Tag Archives: Article

Defending Critical Epistemology: The Case of Christian Nationalism and Christofascism

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Foertsch, Steven. 2025. “Defending Critical Epistemology: The Case of Christian Nationalism and Christofascism.” 2025. Sociological Forum, 0(0):1-5. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.70044

Christian nationalism and Christofascism theorists have surrendered the discursive floor to their empiricist critics. A flurry of recent research has asserted that critical paradigms within the sociology of religion are ideologically committed and empirically invalid. In this reply to Jesse Smith’s “Old Wine in New Wineskins” (2024), I contend several things: (1) Christian nationalism and Christofascism research is based in empirical validity, (2) claims of “conceptual slippage” are irrelevant given the sociopolitical context, (3) rejection of the critical perspective reifies the unjust power structure through a normative appeal to rational-legal scientific authority, and (4) critical epistemology in the sociology of religion remains a crucial tool in combating authoritarian slippage. It is my hope that this reply sparks further reflection and debate on the role of sociology and the nature of sociological praxis.

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Moral Scripts in Prosecutorial Decision-Making: The Interplay Between Self and Others

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Alex, H. Moral Scripts in Prosecutorial Decision-Making: The Interplay Between Self and Others. Qual Sociol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-025-09627-8

This article analyzes the decision-making process of legal actors through an interactionist perspective. Based on interviews from Cook County, Illinois, I show how state attorneys utilize a moral script characterized by three key elements in handling cases: responsibility, proactiveness, and responsiveness. These state attorneys rely on this model not only to justify giving leniency in plea deals, but also when describing their own actions. The reported entanglement between self and others leads the attorneys to be less willing to grant mercy in cases where the self cannot be extended to others through role-taking prompted by social interaction. This study advances courtroom research by demonstrating that perceptions of deservingness are shaped by interpretive and moral factors that transcend fixed demographic categories.


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Moral Intuitions and Support for Immigration

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Iceland, J., E.Silver, and I. E.Atac. 2026. “Moral Intuitions and Support for Immigration.” Social Science Quarterly107, no. 2: e70146. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70146

Attitudes toward immigration are often shaped by whether immigrants are perceived as a threat to one’s racial, ethnic, or nativity group status. Yet recent research shows that such perceptions vary not only between different groups but also within them. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, our study investigates the moral intuitions that lead some individuals to view immigrants as threats and others to see them as deserving of care and support.

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Emotions and the Nation: Nation-Building, Nationhood Reproduction, Political Mobilization, and Change

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Feinstein, Yuval (2026). “Emotions and the Nation: Nation-Building, Nationhood Reproduction, Political Mobilization, and Change.” Nationalities Papers.

This article examines recent developments in three key areas of nationalism research that integrate emotions into theoretical frameworks and empirical analysis. First, it explores studies that revisit historical nation-building through the lens of the history of emotions. Second, it discusses how the “affective nationalism” literature has shifted the focus of banal nationhood reproduction from mental representations to emotions. Third, it reviews efforts to theorize the emergence of intense national emotions in certain periods and their role in political mobilization and change. The article highlights critical advancements across these areas, particularly in linking emotions to meaning through narratives, expanding research from national centers to the frontiers, and challenging the illusion of national harmony by emphasizing power dynamics and dialectical change. The conclusion suggests future research directions, including investigations of national emotions within diasporic communities and digital networks.

Right-wing Populist Political Movements

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Morgül, Kerem. (2025). “Right-Wing Populist Political Movements.” Pp.7-13 in D. Snow, D. McAdam, & D. Moss (eds), Contemporary Social Movements: Historical and Descriptive Accounts. Wiley Blackwell.

The twenty-first century has seen a marked rise in the political influence of the right-wing populist parties and movements, distinguished by antiestablishment rhetoric, ethnonationalist fervor, and authoritarian tendencies. This chapter analyzes the defining characteristics of this global trend and the factors driving its ascent. Right-wing populism is conceptualized as an amalgamation of populism, ethnonationalism, and authoritarianism. Populism is defined by the mobilization of unified people around a transgressive political endeavor, simplifying politics into a conflict between the sovereign people and self-serving elites. Ethnonationalism underscores a shared ethnic identity as the foundation for national belonging, frequently advocating stringent immigration controls. Authoritarianism is evident in centralized power, the erosion of the rule of law, and constrained political freedoms. The proliferation of right-wing populism has been particularly pronounced in Europe, with notable instances in Hungary, Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands. Influential populist figures like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have also emerged globally, often challenging democratic institutions and advancing (ethno)nationalist agendas. The chapter explores the implications of these movements for democratic governance and societal cohesion. The rise of right-wing populism is examined through demand-side and supply-side explanations.