is an Emeritus Professor of Politics at London Metropolitan University, UK. He is the author or editor of more than 60 books and 125 peer-reviewed journal articles (tsjhayn1@londonmet.ac.uk).