The Rise of South Asian Conservatisms in the US

This roundtable explores South Asian conservatisms within the North American political discourse writ large. The contradictory entanglement of Asian American conservative groups with white politics and white supremacy while remaining concerned about racial animus and anti-immigrant sentiment requires such groups to construct their own grammar and ideological framework-a uniquely Asian-iterated conservatism (Mishra 2024). The panelists, who hail from both academic and social activism spaces, discuss how conservative orgs position themselves to advance particular religious or social aims, how such groups leverage supremacist discourses to advance nativist goals, the use of religious freedom to promote a particularized vision of cultural, religious, and identitarian aspects of Asian communities, and the shared bigotries with other conservative movements for political advancement. Together these reflections analyze how South Asian conservative organizations benefit from discussions of pluralism and diversity while seeking to advance culturally-curated hegemonic forms of conservative politics within North America.