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Jonathan Fox - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Introducing the "Religious Minorities at Risk" Dataset
Peace Economics Peace Science and Public Policy, 2019Co-Authors: Matthias Basedau, Jonathan Fox, Christopher Huber, Arne Pieters, Tom Konzack, Mora DeitchAbstract:Religion has been taking an increasingly contentious character worldwide. Deprivation, grievances and protest by Religious groups seems to be on the rise. Previous research has shown that the marginalization of ethnic groups can contribute significantly to violent conflict. However, we know little about Religious groups as existing research has lacked the necessary fine-grained data. This paper introduces the “Religious Minorities at Risk” dataset comprising data on 771 Religious Minorities worldwide for the period between 2000 and 2014. The dataset contains pertinent worldwide information on relevant characteristics of these Minorities, especially those that may explain their motivation and capability to mobilize. Such characteristics include objective deprivation in Religious, economic and political terms as well as corresponding subjective grievances and intensities. The dataset also includes group-related features and structural variables that arguably influence Minorities’ capability to mobilize. Moreover, while previous studies have focussed exclusively on violence, we now have more information available on the exact character of mobilization enabling scholars to distinguish between peaceful and violent forms of mobilization.
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Examining the causes of government-based discrimination against Religious Minorities in western democracies: societal-level discrimination and securitization
Comparative European Politics, 2018Co-Authors: Jonathan Fox, Roger Finke, Marie A. EisensteinAbstract:This study examines the causes of government-based Religious discrimination (GRD) against Religious Minorities in Western democracies. We focus on two causes. First securitization theory posits Minorities which are perceived as security threats are more likely to attract GRD. Second, many posit that GRD has its origin in societal discrimination (SRD) and prejudices. We test these theories using new data from the Religion and State-Minorities round 3 dataset (RASM3) which includes 116 Religious Minorities in 26 Western democracies. Our findings support securitization theory’s predictions, but this result pertains mostly to Muslims because they constitute most Minorities in Western Democracies which engage in violence against the majority religion, thereby posing a security threat. Similarly, the theorized relationship between SRD and GRD holds only for Muslim Minorities which we posit is due to their securitization.
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explaining discrimination against Religious Minorities
Politics and Religion, 2017Co-Authors: Roger Finke, Robert R Martin, Jonathan FoxAbstract:Research has documented that Religious Minorities often face the brunt of Religious discrimination. Yet formal tests, using global collections, have been lacking. Building on the Religious economy theory and recent work in law and politics, we propose that minority religions face discrimination from the state because they represent unwanted competition for the state supported religion, are viewed as a threat to the state and larger culture, and lack support from an independent judiciary. Drawing on the recently collected Religion and State-Minorities collection on more than 500 minority religions, we find support for each of the propositions, though the level of support varies based on the targets of state discrimination. In general, the support is strongest when explaining discrimination against minority religion's institutions and clergy, but weakens when explaining more general discrimination against the membership.
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does discrimination breed grievances and do grievances breed violence new evidence from an analysis of Religious Minorities in developing countries
Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2017Co-Authors: Matthias Basedau, Jonathan Fox, Jan H Pierskalla, Georg Struver, Johannes VullersAbstract:Since Ted Gurr’s Why Men Rebel it has become conventional wisdom that (relative) deprivation creates grievances and that these grievances in turn lead to intergroup violence. Recently, studies have yielded evidence that the exclusion of ethnic groups is a substantial conflict risk. From a theoretical angle, the relationship is straightforward and is likely to unfold as a causal chain that runs from objective discrimination to (subjective) grievances and then to violence. We test this proposition with unique group-format data on 433 Religious Minorities in the developing world from 1990 to 2008. While Religious discrimination indeed increases the likelihood of grievances, neither grievances nor discrimination are connected to violence. This finding is supported by a large number of robustness checks. Conceptually, discrimination and grievances can take very different shapes and opportunity plays a much bigger role than any grievance-based approach expects.
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securitization of islam and Religious discrimination Religious Minorities in western democracies 1990 2008
Comparative European Politics, 2015Co-Authors: Jonathan Fox, Yasemin AkbabaAbstract:This study draws substantially on ‘securitization’ theory to examine whether Religious discrimination against Muslims as compared with other Religious Minorities is disproportionately higher in Western democracies. We explore variation in the treatment of Religious Minorities in the West using a special version of the Religion and State-Minorities Round 2 (RAS2-M) data set. We analyse the extent and causes of 29 different kinds of Religious discrimination against 86 Religious Minorities in 27 Western democracies (coded yearly from 1990 to 2008). The results support the securitization argument showing that Muslims suffer from higher levels of discrimination in comparison with other Religious Minorities, especially since 2001.
