Right-Wing Populism and Religion in Europe and the USA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine comparatively the growth and political effectiveness of right-wing populism in Western Europe, Central Europe, and the USA since 9/11. The focus is on such politicians’ vilification of Islam as a faith and Muslims as a people. The paper examines the following research question: how and why do right-wing populists in the USA and Europe use an ideological form of “Christianity”, known variously as “Christianism” or “Christian civilizationism”, to vilify Muslims and Islam? The political purpose seems obvious: to influence public perceptions and to win votes by questioning the desirability of Muslims in both the USA and Europe, claiming that Muslims’ religious and cultural attributes make them unacceptable as neighbors. As Muslims are not capable, so the argument goes, of assimilating to European or American norms, values, and behavior, then they must be excluded or strongly controlled for the benefit of nativist communities. Right-wing populists in both the USA and Europe pursue this strategy because they see it as chiming well with public opinion at a time of great uncertainty, instability, and insecurity.

Finding Religion: Immigration and the Populist (Re)Discovery of Christian Heritage in Western and Northern Europe

“…These findings are consistent with the literature's recognition that Christianity has been increasingly present in these parties' identity-based rhetoric in the last two decades (Haynes 2020). What can also be observed is that alongside Christianity, multiple terms such as "Greco-Roman", "Western", "Enlightenment", and "Judeo-Christian" are used freely and at times interchangeably to denote a common civilization.…”

“…More recently, a related body of work has studied the increasing space religion occupies in the construction of right-wing populist rhetoric on immigrants and immigration in Western host societies. This literature has focused on the multiplicity of ways in which Christianity is invoked in the nativist framing repertoires of populist movements in Europe and North America, especially in opposition to Islam (Haynes 2020;Morieson 2021). What is particularly interesting is the novelty of this phenomenon.…”

Sustainability of Interreligious Dialogue in Indonesia under the Phenomenon of Intolerance by Islamic Populists

“…Furthermore, several international meetings on the theme of interreligious dialogue have been held, most of them in European countries. If Haynes can present the data as presented above, this article will not only be more informative but also have a more critical nature in analyzing populist phenomena (Haynes, 2020).…”

Nations under God: How Church–State Relations Shape Christian Responses to Right-Wing Populism in Germany and the United States

“…Pro-Trump rioters parading oversized crosses and Jesus flags during the storming of the Capitol in January 2021, or Germany's far-Alternative for Germany (AfD) stylising itself as the defender of Germany's "Judeo-Christian heritage" are two of the most recent examples of this development (Deutschlandfunk 2018;Cremer 2021b;Green 2021). However, while rightwing populist movements on both sides of the Atlantic appear determined to use Christian symbols and language in order to appeal to voters' concerns about national and cultural identity (Marzouki et al 2016;Brubaker 2017;Haynes 2020), the reactions of German and American Christian communities to such references are strikingly different. In the US, White Christians supported Donald Trump's right-wing populist campaign at record-levels in the 2016 and 2020 elections and many American Christian leaders appeared at least tacitly supportive of the Trump administration (P. S. Gorski 2020;Whitehead and Perry 2020).…”