Book Talk: Martyrs and Migrants: Coptic Christians and the Persecution Politics of US Empire

Please join the Global Religion and Politics Research Group as they host Candace Lukasik (Mississippi State University).

Abstract: Drawing on Martyrs and Migrants, this book talk journeys with Coptic Orthodox migrants between Egypt and the United States to examine how American religious imaginaries of global Christian persecution have remapped Coptic collective memory of martyrdom. It explores how narratives of persecution, martyrdom, and religious kinship shape Coptic migration and visibility across transnational contexts. Lukasik argues that the entanglement of American conservative advocacy and Coptic experiences of violence has produced a new form of Christian kinship grounded in blood, operating through a double movement of glorification and racialization. Through ethnographic attention to everyday life, the talk shows how Copts navigate their positioning as both celebrated symbols of Christian suffering and subjects of securitized governance in the context of the War on Terror, illuminating the intersections of religion, race, and empire in contemporary migration.

*Lunch will be provided.

Add Event To My Group

Please sign-in