Faith and Secularization: From National Religions to Religious Nationalisms

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to focus on the relationship between the role that national identity—or nationalistic sentiment—plays in the history and practice of the world’s religions and the emergence of what an increasing number of scholars refer to these days as “religious nationalism(s)”. It may, in certain instances where relevant, explore certain national, or transnational, movements known as populism, “ethno-nationalism”, “political Islam”, “Hindu nationalism”, “Buddhist nationalism”, or “Christian nationalism”. Consideration of auxiliary themes of race, class, or gender are also welcome.

This Special Issue invites submissions using broad theoretical as well as empirical approaches encompassing specific case studies. It also solicits topics that are current as well as historical and involve a variety of scholarly methodologies. At the same time, all submissions should answer with some sophistication and in detail the following two fundamental questions: (1) What do we mean by ‘nationalism’ and how does it differ from traditional forms of patriotism and expressions of national identity? (2) How does religion, or certain religions, factor into this manifestations in such a way that nationalism(s) becomes “religious nationalism(s). Finally, submissions should demonstrate a familiarity with a broad range of published academic literature that illuminates the topic at hand.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor ([email protected]) or to the Religions editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Prof. Dr. Carl Raschke
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• nationalism
• religious nationalism
• politics and religion
• populism
• Hindutva
• Christian nationalism