Conversions and Coalitions

In the face of “post-liberal” political realignments, particular varieties of Christian conservatism and reactionism have ascended as consequential forces in and beyond the United States.  This seminar interrogates these realignments through practices of  conversion, coalition-making, and the kinds of belongings, extensions, departures, and excisions such practices make thinkable and tangible.  We will focus on inter-denominational and intra-Christian dynamics particularly within the United States to ask questions about the contradictions, costs, and potentials of such new or newly energized Christian movements. Our interdisciplinary readings draw from political theory, public theology, and anthropological and historical studies.  This course emerges from ongoing discussions among two anthropologists; in the spirit of modeling collaboration, students of the  in-person seminar will have the opportunity for remote engagement with counterparts elsewhere.