Politics, Identity, and Mobilization among U.S. Religious 'Nones': Do the Non-religious have the Potential to Change America's Political and Cultural Landscape?

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation uses novel data to explore the possibility that the religious unaffiliated, or Nones, could bring about political and cultural change in the United States. Throughout this dissertation, I examined the Nones’ political attitudes, experiences of discrimination, identity engagement, and donation and volunteering habits to partially determine their social movement mobilization potential. I find that among the Nones, there is a distinct political ideology among atheists and those who have disaffiliated from a religion compared to other Nones. I also find that unaffiliated believers have higher engagement with their identity compared to atheists or agnostics, and that increased experiences of discrimination are associated with higher identity engagement overall. Finally, I found that Nones are just as likely to donate and volunteer to general organizations, but unaffiliated believers tend to donate and volunteer more than other Nones with groups specific to their identity as Nones. Overall, this dissertation concludes that Nones do have social movement potential and are already mobilized in some areas; thus, Nones can likely bring about political and cultural change in the United States.</p>