Old Wine in New Bottles: Understanding Contemporary Nationalism with Professor Joppke

Religion in Praxis Conversation Series

This is the fourth episode of the Conversation Series, in which Professor Joppke explores the forms and contents of contemporary nationalism in Europe and North America, what used to be called the ‘West’ in a talk under the rubric “Nationalism in the neoliberal order: Old wine in new bottles.” This nationalism responds in opposite and sometimes contradictory ways to a neoliberal order of globalization, welfare-state retreat and a heightened sense of insecurity. Joppke distinguishes between populist and statist forms of contemporary nationalism, and within the statist between a compensatory and a constitutive logic of linking it with neoliberalism. Under the constitutive logic, nationalism may adopt certain features of the neoliberal order itself, which yields a ‘neoliberal nationalism’. Non-ethnic yet exclusive of those who are not contributing, this is a new entry in the nations and nationalism lexicon.

Christian Joppke holds a chair in sociology at the University of Bern, Switzerland. A student of eminent Jürgen Habermas during his student years in Germany, he later received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He authored more than 100 publications in major sociology journals and is one of the most widely cited sociologists. His books are published by major academic (Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge) and are considered as classics in the field of migration studies. Joppke’s present research cover social movements and the state, citizenship and immigration, most recently religion and politics, especially Islam in Western societies. His most recent scholarship, also published widely in core journals and presses, such as his book Neoliberal Nationalism: Immigration and the Rise of the Populist Right (Cambridge 2021), deals with the complex interaction between nationalism and neoliberalism.

Music for the Conversation Series is generously provided by the Shavnabada Choir

This episode was produced by Joel Kuhlin for the Center for Theology and Religious Studies.