Horizontal inequality and multi-sectarian societies

Abstract

After the beginning of the Arab Spring and the conflict in Syria, researchers from all over the world are trying to understand the reasons that led to the civil war in that country. Many hypotheses are raised, from the deterioration of socioeconomic conditions, the increasingly harsh political and police repression against the regime's opponents, to the interest of regional powers in changing the Syrian regime. In this article, we decided to explore another dimension of conflict. After applying a questionnaire to a group of Syrian refugees in Brazil, we sought to understand the perception of respondents about the existence or not of horizontal inequality between the Syrian confessional groups, in the economic, social, religious, political and cultural spheres. The result found sheds light on the important role of the perception of horizontal inequality between groups as an important source of discontent and frustration, which may have contributed to the breaking of the Syrian State's social political pact.