Religion, rulers, and conflict

Creative Commons License

Coşgel M. M., Miceli T. J., YILDIRIM S.

Journal of Economic Growth, cilt.28, sa.3, ss.439-480, 2023 (SSCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 28 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s10887-023-09228-6
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Economic Growth
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, EconLit, zbMATH, DIALNET
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.439-480
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Conflict, Discrimination, Favoritism, Grievance, Historical roots, Inequality, Religion
  • Marmara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

We offer new data and a new analytical approach to examine the roots of today’s civil conflicts that lie deeply in religious and political history. Religion’s effect on today’s conflicts come not from contemporary fractionalization or polarization, but from the deep-rooted effects of historical fragmentation coupled with rulers who could manipulate divisions by favoring co-religionists. To test the resulting hypotheses, we use a new dataset that includes annual information regarding the religious and political histories of today’s societies since the year 1000. We run regression analysis at both country and ethnic group levels. The results show that the likelihood of contemporary new conflicts is higher in societies that historically experienced religious fragmentation with rulers who shared religion with one of the groups and could thus favor coreligionists over others. Economic inequality and political grievances served as channels of transmission.