Research Desk: Radical Right Research
Research Desk: Radical Right Research
White Christian Nationalism and relative political tolerance for racists, and racial identity and emotional responses to confederate symbols
Highlights from recently published research and studies of the Radical Right including how embracing White Christian Nationalism is the “strongest predictors of whites’ being politically intolerant of all stigmatized groups, racists included”; and how racial identity informs emotional responses to confederate symbols such as the “former Mississippi state flag.”
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Recently Published Books
Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right, by Randall Balmer
Dissent: The Radicalization of the Republican Party and Its Capture of the Court, by Jackie Calmes
At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump, by Amy Fried
Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith Hardcover, by Obery M. Hendricks Jr.
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America, by Adam Serwer
A World after Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right, by Matthew Rose
Academic Research
White Christian Nationalism and Relative Political Tolerance for Racists (By Joshua T. Davis and Samuel L. Perry, Social Problems)
“Viewing Christian identity as essential to American civic belonging is among the strongest predictors of whites’ being politically intolerant of all stigmatized groups, racists included. However, when we examine relative tolerance toward racists compared to other stigmatized groups, white Christian nationalists show greater tolerance than other whites. This effect is distinct from personal religiosity which is associated with lower relative tolerance toward racists. Additionally, we find both time and gender moderate the association between white Christian nationalism and relative tolerance toward racists. Findings ultimately demonstrate that white Americans who adhere to Christian nationalism exhibit authoritarian tendencies―expressing lower tolerance for all groups considered―while making greater relative allowance for old-fashioned racists, who may be allies in the task of social control and coercion.”
Racial identity and emotional responses to confederate symbols (By Byron D'Andra Orey, Najja Baptist, Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, Social Problems)
“The findings of this study reveal that African-Americans suffer psychological trauma when observing racist symbols. African Americans who shared a common fate with other African Americans and those who possessed a high regard for other African-American people were more emotionally responsive when they viewed the former Mississippi state flag. Police, however, were less responsive, when compared to civilians. This result may be attributable to officers working near the state capitol building and becoming desensitized to seeing the flag…We interpret the findings to suggest that African Americans do not uniformly respond to the flag but are unique individuals whose personal views and experiences shape how they respond to the world. Even when presented with symbols representing a horrid past of lynchings and terror, African Americans do not constitute a monolithic group.”
Cancel Culture: Myth or Reality? (By Pippa Norris, Political Studies)
“Overall, the evidence confirms the “fish-out-of-water” congruence thesis. As predicted, in post-industrial societies, characterized by predominately liberal social cultures, like the US, Sweden, and UK, right-wing scholars were most likely to perceive that they faced an increasingly chilly climate. By contrast, in developing societies characterized by more traditional moral cultures, like Nigeria, it was left-wing scholars who reported that a cancel culture had worsened. This contrast is consistent with Noelle-Neumann’s spiral of silence thesis, where mainstream values in any group gradually flourish to become the predominant culture, while, due to social pressures, dissenting minority voices become muted. The ratchet effect eventually muffles contrarians. The evidence suggests that the cancel culture is not simply a rhetorical myth; scholars may be less willing to speak up to defend their moral beliefs if they believe that their views are not widely shared by colleagues or the wider society to which they belong.”
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