The Sleeping Giant Has Awoken : The New Politics of Religion in the United States

The triumph of American political conservatism in the last two decades has been paralleled by the ascendance of Christian evangelicalism. More importantly, the political campaigns of 2000 and 2004 marked a convergence between these two political entities with an effectiveness never before seen in national elections. This cultural shift turns on a mutual embrace. On the one side, conservatives have successfully set the terms of debate around so-called family values and the status of religion in the public sphere. On the other side, evangelicals have mobilized in a new self-awareness of their formidable political power and now demand representation at all levels of government. What are the religious seeds of this convergence? Upon what fundamental ideas does it rest? What potential dangers does it present for the concepts of religion, politics and America? How secure is this alliance, and what does each side sacrifice in order to sustain it? Must all religion in America now become similarly engaged in the political sphere? This volume is a collection of articles by a group of young scholars addressing the nexus between political conservatism, evangelical Christianity, and American consumerist culture. Drawing widely upon examples from contemporary culture, these articles are a critical engagement with this turn and attempt to delineate its dynamics, trajectory, and content.