Edinburgh University Press The Religion of White Rage: Religious Fervor, White Workers and the Myth of Black Racial Progress: White Workers, Religious Fervor, and the Myth of Black Racial Progress

Critically analyses the historical, cultural and political dimensions of white religious rage in America, past and present Argues that religion and race - not economics - are the primary motivating factors for the rise of white rage and white supremacist sentiment in the USA Makes key interventions in labour studies and American religious studies Examines the mythological and sociological construct of the 'white labourer' Uncovers the sociological and religious origins of white anxiety Uses the perspectives of theory and method in religious studies, affect studies and critical whiteness studies Shows that white rage is a phenomenon that moves in and through the institutional legitimation of certain forms of white expression and engagement, both 'liberal' and 'conservative' This book sheds light on the phenomenon of white rage, and maps out the uneasy relationship between white anxiety, religious fervour, American identity and perceived black racial progress. Contributors to the volume examine the sociological construct of the 'white labourer', whose concerns and beliefs can be understood as religious in foundation. They uncover that white religious fervor correlates to notions of perceived white loss and perceived black progress. In discussions ranging from the Constitution to the Charlottesville riots and the evangelical Christian community's uncritical support for Trump, this collection argues that it is not economics but religion and race that stand as the primary motivating factors for the rise of white rage and white supremacist sentiment in the United States.