Religion, Migration, and Right-Wing Politics in Contemporary Europe

During the last two decades, the political, social, and cultural landscape of Europe has been bewildered by the rise and development of right-wing movements fighting for a strong national and continental identity, supporting Islamophobic theses, and sharing a strong dislike of migrants and of immigration policies. These movements have placed religion and Christianity at the centre of their narrative, by claiming that Muslim immigration into Europe threatens European Christian roots, values, and heritage. While it is tempting to reduce right-wing religious politics under the rubric of instrumentalism and vote maximizing strategy, this paper takes a different approach by laying out three interrelated task. First, it places right-wing religious politics in the wider context of the European post-secular society; second, it explains the rise of right-wing religious politics with references to the demise of Christian Democracy in post-Cold War Europe; third, it connects the radicalization of the religious discourse to a genuine process of schismogenesis, a pathology in political communication resulting from cumulative interaction between opposing actors and groups. The aim of this paper is to propose a provisional analytical framework to understand the social, cultural, and political dynamics at play in contemporary European politics.