Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics

Session Submission Type: In-Person Author meet critics

Session Description

Forty years ago, the Religious Right arose as a new political movement. Today, secularism is gaining traction as a politically energized identity. But will there be a Secular Left to counterbalance the Religious Right? Will rising secularism add oxygen to the political polarization between Democrats and Republicans? Or are there opportunities to reach common ground between secular and religious Americans?

In their new book, Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics (Cambridge University Press), David Campbell, Geoffrey Layman, and John Green examine the political causes and consequences of rising secularism in America. These three scholars have long studied the role of religion in American politics, and have now turned their attention to secularity which, they argue, is not merely the absence of religion. Instead, secularism is the affirmative embrace of a secular worldview and identity. In other words, there is a lot more to the secular population than the Nones--who are, of course, defined by the absence of a religious affiliation. There are vast differences in the political attitudes and engagement of people are “not religious” versus those are secularists. For example, non-religionists are often politically apathetic; secularists are highly engaged in progressive politics. Even though a Secular Left has not yet emerged to counter the Religious Right, there are signs that such a movement is forming. Furthermore, secularism is not only a new fault line between the parties, but it is also a source of political division within the Democratic Party, whose base is divided between secular and religious activists.

Secular Surge is the culmination of a decade of research, and includes new data from national surveys of the American public, delegates to national and state political conventions, and members of the American Humanist Association—as well as qualitative interviews with secular Americans.

In addition to the book's authors, this roundtable will feature a diverse array of critics, including Ted Carmines, Jennifer Merolla, Michele Margolis, and Anand Sokhey. Each brings a different perspective to the study of secularism in contemporary American politics. They will critique the book, while also offering young scholars suggestions for future avenues of research into American secularism.

Sub Unit

• Division 33: Religion and Politics

Chair

• Andrew R. Lewis University of Cincinnati

Presenters

• David E. Campbell University of Notre Dame

• Geoffrey C. Layman University of Notre Dame

• Edward G. Carmines Indiana University, Bloomington

• Jennifer L. Merolla University of California, Riverside

• Anand Edward Sokhey University of Colorado, Boulder

• John C. Green University of Akron