The Bibles of the Far Right

Who gets to lay claim to Christianity and its scripture in Europe? Drawing on sources across disciplines, Strømmen scrambles the secular-religious divide to show how bibles as 'lived scripture' are used with other objects to produce social and political effects and affects. She develops the concept of a 'biblical assemblage' to argue that there is nothing inevitable about the European far right's efforts to justify violence and exclude Muslims and others in the name of Christianity. An ambitious, important book that tackles head-on the most daunting contemporary challenges involving the interplay of religion and politics.

Autorentext
Hannah M. Strømmen is a biblical scholar specializing in the reception of the Bible in contemporary culture and politics. She is Senior Lecturer in Bible, Politics, and Culture at Lund University, and currently holds a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship. She has written widely on the impact of the Bible in literature, philosophy, and politics in the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries. Before taking up her position at Lund, she was Reader in Biblical Studies at the University of Chichester, UK. She is a Fellow of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, where she participated in the interdisciplinary inquiry on religion and violence.

Klappentext

The Bibles of the Far Right is about a far-right worldview that has taken hold in contemporary Europe. It focuses on the role Bibles have come to play in this worldview. Starting with the case of far-right terrorism in Norway in 2011, the study argues that particular perceptions of "the Bible" and particular uses of biblical texts have been significant in calls to "protect" Europe against Islam. This study proposes new ways to understand political Bible-use today in order to respond to violence inspired by biblical texts.

Zusammenfassung
This study explores the role that Bibles have come to play in the worldview of the contemporary European far right. Taking the case of far-right terrorism in Norway on 22 July 2011 as a starting point, Hannah M. Strømmen argues that particular perceptions of the Bible and particular uses of biblical texts have been significant in staking claims to European identity in opposition to Islam. Such perceptions and uses are not only to be found in the case of far-right extremism. The Bible-use that this study maps operates more broadly in counter-jihadist writings, transnational right-wing movements, and conservative philosophy. Crucially, connections and continuities with past Bible-use are brought to light. Strømmen charts new directions for research in biblical studies, presenting a proposal for mapping how Bibles operate in the world as assemblages. Mapping biblical assemblages allows scholars of biblical reception to analyse diverse forms of Bible-use. Such mapping goes beyond the notion of the Bible as text to be read in order to address questions of agency, affect, and materiality. Ultimately, Strømmen proposes new ways to understand political Bible-use today in order to respond to violence inspired by biblical texts.

Inhalt

• Chapter 1 The European Far Right

• Chapter 2 Mapping Biblical Assemblages

• Chapter 3 Biblical Assemblages in Breivik's Manifesto

• Chapter 4 Biblical Connections and Continuities

• Chapter 5 The War Bible

• Chapter 6 The Civilization Bible

• Chapter 7 The Problem of Biblical Violence

• Chapter 8 Deterritorializing Biblical Assemblages

• Chapter 9 Biblical Lines of Flight

• Index