Is Religion the Blind Spot of Populism?

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In Europe and the United States, religion has become a significant component of the growing nationalist and supremacist political groups which contest fundamental rights of religious, sexual or racial minorities in the name of their religious identity. Outside western secular democracies, the rise of religious claims not only impinges on civil rights but also on the rule of law and democratic life in general.
This panel aims at discussing the religious dimension of populism and nationalism across countries, religious traditions and historical periods. To do so, it will explore comparatively the rise of extreme right movements in Europe, the white supremacists groups in the USA, but also rise of authoritarian figures in Turkey, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Sub Unit

• Division 33: Religion and Politics

Individual Presentations

• Religion and Populism: Theory and Evidence from the Philippines and Beyond - David T. Buckley, University of Louisville

• The Paradox of Populist Party Resiliency and the Appeal of Religious Discourse - Sultan Tepe, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Religious Leaders and Rule of Law in Pakistan: How Does it Influence Populism? - Sultan Mehmood, University of Paris-Dauphine; Avner Seror

• Populism and Religious Nationalism in India, Turkey, and France” - Irmak Yazici, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Chair

• Jocelyne Cesari University of Birmingham

Discussants

• Jocelyne Cesari University of Birmingham

• Kirk A. Hawkins Brigham Young University