Liberal Democratic Representation and the Politicization of Religion

Autor(en)

Astrid Mattes

Abstrakt

Political representation, as key concept of liberal democracy, is under multiple pressures. Across many liberal democracies, populist parties, who claim to have a mandate for more direct representation, are on the rise. In their rhetoric, religion plays a crucial role. Religion is, however, not only relevant on a discursive level but in fact involved in all dimensions of political representation and their crises. I deploy Hanna F. Pitkin!s concept of representation together with Michael Saward!s concept of discursive representation and discuss examples from empirical research on the politicization of religion in Austria in the context of migration. This case is of particular interest when discussing the crisis of representation, as political representation in contemporary Austria is characterized by a strong populist far right party and a recent renunciation of a longstanding inclusive tradition towards politics of religion. I conclude by discussing empirical analyses that show strong exclusionary tendencies towards Muslims while representatives freuquently claim to act as, and speak for, Christians against the increasing pressure on liberalism.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Systematische Theologie und Ethik, Forschungszentrum Religion and Transformation

Journal

Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society

Band

4

Seiten

142-171

Anzahl der Seiten

30

ISSN

2365-3140

DOI

https://doi.org/10.14220/23642807-00402010

Publikationsdatum

2018

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

506016 Migrationspolitik, 603909 Religionswissenschaft

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Religious studies, Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 10 – Weniger Ungleichheiten

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/liberal-democratic-representation-and-the-politicization-of-religion(881e66fa-9b72-4e76-b4d0-efe6ac3f61bd).html