How the Churches Serve the State

This paper examines an overlooked dimension of right-wing statecraft in Europe: the incorporation of Christian churches into the Hungarian illiberal regime’s hegemonic project. Drawing on Gramscian and Foucauldian perspectives, it offers a political-economic account of how religious actors both bolster the ideological foundations of illiberal rule and assume quasi-governmental functions in the management of racialized poverty. Whereas dominant churches legitimate segregationist policies, minority faith-based actors promote a civilizational approach that blends care and discipline. By investigating recent ethnographic studies of the Maltese Charity Service—now a key actor in the governance of poverty—the paper conceptualizes this approach as pastoral power, which pacifies surplus populations while reinforcing social hierarchies. Challenging the prevailing view of illiberalism as a monolithic regime centered on sovereign power, the paper argues that governance is fragmented and reliant on external actors for moral legitimacy, the delivery of vital services, and social control. It thus contributes to anthropological debates on illiberal statecraft, faith-based welfare, and the transformation of citizenship on Europe’s semiperiphery.