Jerg Gutmann - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Islamic constitutions and Religious Minorities
Public Choice, 2019Co-Authors: Moamen Gouda, Jerg GutmannAbstract:This study examines the effects of formal institutions, specifically constitutions that prescribe Sharia law as a source of legislation, on discrimination against Religious Minorities. We hypothesize that countries in which the supreme values of Islam are entrenched in the constitution exhibit more discrimination against Religious Minorities than otherwise comparable countries. In our empirical analysis, we find that Religious Minorities are indeed likely to face more Religious discrimination under Islamic constitutions, even if the relevance of Islam in society is separately taken into account, for example, in terms of the Muslim population share. Instrumental variable regressions support our hypothesis of a causal effect of constitutional rules on de facto social outcomes. However, we find no evidence that Islam encourages discrimination against Minorities when it is not entrenched in the constitution. Our results support the grave dangers inherent in the constitutionalization of supreme values.
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Islamic constitutions and Religious Minorities
2018Co-Authors: Moamen Gouda, Jerg GutmannAbstract:This study examines the effect of formal institutions, specifically constitutional provi-sions, on minority discrimination in Muslim societies. We hypothesize that those Muslim countries in which (political) Islam constitutes an important constraint in the legislative process experience more discrimination against Minorities than other (Muslim) coun-tries. In other words, as Islam becomes a constitutionally prescribed source of legisla-tion in Muslim societies, it is expected that subsequent laws will be more likely in viola-tion of basic rights of Minorities. In our empirical analysis, we find that where the su-premacy of Islam and Shari’a is constitutionally entrenched, Religious Minorities are in-deed likely to face more discrimination. Instrumental variable regressions support our interpretation that this result reflects a causal effect of constitutional rules on social out-comes. We find no evidence that Islam encourages minority discrimination if it is not constitutionalized. Our results confirm the grave dangers entailed in the institutionaliza-tion of supreme values.
Lorenzo Rocco - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Protestant ethic and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Religious Minorities in the former Holy Roman Empire
European Journal of Political Economy, 2018Co-Authors: Luca Nunziata, Lorenzo RoccoAbstract:We investigate the effect of Protestantism versus Catholicism on the decision to become an entrepreneur in former Holy Roman Empire regions. Our research design exploits Religious Minorities’ strong attachment to Religious ethic and the predetermined historical determination of Religious Minorities’ geographical distribution in the 1500s as a result of the “cuius regio eius religio” (whose realm, his religion) rule. We find that today Protestantism increases the probability to be an entrepreneur by around 5 percentage points with respect to Catholicism, a result that survives to a battery of robustness checks. We explicit the assumptions underlying the identification strategy and provide an extensive testing of their validity by making use of several European datasets.
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the protestant ethic and entrepreneurship evidence from Religious Minorities from the former holy roman empire
MPRA Paper, 2014Co-Authors: Luca Nunziata, Lorenzo RoccoAbstract:We propose a new methodology for identifying the causal effect of Protestantism versus Catholicism on the decision to become an entrepreneur. Our quasi-experimental research design exploits Religious Minorities' strong attachment to Religious ethics and the exogenous historical determination of Religious Minorities' geographical distribution in the regions of the former Holy Roman Empire in the 1500s. We analyse European Social Survey data, collected in four waves between 2002 and 2008, and find that Religious background has a significant effect on the individual propensity for entrepreneurship, with Protestantism increasing the probability to be an entrepreneur by around 5 percentage points with respect to Catholicism. Our findings are stable across a number of robustness checks, including accounting for migration patterns and a placebo test. We also provide an extended discussion of the assumptions' validity at the basis of our research design. This paper is one of the first attempts to identify a causal effect, rather than a simple correlation, of Religious ethics on economic outcomes.
John Tolan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Religious Minorities in Christian, Jewish and Muslim Law (5th - 15th centuries) - Religious Minorities in Christian, Jewish and Muslim Law (5th - 15th centuries)
Religion and law in Medieval Christian and Muslim Societies, 2017Co-Authors: John Tolan, Nora Berend, Capucine Nemo-pekelman, Youna Hameau-massetAbstract:The fruit of a sustained and close collaboration between historians, linguists and jurists working on the Christian, Muslim and Jewish societies of the Middle Ages, this book explores the theme of Religious coexistence (and the problems it poses) from a resolutely comparative perspective. The authors concentrate on a key aspect of this coexistence: the legal status attributed to Jews and Muslims in Christendom and to dhimmīs in Islamic lands. What are the similarities and differences, from the point of view of the law, between the indigenous Religious minority and the foreigner? What specific treatments and procedures in the courtroom were reserved for plaintiffs, defendants or witnesses belonging to Religious Minorities? What role did the law play in the segregation of Religious groups? In limiting, combating, or on the contrary justifying violence against them? Through these questions, and through the innovative comparative method applied to them, this book offers a fresh new synthesis to these questions and a spur to new research.
