Religion and the Radical Right in West European Democracies: Christian and Para-Christian Identities

Much focus has been placed on how radical right parties appropriate religion, especially Christianity, to advance political aims. However, this overlooks cases where religion is not merely appropriated by radical right parties. This paper seeks to address that gap and look at the relationship between radical right movements and religion and argues for a broader comparative view of the merger between religion and radical right politics. Using supply and demand side perspectives, I show how radical right parties in different countries have integrated Christian identity into their agendas in different ways. I further argue that the decline of Christian Democratic parties and broader secularization trends have enabled this shift as radical right parties fill the ideological void with a culturally defined Christianity that resonates with voters disoriented by rapid societal change.