Dealing with Diversity: Religious State Repression and Civil Conflict
Year: 2009
Type: preprint
Abstract: This study argues that rebellion can be a response to state repression, and that this is especially plausible if religion is a point of contention. Religions have properties that affect the willingness to engage in as well as organize rebellion, such as absolutism, exclusiveness, and strong social structures. When religious groups are threatened by repressive action, this produces a motive to rebel. The argument sets this study apart from previous work within distinct research traditions which has often assumed that religious diversity is inherently conflictual and that repression uniformly repels dissent. The proposition is tested in a cross-national empirical analysis of the interaction of religious diversity and religious state repression. The main findings are that the size of religious minorities is not what matters for conflict, but that state repression of religious freedom can result in a rebellious backlash.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: Ragnhild Nordås
Institution: Peace Research Institute Oslo
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2285846572