The Cultural Diversity of the Far-Right: How Religion Unites and Divides Far-Right Groups on the Ground

The role of religion in politicizing and mobilizing the far-right has been described as a diffuse yet decisive identity marker. While Islam is commonly framed as a unifying “Other,” references to “Christian culture” as a marker of in-group identity remain ideologically loose and vague, articulating a largely secular rather than believing “We.” Existing diagnoses of the far-right are mostly based on party programs, politicians’ positions, or media discourse and thus draw on highly mediated sources. What remains unclear is the extent to which religious ideas become meaningful within the everyday identity formation of newly emerging local far-right groups. How, then, does religion as a diffuse marker acquire meaning on the ground in articulating far-right conflict? In this paper, I introduce the concept of affective boundary making to capture these diffuse yet experience-based processes of collective meaning-making. Drawing on group discussions, I examine the meanings and functions of Christianity and Islam among local groups within the German far-right movement, including groups affiliated with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the anti-Muslim network Pegida, and the transnational youth organization Identitarian Movement. I present three cases in which religion becomes meaningful as a source of purpose in life, as mockery, and as nostalgia in expressing identity and conflict. These cases demonstrate the multifaceted and contested role of religion in far-right collective identity formation. While these cases share ideas of Islam as a unifying „Other“ and Christianity as a secularized cultural reference, more fundamental differences in conceptions of identity and conflict emerge. The findings highlight the limits of politicizing religion and reveal the far-right’s own cultural diversity.