Radical atheism and religious power: new atheist politics

The increased visibility of assertive forms of atheism has provoked much public debate. This article argues that new atheism primarily seeks to contest what it considers to be the unjustifiably powerful role of religion through a multifaceted challenge to religious beliefs, practices and institutions. Influential theories of power are drawn upon to unpack the character of new atheist positions. It is proposed that new atheism seeks to challenge four perceived ‘dimensions‘ of religious power, in particular (i) religion’s role in public decision-making; (ii) the ability of religious groups to shape policy agendas; (iii) the power of religion to create preferences that run counter to an individual’s true interests and, (iv) the role of religion in constituting forms of subjectivity more generally. Focussing particularly on the role of atheism in the UK, the paper also considers the implications such thinking has had on atheist practice and activism. The paper also considers how defenders of religion have reacted to the challenges posed by new atheism. It is argued that religious groups and authors have largely focussed on defending the role of religious faith and the significance of God in people’s lives, rather than explicitly defending what new atheists consider to be the unfair institutional privilege accorded to some religious organisations

Conservatives strike deal with DUP: experts react

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The higher education impact agenda, scientific realism and policy change: the case of electoral integrity in Britain

Pressures have increasingly been put upon social scientists to prove their economic, cultural and social value through ‘impact agendas’ in higher education. There has been little conceptual and empirical discussion of the challenges involved in achieving impact and the dangers of evaluating it, however. This article argues that a critical realist approach to social science can help to identify some of these key challenges and the institutional incompatibilities between impact regimes and university research in free societies. These incompatibilities are brought out through an autobiographical ‘insider-account’ of trying to achieve impact in the field of electoral integrity in Britain. The article argues that there is a more complex relationship between research and the real world which means that the nature of knowledge might change as it becomes known by reflexive agents. Secondly, the researchers are joined into social relations with a variety of actors, including those who might be the object of study in their research. Researchers are often weakly positioned in these relations. Some forms of impact, such as achieving policy change, are therefore exceptionally difficult as they are dependent on other actors. Strategies for trying to achieve impact are drawn out such as collaborating with civil society groups and parliamentarians to lobby for policy change

The politics of new atheism

This article discusses the political implications of the new atheism movement that has been popularized by writers such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris. New atheism is largely defined by its political goals, yet it has received relatively little attention from political theorists. To the extent that scholars have commented on new atheists' political thought, they have generally misinterpreted it and presented it as being intolerant. This article will argue that new atheists' attack on religion is largely motivated by their desire to defend a liberal view of politics and liberal values

The Rhetoric of Alex Salmond and the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum

This is the first article to examine the rhetoric of Alex Salmond using the Aristotelian modes of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos) during the 2014 independence referendum. The article examines Salmond’s persuasive style, his political discourses, and construction of a specific form of Scottishness between January and September 2014. The article argues that Salmond’s rhetorical style was driven in large part by a concern to reassure voters about the consequences of independence (logos-centred), combined with a positive vision informed by both civic nationalism and anti-Toryism (pathos-centred), which he constructing around his own character and credibility (ethos-centred). We conclude that Salmond’s rhetoric over the course of the referendum campaign can be understood as part of a wider political transformation in which the legitimacy of Westminster decisions over Scotland is subject to regular scrutiny and doubt

Secular Fundamentalists? Characterising the new atheist approach to secularism, religion and politics

The ‘new atheism’ has become an established cultural reference point in Britain. The anti-religious texts of authors such as Richard Dawkins have fuelled much media discussion concerning the public role of religion in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The new atheism has also been politically controversial, with a government minister recently criticising ‘secular fundamentalism’ for threatening religious identity and seeking to remove religion from public life. Many commentators have argued that new atheism effectively mirrors the features of religious fundamentalism, evincing an intolerant and absolutist worldview that may damage social and political relations. This article seeks to examine the extent to which new atheism possesses features that echo those of the religious fundamentalist. It is contended that while the new atheists display strong anti-religious convictions, they generally do not adopt stances of absolute certainty. New atheists promote uncompromising arguments for depriving religion of institutional and political privileges, yet maintain liberal tolerance for the practice of religion itself. It is suggested that while new atheists ought not to be considered secular fundamentalists, they do proselytise for radical secularism and atheism in a way which could be considered ‘evangelical’ in certain respects