About the Book
The contributions to this volume Migration, Gender and Religion bring together empirically grounded and theoretically sophisticated case studies of populist responses to what are perceived to be the threats to national survival and sovereignty from ‘uncontrolled’ immigration. The demographic context – declining fertility rates and ageing populations – promotes the belief that high Muslim fertility rates are material evidence of an Islamic threat to the West, to national cohesion and particularly to the safety and dignity of the women of the host community.
Consequently, gender plays an important part in populist ideology, but populist attitudes to gender are often contradictory. Populist movements are often marked by misogyny and by policies that are typically anti-feminist in rejecting gender equality. The traditional family with a dominant father and submissive mother is promoted as the basis of national values and the remedy against social decline. The obsession with women in the public domain points to a crisis of masculinity associated with unemployment, the impact of austerity packages on social status, and the growth of pink collar employment.
Inevitably, religion is drawn into these political debates about the future of Western societies, because religion in general has seen the family and mothers as essential for the reproduction of religion. Christendom has been identified by populists as providing the ultimate defence of the borders of European civilisation against Islam, despite the fact that church leaders have often defended and welcomed outsiders in terms of Christian charity. Once more Christian Europe is the Abendland standing in defiance of a threatening and subversive Morgenland. This volume will be an invaluable reference for students and scholars in the field of political theory, political sociology and European Studies.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Demography, Democracy and Right-Wing Populism Part I: Populism and Migration 1. Populist’s Representation of The People in The Italian Ius Soli Political Debate: The Lega Nord and the Movimento Cinque Stelle 2. The Migration Crisis Between Populism and Post-Democracy 3. Immigration and Populist Political Strategies: The Swiss Case in European Perspective Part II: Populism and Gender 4. Autochthonic Populism, Everyday Bordering and the Construction of ‘The Migrant’ 5. Right-Wing Western and Islamic Populism: Reconsidering Justice, Democracy, and Equity 6. ʻGender(Ed) Nationalismʼ of the Populist Radical Right – An Extreme Typicality 7. Non-Western New Populism: Religion, Masculinity and Violence in the East Part III: Populism and Religion 8. ‘Abendland in Christian Hands’: Religion and Populism in Contemporary European Politics 9. The AKP and the New Politics of the Social: Fragile Citizenship, Authoritarian Populism and Paternalist Family Policies 10. Trump, Religion and Populism
About the Author :
Gregor Fitzi is co-director of the Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Diversity at University of Potsdam, Germany. After his PhD in Sociology at the University of Bielefeld, he was assistant professor at the Institute of Sociology, University of Heidelberg, Germany and held a temporary position as full professor at the University of Bielefeld. His most recent publication is The Challenge of Modernity: Georg Simmel’s Sociological Theory (Routledge, 2018).
Jürgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology and co-director of the ‘Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Pluralism’ at Potsdam University, Germany. His research interests are in sociology of citizenship, political economy, closure theory, collective violence. His most recent publication is The Transformation of Citizenship (Routledge, 2017), in 3 volumes, co-edited with Bryan S. Turner.
Bryan S. Turner is Professor of the Sociology of Religion at the Australian Catholic University, Honorary Professor at Potsdam University and Honorary Fellow in The Edward Cadbury Centre, Birmingham University. In 2015 he received the Max Planck Award from the Max-Planck Society and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. He is editor of Citizenship Studies, the Journal of Classical Sociology, and the Journal of Religious and Political Practice. He is also Chief Editor of the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2017).
Review :
"This ambitious third volume on Populism and the Crisis of Democracy examines populist movements through the distinct but cross-cutting perspectives of migration, gender and religion. Traversing East and West, the volume covers variants of populism arising in different national and political contexts, and documents their underlying tensions. Citizenship and belonging; cosmopolitanism versus communitarianism; gender equality versus gendered nationalism; Islamism, Islamophobia, and the Christian Right; subordinated masculinities – all are implicated in fuelling forms of populism that pose, as yet unanswered, questions for liberal democracy. A bold and important book, engaging difficult and disturbing argument."
Lydia Morris, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Essex
"This volume provides a unique interdisciplinary approach to populism by combining scholarship on immigration, gender and religion as well as a comparative perspective across not only Europe but also the USA, Turkey, India, Russia and the Philippines. It is a very significant contribution to the religious dimension of populism, which remains understudied."
Jocelyne Cesari, Professor of Religion and Politics, University of Birmingham
"This insightful volume develops a highly original and persuasive perspective on the phenomenon of populism worldwide. The authors explore the complex relationship between recent demographic trends, masculinity and religion. The theoretical groundwork is imaginative whilst the empirical material is remarkably rich and diverse. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about the rise of authoritarian and illiberal politics in different parts of the world – it is a truly fascinating read."
Patrick Baert, Professor of Social Theory, University of Cambridge
"Populism is popping up everywhere as one of the most intriguing global phenomena of our times. This valuable collection of essays helps to illuminate its complex relations and synergy with global migrations, with the ongoing gender revolution and with the mobilisation of religious identities and counter-identities in the public sphere. An invaluable resource to understand our present global malaise."
José Casanova, Professor, Department of Sociology and Theology, Georgetown University
