Making White Christian nationalism plausible: Examining the institutional logic of a conservative Christian school

Abstract

Over the last several years, enrollment at Conservative Christian schools has risen noticeably due to a response to COVID-19 regulations and culture wars being played out within primary and secondary schools. Alongside this trend, there has also been a significant rise in White Christian nationalism during the early part of the 21st century. Using data gathered through an ethno-case study of a Conservative Christian school, I examine the institutional logic that animated and guided the way the school socialized students to think about their civic and public life. I describe this logic as a theo-political logic that manifested itself symbolically through the language and theory of the Christian worldview which was not only taught by faculty but also helped to organize the curriculum and pedagogy of the school. Building on this description of the theo-political logic and using Peter Berger’s (1967) notion of plausibility structures, I argue that while conservative Christian schools may not explicitly support White Christian Nationalism, the theo-political logic that organizes and dominates the school helps develop plausibility structures that allow students, faculty, and staff to support policies and public engagement that align with White Christian nationalism.

Keywords:

• Conservative Christian schools
• institutional logic
• plausibility structure
• White Christian nationalism
• worldview

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All names for both the school and participants are pseudonyms.

2 Throughout this paper, to make a distinction between the Worldview courses and the general concept of worldview thinking, I capitalize the term when specifically referring to the course.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeremy Alexander

Jeremy Alexander teaches in the Department of Formative Education at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. His research explores the intersection of philosophy, religion, and education. Jeremy’s dissertation on the civic development of students at Conservative Christian schools recently received the 2024 Dissertation of the Year Award for the Religion & Education SIG of AERA.