Event: EARS Conference “Neo-Nationalism and Religion in Europe”

The aim of the conference is the intercisciplinary scrutiny of the role of religion in the current trends of political and economical re-nationalization of policies and polities.
After a fairly long time of efforts directed at complementing economical internationalisation by a political transnationalisation, at least in the global northwest, nationalism seems to be back on the agenda. Not only in the Americas, but in Europe as well an intensive renationalization of policies and polities is visible implying a retraction of democratic mechanisms to govern international relations – paradoxically in the name of democracy. Religion seems to be closely involved in such issues: nationalist leaders like Marine le Pen resort to religious argumentation when they see fit, and parties like the Swiss SVP or the German AfD like to stress their religious background in legitimizing xenophobic policies. The conference will be hosted by the newly founded Berlin Institute for Public Theology as part of the European Academy of Religion and Society’s effort to further international research and cooperation concerning issues in religion which are of public, political and social interest.