Conceptualizing the Dangerous Rise of Ethnoreligious Nationalist Literacies: Ethnoreligious Nationalism and Public Education

This paper draws on Octavia Butler’s work to examine the rise of authoritarian political ideologies in public education discourse, which the authors identify as “ethnoreligious nationalism.” Ethnoreligious nationalism is a political and cultural ideology that fuses national identity with religious and linguistic heritage, often positing a particular ethnic or religious group as the true, rightful or indisputable inheritors of a particular nation-state. This paper introduces the concept of "ethnoreligious nationalist literacies," highlighting how ethnoreligious nationalist movements leverage literacy to further their agendas. The authors provide a snapshot of current spectacles of ethnoreligious nationalist activism in the US, Brazil, and Sri Lanka. They argue that ethnoreligious nationalist movements use affective literacy strategies to challenge diversifying principles in public education. By investigating the literacy strategies employed by these movements and advocating for democratic educational practices, researchers, educators, and policymakers can work towards safeguarding public education as a cornerstone of pluralistic, democratic societies.