Culture vs. rational choice: Assessing the causes of religious discrimination in Muslim states

Ani Sarkissian, Jonathan Fox, Yasemin Akbaba

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study focuses on explaining the variation in the treatment of religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries using a novel dataset on religious discrimination-the Religion and State- Minorities (RASM) Dataset. As few theories exist to explain the causes of religious discrimination, this study compares theories related to general religion-state relations based on ideology, culture, and rational choice. We find that while political and structural factors are important in explaining variation in levels of discrimination across Muslim countries, ideational factors may help to explain why certain minority groups appear to be targeted more than others within individual countries. Regional and cultural differences in levels of discrimination exist across the Muslim world, and the identity of the religious minority group matters in determining why some groups face greater repression than others. We argue that knowing the targets of discrimination is important in developing theory about the causes of it.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)423-446
Number of pages24
JournalNationalism and Ethnic Politics
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Previous versions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Comparative Politics Workshop at Yale University, and at Calvin College. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 896/00), the Sara and Simha Lainer Chair in Democracy and Civility, and the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Funding

Previous versions of this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Comparative Politics Workshop at Yale University, and at Calvin College. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 896/00), the Sara and Simha Lainer Chair in Democracy and Civility, and the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

FundersFunder number
Sara and Simha Lainer Chair
John Templeton Foundation
Israel Science Foundation896/00

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