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Religious Minorities IN CHRISTIAN, JEWISH AND MUSLIM LAW (5TH–15TH CENTURIES)
2017Co-Authors: Nora Berend, Capucine Nemo-pekelman, Youna Masset, John TolanAbstract:The fruit of a sustained and close collaboration between historians, linguists and jurists working on the Christian, Muslim and Jewish societies of the Middle Ages, this book explores the theme of Religious coexistence (and the problems it poses) from a resolutely comparative perspective. The authors concentrate on a key aspect of this coexistence: the legal status attributed to Jews and Muslims in Christendom and to dhimmīs in Islamic lands. What are the similarities and differences, from the point of view of the law, between the indigenous Religious minority and the foreigner? What specific treatments and procedures in the courtroom were reserved for plaintiffs, defendants or witnesses belonging to Religious Minorities? What role did the law play in the segregation of Religious groups? In limiting, combating, or on the contrary justifying violence against them? Through these questions, and through the innovative comparative method applied to them, this book offers a fresh new synthesis to these questions and a spur to new research.
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Religious Minorities in christian jewish and muslim law 5th 15th centuries
2017Co-Authors: John Tolan, Nora Berend, Capucine Nemopekelman, Youna HameaumassetAbstract:The fruit of a sustained and close collaboration between historians, linguists and jurists working on the Christian, Muslim and Jewish societies of the Middle Ages, this book explores the theme of Religious coexistence (and the problems it poses) from a resolutely comparative perspective. The authors concentrate on a key aspect of this coexistence: the legal status attributed to Jews and Muslims in Christendom and to dhimmīs in Islamic lands. What are the similarities and differences, from the point of view of the law, between the indigenous Religious minority and the foreigner? What specific treatments and procedures in the courtroom were reserved for plaintiffs, defendants or witnesses belonging to Religious Minorities? What role did the law play in the segregation of Religious groups? In limiting, combating, or on the contrary justifying violence against them? Through these questions, and through the innovative comparative method applied to them, this book offers a fresh new synthesis to these questions and a spur to new research.
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The Social Inferiority of Religious Minorities
Europe and the Islamic World, 2012Co-Authors: John Tolan, Gilles Veinstein, Henry LaurensAbstract:This chapter examines the fate of the minority Christians in the Muslim countries of Europe and of minority Muslims in Christian countries in the aftermath of conquest. It shows that, once the conquest was achieved, the new subjects had to be integrated into the political and social order. These Religious “Minorities,” who in actuality were often in the numerical majority immediately after the conquest, were usually granted a protected but subordinate place in society. Theologians and jurists justified their subordination, defining their role with reference to the founding texts (Qur'an, Hadith, Bible, or Roman law). These Minorities were sometimes the victims of persecutions, acts of violence, and expulsions, but in general they enjoyed a status where their theoretical inferiority (Religious and legal) did not prevent some of them from achieving clear economic and social success.
Yasemin Akbaba - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Securitization of Islam and Religious discrimination: Religious Minorities in Western democracies, 1990–2008
Comparative European Politics, 2015Co-Authors: Yasemin AkbabaAbstract:This study draws substantially on ‘securitization’ theory to examine whether Religious discrimination against Muslims as compared with other Religious Minorities is disproportionately higher in Western democracies. We explore variation in the treatment of Religious Minorities in the West using a special version of the Religion and State-Minorities Round 2 (RAS2-M) data set. We analyse the extent and causes of 29 different kinds of Religious discrimination against 86 Religious Minorities in 27 Western democracies (coded yearly from 1990 to 2008). The results support the securitization argument showing that Muslims suffer from higher levels of discrimination in comparison with other Religious Minorities, especially since 2001.
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securitization of islam and Religious discrimination Religious Minorities in western democracies 1990 2008
Comparative European Politics, 2015Co-Authors: Jonathan Fox, Yasemin AkbabaAbstract:This study draws substantially on ‘securitization’ theory to examine whether Religious discrimination against Muslims as compared with other Religious Minorities is disproportionately higher in Western democracies. We explore variation in the treatment of Religious Minorities in the West using a special version of the Religion and State-Minorities Round 2 (RAS2-M) data set. We analyse the extent and causes of 29 different kinds of Religious discrimination against 86 Religious Minorities in 27 Western democracies (coded yearly from 1990 to 2008). The results support the securitization argument showing that Muslims suffer from higher levels of discrimination in comparison with other Religious Minorities, especially since 2001.
