Faith in Contention

Abstract

What explains variation in the role of religion in ethnic conflict? Although conflict involving religion is often more violent and longer lasting than other forms of conflict, to date little research has examined the factors explaining the relevance of religion to conflict mobilization. Adopting a rational choice approach, I argue that religion is more likely to be a salient component of conflict when an ethnic group’s religious leaders face local incentives to compete over adherents. I test this approach using a multi-method research design that combines statistical analysis of original time-series data on the salience of religion in conflict with qualitative evidence drawn from the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Both types of analyses support the notion that competition among religious leaders can serve as a precursor to the mobilization of religious sentiment in conflict, which in turn exerts a tremendous influence on the intensity and duration of conflict.

Virtual Religious Conflict: From Cyberspace to Reality

“…Religious issues are difficult to resolve when conflicts occur (Isaacs 2017;Lakitsch 2018;Rios 2021;Syarif 2019). Because religious issues are considered a sensitive issue, it would be better not to talk about them or to take steps to minimise news.…”

Rainy Friday: Religious Participation and Protests

“…Although studies in Comparative Politics placed less emphasis on religion until the late 2000s (Grzymala-Busse 2012; Wald and Wilcox 2006), later studies began analyzing the topic with an emphasis on macro-level factors. For instance, they examine religious diversity and competition among religious groups (Basedau, Pfeiffer, and Vüllers 2016; Gerring, Hoffman, and Zarecki 2018; Grim and Finke 2007; Isaacs 2017; Toft 2007; Trejo 2009), grievances (Basedau et al 2017; Basedau, Pfeiffer, and Vüllers 2016), political institutions (Muchlinski 2014), the organizational characteristics of religious groups (Collins 2007; Fox 1999; Hale 2015), and the personal characteristics of religious leaders (Basedau and Koos 2015; Basedau, Pfeiffer, and Vüllers 2016; Hauk and Muller 2015).…”

“…This certainly does not deny the importance of macro-level factors, but that they lead to conflict only through individual behavior. For instance, religious diversity has been reported to stimulate competition among religious groups, causing conflict (Isaacs 2017; Grim and Finke 2007; Trejo 2009). However, this macro-level relationship is mediated by individual behaviors; competition should increase the salience of religion, and hence facilitate religious and political participation at the individual level.…”

Civil War Secularity Talk

“…Over the past 15 years, scholars have made good headway in understanding relationships between religion and war, where religio-ethnic entrepreneurs mobilize a cocktail of religious and other symbols to compel supporters to fight or back the fight. This literature has addressed issues of 'religious' conflict prevalence and definition (Fox 2004;Basedau and Schaefer-Kehnert 2019), the role of religion in conflict onset (Brown 2019;Isaacs 2017;Basedau et al 2016) and intensity/duration/escalation (Cousar et al 2021), impact of the content of religious claims on conflict dynamics (Isaacs 2017), how to conceptualize the entanglement of religion with nationalism and ethnicity (Huang and Tabaar 2021;Turkmen 2018;Brubaker 2015), and these issues in combination (Svensson and Nilsson 2018). In recent years, scholars have turned to conflict termination and peacebuilding across comparative case studies (Kapshuk and Deitch 2022;Odak and Cehajic-Clancy 2021;Nilsson and Svensson 2020;Deitch 2020;Gurses and Ozturk 2020;Vüllers et al 2015;Svensson and Harding 2011).…”