The Godless Crusade : Religion, Populism and Right-Wing Identity Politics in the West

Explores how right-wing populists use religion as a cultural identity marker for minorities, while remaining distanced from Christian values, beliefs, and institutions. Based on interviews with key figures in the USA and Europe, this book asks how religiously diverse societies can confront the rise of a secular, populist and identitarian right.

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.