The Christian Right: which convergences today?
La Droite chrétienne : quelles convergences aujourd'hui ?
Published on Thursday, April 22, 2021
Abstract
Research on evangelicals being at the heart of current events, the objective of this international conference will be to broaden the field by crossing analyses and observations in order to better identify the dynamics at work in the Christian world. Religion and politics will be the main focus, through the particular lense of the Christian Right.
Announcement
GSRL International conference, Paris, Campus Condorcet
Friday 22 and Saturday 23 October 2021
Argument
Research on evangelicals generates renewed interest from the public due to their massive support for Donald Trump they consider as the new Cyrus (André Gagné, 2020). However, he also attracts significant support from catholics[1].
The last Pew Reseach Center poll thus shows that while 78% of white evangelicals favour Trump, this is also the case of more than 50% protestants and Catholics in general (30 Sept.-5 Oct. 2020). Similarly in France, shared positions, or even rapprochements between evangelicals and catholics occur regarding issues such as abortion or medically-assisted procreation for LGBT communitites. In 2004, Paul Freston concluded that the fragmentation of the evangelical world made an alignment of Third World evangelicals with the Western Christian right unlikely. Today, however, the defense of the Christian heritage, a motive often taken up in populist discourse, whether in the United States, Brazil or even France, appears to be a powerful means of mobilizing politically Protestants and Catholics in many countries.
In the academic world, it seems to us that the two Christian traditions are mainly studied in a compartmentalized or juxtaposed manner, or even in competition with each other. While they have sometimes been brought together on the issue of their adaptation and reaction to secularization (Hervieu-Léger, 2017), whether through religious recomposition (Hervieu-Léger, 1999) or "reasonable accommodation" (Cécile Laborde, 2009), their more recent convergences have mainly been discussed in the press, but the research is still limited. Philippe Gonzales spoke about the "ecumenism of the trenches" of the Bush era (2016), what convergences can be observed today? Are these convergences always the same qualitatively and quantitatively? How have they evolved? To what extent can we really speak of convergences? Are they only circumstantial? What factors favor them – ethical issues, (neo)charismatism, or populism)? Which Evangelicals and which Catholics are we talking about?
Research on evangelicals being at the heart of current events, the objective of this international conference will be to broaden the field by crossing analyses and observations in order to better identify the dynamics at work in the Christian world on the level of interactions between religion and politics. The opening to promising young researchers will be central and based, as for confirmed researchers, on the quality of their research. This international conference would be open to papers in English or French and could lead to a bilingual publication.
Keynote speakers
- Prof. Paul Freston, Wilfrid Laurier University, Toronto.
- Prof. André Gagné, Concordia University, Montreal.
- Tobias Cremer, Early Career Researcher, Oxford.
Scientific committee
- Sébastien Fath, Chargé de recherche GSRL-CNRS.
- Philippe Portier, Directeur d’Etudes EPHE / GSRL-CNRS.
- Karina Bénazech Wendling, Doctorante EPHE / GSRL-CNRS.
Submission guidelines
Due to the current situation, the conference will be moved online.
Proposals for papers in history, religious studies, and anthropology are welcome. Please send a proposed paper title with a short abstract (c.250 words) and short biography to karina.benazech@etu.ephe.psl.eu
by July 21, 2021.
Decisions will be released by July, 31 2021. Short conference briefs of c.2,000 words are due by September 1, 2021. Since ensuing publications are intended, all submissions and papers should contain original work that has not been committed elsewhere.
Website: GSRL International Conference
Note
[1] https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Catholiques-evangeliques-rapprochent-2018-01-24-1200908494
Subjects
- Religion (Main category)
- Society > Sociology
- Mind and language > Religion > History of religions
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology
- Mind and language > Religion > Sociology of religion
- Periods > Modern
- Society > History
- Society > Political studies
Date(s)
- Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Keywords
- religion, politique, populisme, christian right, convergence, identity
Information source
- Karina Bénazech Wendling
courriel : karina [dot] wendling [at] univ-lorraine [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« The Christian Right: which convergences today? », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, April 22, 2021, https://doi.org/10.58079/16gg
