Abstract
This paper situates the rise of Christian Nationalism (CN) in the U.S. within the broader global struggle over information sovereignty, publishing infrastructures, and the legitimacy of knowledge. More than a religio-political movement, CN functions as a publishing ecosystem; a coordinated network of presses, curricular producers, media outlets, digital platforms, and distribution pipelines that collectively reshape the informational environment. Viewed through this lens, it becomes a case study in how ideological actors construct alternative editorial workflows, generate cross-platform narratives, and engineer epistemic enclaves capable of resisting traditional norms of fact-checking, transparency, and accountability. Drawing on political science, media sociology, and historical U.S. culture wars, the presentation traces CN organizations’ production and circulation texts, images, and data designed to supersede and/or delegitimize journalistic, scientific, and academic authority through think-tank publishing, school board activism, sermon-based dissemination, homeschooling curricula, and transnational digital ministries. These practices illuminate the political, ethical, and logistical dilemmas at the center of contemporary publishing: What happens when content moves frictionlessly across borders yet remains governed by opaque ideological gatekeepers? How do alternative presses and religious media outpace institutional norms around verification and media literacy? By analyzing CN as an information movement, the paper responds to the conference’s call to reconceptualize access to knowledge and data across borders. Complete with translation networks, algorithmic amplification, and narrative discipline, CN’s publishing architecture offers critical insight into the global challenge of sustaining shared informational foundations in an era when the legitimacy of knowledge itself is increasingly contested.
Presenters
Andrew WardVisiting Assistant Professor, Political Science - International Development, Tulane University, Louisiana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
ChristianNationalism, PublishEcosystems, Disinfornation, EpistemicSovereignty, CrossBorderInformationFlows
