Religious Nationalisms: A Global Perspective

Catalog description

Religious nationalism is the fusion of religion with national and ethnic identity. Since the 1970’s it has become an important force in reshaping political activity, and the relationship of religious movements and groups to governments around the world. This seminar will explore religions, political actors, and philosophies that have made religious nationalism a potent force for polarization and political power in the 21st century. Traditional scholarship on nationalism has focused on secularism and the decline of religion, but since the 1970’s, appeals to religious belief and ethnic identity as defining foundations of the nation-state have increased. The project of democracy and modernity has butted against postmodern beliefs and the desire of many religious nationalists to return to “tradition”, to hold their ethnoreligious identities as the pure foundation of the state against the encroaching boundaries of globalization and immigration. Politicians have used religious nationalism as a wedge to consolidate power, enact draconian laws, and to define the boundaries of national and ethnic identity. Religious leaders have used it to shape public policy to mirror religious beliefs, and to gain temporal and spiritual authority. This course covers the late 20th and early 21st centuries, exploring how the rise of religious nationalism has been a destabilizing force.