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Book Cover for: The Godless Crusade, Tobias Cremer

The Godless Crusade

Tobias Cremer

This book postulates that the rise of right-wing populism in the West and its references to religion are less driven by a resurgence of religious fervour, than by the emergence of a new secular identity politics. Based on exclusive interviews with 116 populist leaders, key policy makers and faith leaders in the USA, Germany, and France, it shows how right-wing populists use Christianity as a cultural identity marker of the 'pure people' against external 'others' while often remaining disconnected from Christian values, beliefs, and institutions. However, right-wing populists' willingness and ability to employ religion in this way critically depends on the actions of mainstream party politicians and faith leaders. They can either legitimise right-wing populists' identitarian use of religion or challenge it, thereby cultivating 'religious immunity' against populist appeals. As the populist wave breaks across the West, a new debate about the role of religion in society has begun.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press
  • Publish Date: Mar 30th, 2023
  • Pages: 350
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.00in - 6.00in - 0.81in - 1.40lb
  • EAN: 9781009262163
  • Categories: General

About the Author

Cremer, Tobias: - Tobias Cremer is a Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, and an Associate Member of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on the relationship between religion, secularisation and the rise of right-wing identity politics. He is the co-author of Faith, Nationalism and the Future of Liberal Democracy (2021).

Praise for this book

'Cremer's argument must be taken seriously by scholars of religion and politics and anyone concerned about the rise of right-wing Populism. ... Recommended.' R. J. Meagher, Choice