Fourie, Ruhan. Christian Nationalism and Anticommunism in Twentieth Century South Africa. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2024. ISBN: 9781003413257.

Abstract

As a historian of the American and South African far-right, I eagerly picked up Ruhan Fourie’s monograph, Christian Nationalism and Anticommunism in Twentieth Century South Africa. Fourie’s investigation of the significant role of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in the anticommunist imaginings of Afrikaners is timely for those interested in the contemporary rise of global white populism. As scholars call for greater intellectual engagement with “Christian Nationalism,” Fourie’s work is essential reading, as the concept of “Christian Nationalism” remains dominated by American analyses. Fourie offers critical explanatory power to the DRC’s post-2000s debates around “liberalism,” which he grounds in the “echoes” of the [anticommunist] past (p. 209).