Religious Populism? Rethinking Concepts and Consequences in a Hybrid Media Age Introduction

This introduction to a Special Section, Global Populism: Its Roots in Media and Religion, advances scholarly understanding of the present dynamics of global politics in the hybrid media environment from a perspective that is often neglected or undermined in media and communication studies: religion and/or "the religious" dimension. To incorporate better scholarship of religion into media and communication studies on populism, this introduction argues for a need to analyze more closely the interplay between the three and place special emphasis on (1) definitions concerning religion and populism, (2) the scale of analysis, and (3) transformations in the present media environment as hybrid. The articles address populism, media, and religion in a variety of media-related political and cultural contexts ranging from Europe to India and Brazil. The authors address populism in multiple political and religious contexts with a special focus on nationalist and right-wing politics.