Is populism on the rise? Across the political spectrum, populism is considered a catch-all category to be critiqued. Is populism on the rise? Across the political spectrum, populism is considered a catch-all category to be critiqued: describing something as populist and dismissing something as populist go hand in hand. But theological justifications of populism, such as the identification of Christianity with Europe, resonate with mainstream political positions that are articulated and accepted in the public square. The critique of populism parallels and points to a critique of the role of theology in politics. This critique can come either as a rejection of the politicization of theology (presupposing that genuine theology ought to be non-political) or as a rejection of the theologization of politics (presupposing that genuine politics ought to be non-theological). What runs through these critiques is the assumption that claims to theology cause the populist polarization of the public square. Is populism yet another resurrection of Carl Schmitt? Whether populism is interpreted as an authentic account of religion or as an inauthentic appropriation of religion for political ends, it needs to be carefully examined and critically explored. Does theology in politics automatically lead to populism? Does populism automatically lead to theology in politics? What indeed is the role of political theologies in polarized times? Programme Download the full programme here Monday, 2 September, 2019 09:00 – 09:30 Registration 09:30 – 10:00 Welcome – Joshua Ralston & Ulrich Schmiedel (Edinburgh) 10:00 – 11:00 Liz Fekete (Institute of Race Relations): Enemy Images, Culture Wars and Far-Right Political Terror in Europe 11:00 – 11:15 Break 11:15 – 12:45 Populism and Nationalism Mariëtta D.C. van der Tol (Cambridge): The ‘Christian Nation’ in Protestant Political Thought: Old Wine in New Bottles Doug Gay (Glasgow): Discipling Populism and Nationalism – A Theopolitical Alternative to Denial or Demonising Jonathan Chaplin (Cambridge): A Political Theology of ‘The People’: Enlisting Classical Concepts for Contemporary Critique 12:45 – 13:45 Lunch 13:45 – 15:15 Populism and Europeanism Lukas Meyer (Munich): The God of the Populists and a Theology of Europe Hannah M. Strømmen (Chichester): Scriptures and Scripts of Populism: On Populist Reading Practices Joseph Sverker (Stockholm): Confessing Christ in a ‘Christian Europe’ 15:15 – 15:45 Coffee/Tea 15:45 – 16:45 Brian Klug (Oxford): ‘If I forget Thee, O Jerusalem’: Zionism and the Politics of Collective Memory 16:45 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 18:00 Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin (London): Radicalisation and Reconciliation: The Role of Art in Times of Theopolitical Conflict (including tour of the exhibition ‘Art, Conflict & Remembering: The Murals of the Bogside Artists) 18:00 – 19:00 Reception Tuesday, 3 September 09:15 – 10:15 Vincent Lloyd (Villanova): Anger: A Secularized Theological Concept 10:15 – 10:30 Coffee/Tea 10:30 – 12:00 Populism and Liberalism Johanna Gustafson Lundberg (Lund): Populism as Political Theology? Reframing Secular/Religious Divisions in Polarized Times Tommy Lynch (Chichester): ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you’: Populism, Political Theology and the Limits of Liberalism Hans-Martien ten Napel (Leiden): The Revival of (Christian) Political Theology 12:00 – 12:15 Break 12:15 – 13:30 Populism and Christianism Marie Gayte and Blandine Chelini-Pont (Toulon): Donald Trump’s Religious Enablers: Their Tools and Their Goals Igor Solunac (The Soul of Europe):Populism in the Balkans 13:30 – 14:30 Lunch 14:30 – 15:30 Mattias Martinson (Uppsala): Populism, Christianity, and the Role of the Theologian 15:30 – 16:00 Coffee/Tea 16:00 – 17:30 Populism and Liberationism Esther McIntosh (York St John): Christian Populism: Donald Trump, Brexit and the Effects of Misogyny J Andrew Calloway (San Diego): The Spirit of Black Theology from Within the Black Populace Ludger Viefhus-Bailey (LeMoynes): Querying Populism by Queering Chantal Mouffe: Understanding Hetero-Patriarchal Populism 17:30 – 17:45 Break 17:45 – 18:45 Elizabeth Shakman Hurd (Northwestern): Political Theologies of American Exceptionalism 18:45 – 19:00 Goodbye – Joshua Ralston & Ulrich Schmiedel (Edinburgh) This conference is sponsored by the Centre for Theology and Public Issuesand the Christian-Muslim Studies Network with support from the Henry Luce Foundation. This article was published on 2024-03-19
