Citizenship, religion, gender and the politics of belonging: a case study of white, middle-class christian men in the East Midlands, United Kingdom

Abstract

Religion, and in particular Christianity, is losing ground in the UK as fewer people identify as Christian and more people report having no religion. Although religion remains influential in politics, education and welfare, the role and legitimacy of religion in the public sphere is highly contested. This context of religious and cultural change provides the background for a case study of white, middle class, Christian men in the East Midlands and how they understand and experience citizenship in everyday life. The article examines how religious faith and citizenship are linked, and whether religion provides resources or barriers to citizenship. The article argues that the interviewed men draw on both status and practice based understandings of citizenship, and on both instrumental and expressive forms of masculinity, depending on context. Notably, some of the men invoke a defensive discourse in reference to alleged threats posed to Christianity by secular forces and by Islam. The findings have larger implications for the politics of belonging in the UK and Western Europe.

Keywords:

• Citizenship
• religion
• christianity
• gender
• belonging
• masculinity

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Kristin Aune and David Deacon for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article, and Loughborough University for seed corn funding for the research on which the article is based. Finally, I am grateful to all the research participants for their contributions.